Ironmen bats blast three home runs in 11-5 drubbing of River Rats
May 30, 2012 - Prospect League (Prospect)
Lorain County Ironmen News Release
The Lorain County Ironmen (2-0) used a strong pitching performance from Anthony Naso in the second game of a two-game series to sweep the Richmond River Rats. Nate Antone belted a pair of two-run homers and pitched 2.1 strong relief innings to lift the Ironmen to a 11-5 victory.
The first of Antone's two bombs came in the top of the first inning with Cody Koch on first base. Antone's blast sailed slightly right of the center field wall, traveling 375 feet.
"I was just trying to see the ball up in the zone," said Antone. "Van Daalwyk had a pretty flat fastball, so I knew I could get good wood on it if I saw one high in the zone."
Just as they did last night, the River Rats got on the board in the first inning via an RBI single by Nolan Earley. The River Rats knotted the game in the third inning, as both a hit batter and a walk came around to score.
When Antone came back to the dish in the fifth inning, he sat on a first pitch slider and drilled it well into the afternoon beyond the left field fence.
"I really expected him to throw me a first pitch slider in my second at bat, but he still came at me with heat and I couldn't square it up," said Antone. "In my third at bat, I knew he would throw me his off-speed stuff early and it floated up on him a little bit, so I sat back and drove it out."
Patrick Van Daalwyk continued to struggle to retire Ironmen hitters in the sixth. He managed two put away Tekra and Andrews to lead off the frame, but left a fastball right over the middle of the plate to Nolan Neuschaefer who belted a solo homer to right (his first hit of the year).
"I really just tried to get the barrel of the bat on the ball," said Neuschaefer. "He threw me a pitch that sailed over the middle of the plate and I put a good swing on it. I guess sometimes good things happen when you have a good approach."
Jake Neuschaefer then reached on an error and Cody Koch followed with a single to center field on a perfectly executed hit and run. With Antone up again, River Rats' catcher Kyle Bischoff tried to snap throw down to first base line and pick off Koch, but his throw short-hopped Cody Campbell and skipped down the right field line, allowing Neuschaefer to score and Koch to advance to second. Antone was intentionally walked with first base open.
After a full count walk to Drew Kissinger, Van Daalwyk's day came to a close. He allowed five earned runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings and walked six batters.
Once Naso's pitch count reached 99 with two outs in the home half of the sixth, head coach Joe Rhomberg turned to Antone to take the mound.
"Naso pitched a great game today," said Rhomberg. "We needed him to eat some innings for us because we knew we were going to be short-staffed and he did more than we could've hoped for."
Naso's final line included five hits and three earned runs over 5.2 innings, with four walks and two punch outs. Antone gave up an infield single in the sixth before getting the final out.
Rey Carrion doubled down the right field line to lead off the seventh inning and came around to score after a sac bunt from Xavier Bonilla and ensuing single by Mark Andrews. The Ironmen comfortably led 7-3.
Richmond plated an unearned run in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't answer Lorain County's 4-run top of the ninth. The black and grey batted around, smashing out five hits and held a seven run advantage going into the home half of the ninth.
Spencer Bryant surrendered a run in the final frame after Carrion threw a bunt attempt into right field, but the game was far out of reach.
"It was nice to see us swing the bats so well today," said Rhomberg. "We're seeing an ability early in the season to hit good pitching. We've only played two games so far, but I like the mentality of our players and I hope we can play well in front of a home crowd tomorrow."
The Ironmen will play in their home-opener tomorrow night at 7:05 PM against the Slippery Rock Sliders.
Prospect League Stories from May 30, 2012
- Bombers Baseball Camps to Start Next Wednesday - Dubois County Bombers
- Spencer Sapp Dominates as Bombers Improve to 2-0 - Dubois County Bombers
- Sliders' Bats Silenced By Bombers' Sapp - Springfield Sliders
- Ironmen bats blast three home runs in 11-5 drubbing of River Rats - Lorain County Ironmen
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