MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Top Silver Hawks Again

April 14, 2010 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, MI - After starting the season with a sweep against South Bend and then dropping three to Lansing, the Loons got back their winning ways, defeating the S-Hawks Wednesday night 2-1.

"It's always nice to get a win at home, especially for the fans out there," Loons closer Steve Smith said. "We've been struggling and had three opportunities to get a win [earlier in the homestand]...but it's really nice for the fans out there to finally see us get a win at home."

With the Loons up 2-1, the final innings brought out a bit of strategy and one clutch performance by Smith.

In the middle of the eighth, Manager Juan Bustabad brought in lefty Jordan Roberts out of the bullpen with one purpose in mind: to have him retire left-handed S-Hawk Bobby Stone. Without much trouble, Roberts struck out Stone, and then it was Smith's turn to close out the final 1.1 innings.

In the ninth, Lansing left fielder Victor Estevez hit a double to lead-off the inning and Smith walked the man at the bottom of the line-up, Ender Inciarte, to put two runners on with no outs.

"It was a tough one there and I made it a little interesting," Smith admitted after the game. "But I had all the confidence in the world to get out of it."

Smith retired the next two batters and then beaned second baseman David Nick to load the bases. Clean-up batter Bobby Borchering, who was 1-for-4 leading up to his final at-bat, fisted a pop-up to Loons third baseman Brian Ruggiano, who ran in to make the catch for the game's final out. The Loons earned their first win at Dow Diamond and Smith earned his first save of the year.

"That's what you want out of a closer," teammate Blake Smith said. "You want confidence in him, that he's going to come in and throw strikes and get guys out, and I think everybody knows he's going to do that when he comes out."

South Bend scored in the game's first inning on Borchering's RBI-double to the left field corner, but never scored again, having only two hits on 13 chances with runners in scoring position.

The Loons tied the game in the bottom of the first when Brian Cavazos-Galvez doubled in Christian Lara. The team took the lead in the sixth with Jerry Sands' groundball that got behind second baseman David Nick and allowed Brian Cavazos-Galvez to score from second.

The run in the first inning was the only one allowed by Loons starter Brett Wallach, who threw six strikeouts over five innings. Justin Miller pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season, twirling three strikeouts along the way. South Bend starter Ryan Brewer was the game's losing pitcher, allowing two runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work.

The Loons snap a three-game losing streak and drop the South Bend Silver Hawks to 0-7 on the year. The teams will play again Thursday at Dow Diamond, with Matt Magill (0-0, 0.00) on the bump for Great Lakes and Eric Smith (0-1, 3.60) pitching for South Bend. Thursday night is Coleman High School Spirit at Dow Diamond and first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

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Midwest League Stories from April 14, 2010


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