SAL1 Greensboro Grasshoppers

Hoppers Exploit Hickory Pitchers' Wildness For 9-2 Win

Published on April 26, 2007 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greensboro Grasshoppers News Release


GREENSBORO, N.C. - It was a night to exercise patience.

Normally an aggressive team at the plate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers got only six hits but took advantage of 13 walks to beat the Hickory Crawdads 9-2 at First Horizon Park. A Thursday crowd of 7,567 watched.

"You have to be very selective (at the plate)," said Hoppers manager Edwin Rodriguez. "Instead of expanding your strike zone, you have to shrink it."

Twelve of the walks were issued in the first four innings, seven by Hickory starter Yoffri Martinez.

Hickory struck first with two runs in the third inning. Francis Poni had an RBI double and James Boone an RBI single. The Hoppers made a big defensive play when right fielder Scott Cousins caught a fly ball by Jonel Pacheco for the second out, then threw out Angel Gonzalez trying to score from third to end the inning.

The Hoppers drew three walks in the bottom of the first but left the bases loaded. In the bottom of the third Chris Coghlan drew a leadoff walk and Cousins followed with his first home run of the season to tie the game.

After one out, Logan Morrison, Spike McDougall and Chris Hatcher walked to load the bases. Stephen McFarland replaced Martinez and got Emilio Ontiveros to foul out. Greg Burns then drew a walk to force in a run, Daniel Garcia's single drove in two more and Coghlan followed with a two-run double.

All told, seven runs crossed the plate on three hits and five walks.

"You've got to make adjustments," Coghlan said of the wildness of Hickory's pitchers. "They've got good arms, they just couldn't locate their pitches. You have to be patient and let them come to you."

Coghlan, who has 20 RBIs on 20 hits this season, said Cousins' home run "set the momentum" for the rest of the inning.

In the fourth inning, Burns accounted for his second RBI by drawing another bases-loaded walk. He picked up his third RBI with a single in the sixth that scored McDougall.

Graham Taylor picked up the win for the Hoppers, his fourth against one loss. It wasn't his sharpest performance, lasting only five innings, but it was effective enough.

Jay Buente, Andy Jackson and Blake Jones finished up, combining for four shutout innings of relief. The Crawdads had only two baserunners in the last six innings and both were wiped out on double plays.

"We expect that from Jackson and Jones," Rodriguez said. "Buente made an adjustment and was pitching down in the zone."

The Hoppers improved to 13-7 overall and 11-3 at home. Hickory lost its seventh straight. The teams wrap up their series Friday at 7 p.m. in First Horizon.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 26, 2007


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