Lefty Pitches Revolution to 2-0 Win, First Half Title
Published on July 5, 2014 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Lancaster Stormers News Release
Alain Quijano carried the York Revolution over the threshold to a first half title on Saturday evening.
The southpaw, working in his ninth season of independent baseball and first in the Atlantic League, blanked the Lancaster Barnstormers on three singles over eight innings as York clinched a playoff berth with a 2-0 win over the Barnstormers in front of 5,936 at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
Quijano (7-4) walked none and struck out five. He faced only four batters over the minimum and allowed only one runner to reach second base. That one threat occurred in the third when Juan Apodaca reached on an error by third baseman Travis Garcia to start the inning, and Wilson Batista singled off shortstop Wilson Valdez' glove one out later. Quijano wriggled out of the threat on a foul pop up by Ben Francisco and Cole Garner's force play grounder.
He got all the support he needed in the first two innings, spurred by leadoff man Justin Greene. The York right fielder singled to left to open the game off Cory Wade (2-2). He moved to second on a Valdez sacrifice, to third on a fly ball by Eric Patterson and scored on Chad Tracy's lined single into left field.
One inning later, Greene stepped in with runners at second and third with two outs. He hit a slow roller toward the hole at short. Lance Zawadzki made the backhanded stop but had to wait a split second for Sean Smith to clear and barely missed the speedy Greene at first with a strong throw.
York sent the minimum of 21 players to the plate over the final seven innings as the Barnstormers turned two strange double plays. In the fifth, Smith led off with a triple and remained at third as Greene bounced out. Valdez attempted to bunt the run home on a safety squeeze but pushed the ball too close to Wade. Smith froze and waited until Wade fired to first before charging home. Gabe Jacobo made a perfect peg to a waiting Apodaca at the plate to complete the double play.
In the eighth, Chad Tracy rolled a single up the middle off Ross Peeples. The southpaw got the next batter Johan Limonta to bounce to second. Batista chased Tracy back, flipped to first to get Limonta, and Jacobo dealt back to Zawadzki to cut down Tracy sliding in.
The Barnstormers had their chance in the ninth. Francisco greeted closer Rommie Lewis with a double to left center, and Garner followed with a two-bagger that barely cleared Greene in right, chasing Francisco to third. Jacobo hit a one-hop grounder to Valdez, who fired home to cut down Francisco, a call that led to the ejection of manager Butch Hobson. Andrew Clark grounded into a force for the second out, and Lewis ended the night, and Lancaster's first half hopes, with a four-pitch strikeout of Brock Kjeldgaard for his 17th save.
Lancaster and York wrap up the three-game series and first half schedule on Sunday afternoon. The Barnstormers send right-hander Chris Schwinden (7-1) to the hill against York fan favorite Corey Thurman (3-1). Fans may tune into 1390-AM, WLAN; 1600-AM, WPDC; 1390wlan.com or the I Heart Radio cell phone app, beginning at 12:45.
Atlantic League Stories from July 5, 2014
- Lefty Pitches Revolution to 2-0 Win, First Half Title - Lancaster Stormers
- Patriots Win 7-1 in Front of Season - Somerset Patriots
- Revs Sew Up First Half Title Behind Quijano's Masterpiece - York Revolution
- Rally Quacks Strike Again - Long Island Ducks
- Patriots Defeat Bluefish 7-1 - Somerset Patriots
- Bridgeport Drop Game Two to Somerset - Bridgeport Bluefish
- Crabs and Skeeters Split Doubleheader - Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
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