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TL1 Corpus Christi Hooks

Hooks rally for nightcap win

August 25, 2005 - Texas League (TL1)
Corpus Christi Hooks News Release


(FRISCO, Texas) - The Hooks and RoughRiders split Wednesday's double-header at the Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Ballpark, with Corpus Christi rallying to win the nightcap 4-2 after a disheartening 5-4 loss in 11 innings in the opener. At 31-28-1 in the second half, the Hooks are tied with San Antonio for second place in the Texas League West, with both clubs three games behind first-place Midland, a 3-1 winner at home Wednesday over the Missions.

Frisco won the opener in a game that lasted three hours and 46 minutes. The home team built a 4-1 lead after four innings, but the Hooks fought back with two runs in the fifth and one run in the seventh. Eric Riggs provided the big hit in the fifth, a two-out RBI triple that brought the Hooks to within a run at 4-3. Josh Anderson knotted the score in the seventh with an RBI triple of his own, plating pinch runner John Fagan from second.

The RoughRiders had legitimate scoring chances from the seventh through the 10th, but notched the game-winning run in the 11th without the benefit of a base hit. Reliever Monte Mansfield (2-2) walked Cameron Coughlan to start the home 11th. Mansfield's next pitch hit Vince Sinisi in the foot, putting runners at first and second with nobody out.

That brought power-hitting first baseman Jason Hart to the plate. Mansfield got Hart to hit a grounder to third, where Mark Saccomanno fielded the ball and threw to Riggs at second to start a would-be double play. The throw, however, required Riggs to stretch toward left field to secure the force on Sinisi. Off balance, Riggs' throw to first skipped in the dirt past J.R. Phillips. Coughlan raced around third and scored on the throwing error, giving Frisco a hard-fought 5-4 win.

Game two did not start well for the Hooks. Juan Senreiso's RBI single in the bottom of the first gave the RoughRiders a 1-0 lead. The Hooks, though, would rally for four runs in the top of the second off Frisco starter Ron Mahay (0-2), who had made 30 relief appearances earlier this season for the Texas Rangers.

Catcher Dax Norris started the rally with a one-out double inside the right field line. A single by Hector Gimenez and a walk by Fagan loaded the bases for Carlos Rodriguez, who had not seen action in Corpus Christi's six previous games. Rodriguez bounced a hard single into center field to get Norris and Gimenez home for a 2-1 Hooks' advantage. Back-to-back RBI singles by Jason Clements and Mike Rodriguez made it a 4-1 game.

Frisco added a solo tally in the fourth, but the Hooks preserved the win with solid relief pitching from Blake Allen (1-3), whose 2.2 innings of shutout relief resulted in his first win for the Hooks. Another huge factor in the nightcap win was the incredible defense displayed by the Hooks throughout the game, especially the plays made by Mike Rodriguez in left.

A running catch into the wall to end the second robbed Nate Gold of an extra-base hit and prevented a run from scoring. Rodriguez also made a running catch on the warning track on a drive by Seth Taylor that ended the third. But Rodriguez saved his best effort for the fifth, when with two on and two out Sinisi drilled a line drive that looked to be a sure hit. Racing to his right, Rodriguez went airborne and caught the sinking liner while in the air. The play saved two more runs and solidified Mike's standing as one of the top defensive outfielders in the league.

The two clubs will battle again Thursday night at 7:05. LHP Philip Barzilla (6-6, 3.26) will pitch for the Hooks, while the RoughRiders are expected to go with RHP Thomas Diamond (4-3, 4.80).

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