Late Inning Blooper Costs 'Cats
Published on May 18, 2012 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
Winston-Salem, NC- Another pitchers' duel ensuredand again theHillcats were on the wrong end by a score of 2-1. Jake Petricka and Aaron Northcraft wentpitch-for-pitch, but it was Brady Shoemaker'sRBI single in the 8th that was the difference in the game.
After last last's pitcher's duelwith a pair of top prospects onthe mound, the Hillcats had the tall order of facing the Chicago White Sox's number four prospect, Jake Petricka.WhileAaron Northcrafthasn't had the fan faire ofPetricka, he certainly looked every bit as stellar.
It was a battle from the beginning. Northcraft got intoa jamin thebottom half of the first. Carlos Sanchez lined a singled, then stole second, but scurried over to third on an errant throw from Hillcats' catcher Braeden Schlehuber.However, he was able to work out ofit byfanning Trayce Thompson and getting Brady Shoemaker to groundout.
Each pitcher woulddevistate the opposition'soffense in a variety of ways. Petricka hadis strike out pitch on point, whilenot letting a few walksdo any damage. Northcraft wouldbeefficent, occasionally mixing in a strike out with ground balls andfly balls.
It wasn't until thebottom of the fifth that the first run would cross the plate. Nick Ciolli blasted a double into the right-center field gap with one out. Miguel Gonzalez would hit a soft ground ball to third baseman Emerson Landoni. After scooping the ball, Landoni's throw pulled first baseman Chris Garcia off the bag to put runners at first and second. It woudln't matter because Juan Silverio gave the first pitch he saw a ride out to deep left-center, left fielder Mycal Jones and center field Matt Lipka converged with Lipka making a valient diving attempt, but just out of his reach. Ciolli would score to give the Dash a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez would stop at third and Silverio got his fourth double of the season.
The top of the six would see the Hillcats answer back quickly. Nick Ahmed gothis first hit of the day, asingle out to right field with two strikes. Ahmed was on the move when Tommy La Stella hit a grounder to the second baseman Daniel Wagner. La Stella was retired, but Ahmed reached second base. The next batter--and new addition--Adam Milligan laced a single outto right to score Ahmed and tie the game 1-1.
Petricka would go just one more inning and get the no decision. His counterpart, Northcraft, would go a solid seven but also get ano decision.
Each team threatenedin the seventh inning, butit wasWinston-Salemthat broke throughin the bottom of the eighth.Chasen Shreve took over for Northcraft and the lefty quickly retired and the first two batters.The two out rally began with aThompson walk, followed by aDan Black single to moveThompson into scoring position.It was Brady Shoemaker's turn to come through in the clutch. After falling down in the count, Shoemaker would hit abloop single over the head of Matt Weaver at first base. Thompson would score and that would cement the victory for the Dash.
Thewinning pitcher was Nick McCully (3-2). He went2.0 innings in relief,surrendered one hit, walked two and fanned two. Chasen Shreve (2-2) picked up his secondconsecutive loss. He went1.0 inning, allowed two hitsand one walk that lead to the deciding run.
Game two is set for 7:00pm tomorrow at BB & T Park.Cody Martin(5-3-2, 2.83) will look to shutdown the potant Dash offense for the Hillcats.Justin Collop(3-0, 2.95) will get the spot startfor the Dash. Tune in and listen live to all the action on 105.5 FM KD Country and online at lynchburg-hillcats.com starting with the Hillcats On-Deck Show coming on the air at 6:40pm with Erik Wilson and Mike Viso.
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