MWL1 Clinton LumberKings

Kings Fend Off Late Charge to Beat Bees

Published on May 18, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Clinton LumberKings News Release


Burlington, IA - The Clinton LumberKings snapped a 3-3 tie in the seventh as Tim Morris scored on a sacrifice fly by Mickey Wiswall and right-hander Tyler Burgoon stranded four Burlington runners over the final 2.0 innings to preserve a 4-3 win over the Bees Wednesday night at Community Field.

The LumberKings struck for three runs in the second inning off Bees' right-hander Tyler Vail. Kalian Sams singled to right, stole two bases - including a contested steal of third that earned Burlington manager Aaron Niekula an eventual ejection - and scored as Jake Schlander lifted a two-run home run just over the short wall in left field. Schlander's first blast with Clinton gave the Kings a 2-0 lead.

Shaver Hansen reached on a two-out single off Vail in that same second inning and scored on Kevin Rivers' flare double amidst three Burlington defenders in shallow left field. That double raised the lead to 3-0.

The Bees scored twice off left-hander Edlando Seco to make a game of it. Josh Whitaker led off the bottom of the second with a double and scored on Douglas Landaeta's single to right-center. An inning later, John Nester drew one of three walks on the night, went all the way to third on a wild pitch and scored on Royce Consigli's groundout to Schlander at short.

Seco finished with two runs on three hits over 3.1 innings in his first start with Clinton. Left-hander Nate Reed came on afterwards and stranded two in the fourth inning and another in the fifth before yielding the tying run in the sixth.

Wade Kirkland, taking over for the injured Tony Thompson, lined an inside-out double down the right-field line and moved to third on Whitaker's groundout. A soft ground ball off the bat of Yordy Cabrera sent Kirkland home to tie the game at 3-3.

Morris led off the seventh reaching on Cabrera's fielding error at shortstop, stole second and moved to third on right-hander Mike Hart's errant pickoff throw to second. After Stefen Romero struck out, Wiswall ripped a two-strike pitch from Hart deep to center. Jose Rivero made the catch but was too deep to throw out Morris as he tagged and scored for the 4-3 lead.

Right-hander Jandy Sena (W, 2-1) worked around two walks over 1.1 innings to hold the one-run lead. Burgoon put Cabrera on at third base as he reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and moved to third on catcher Steven Baron's throwing error, but struck out Landaeta and A.J. Kirby-Jones to strand him.

In the ninth, Burgoon (S, 4) loaded the bases on a walk to Rivero, a missed catch error by second-baseman Shaver Hansen after a sacrifice bunt from Nester and an intentional walk to Nino Leyja. He'd strike his way out of the jam, fanning Kirkland looking and Whitaker swinging to nail down the victory.

Schlander went 1-for-4 with two RBI to lead the way for the Kings, who won for just the sixth time on the road this season and just the second time in nine games against Burlington. Landaeta went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Bees, who lost for just the third time at home this year (14-2).

The LumberKings (11-29) take on the Bees (28-9) in the rubber match at Community Field tomorrow night, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM. Left-hander James Paxton (0-1, 2.65) will start for Clinton while left-hander Jacob Brown (4-0, 1.06) gets the starting nod for Burlington. Listen to the game on AM 1390 KCLN in Clinton or live on the web at 1390kcln.com.

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Midwest League Stories from May 18, 2011


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