MWL1 Clinton LumberKings

LumberKings Split DH with Beloit

Published on September 3, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Clinton LumberKings News Release


Clinton, IA - Matt Cerione lifted Clinton to a 5-4 win with his two-out RBI single in the eighth inning in game one, but the LumberKings let Beloit back into the playoff picture in a deflating 8-2 loss in game two. The doubleheader split keeps the Kings 1.5 games ahead of the Snappers for the West Division Wild Card spot with three games remaining.

The Kings resumed action in game one following the previous night's rain suspension trailing 1-0 in the second inning. They quickly tied things up against left-hander Clint Dempster as Mickey Wiswall singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mario Martinez. An inning later, RBI singles by Wiswall and Nick Franklin and an error by Dempster opened up a 4-1 advantage.

Right-hander Tom Wilhemsen, facing his former club for the first time, made just one mistake in his first relief appearance of the year. With a pair of runners on in the fourth inning, Steven Liddle skied a ball to the Lumber Lounge in right for a three-run homer. His 14th clout of the year tied the score at 4-4.

That would be the only misstep for Wilhelmsen (W, 6-1), who fanned seven while scattering five hits over 6.2 innings.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the eighth, when Wiswall greeted Snappers' lefty Matt Tone (L, 3-5) with a one-out double to center. Blake Ochoa's grounder back to the mound sent Wiswall to third base, setting the stage for Cerione.

Cerione lined a single just out of reach of third-baseman Reggie Williams, scoring Wiswall from third to put Clinton ahead for the first time since the third inning. Right-hander Forrest Snow (S, 6) made the 5-4 advantage stand in the top of the ninth, working around a hit-by-pitch of Josmil Pinto to retire the side.

Wiswall finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in the game, but it was Cerione's only hit (1-for-4) that provided the 15th last at-bat win for the LumberKings. The victory temporarily increased Clinton's lead to 2.5 games over the Snappers.

In game two, the LumberKings twice missed chances to score early against right-hander Brad Stillings. Beloit seized its chance against right-hander Jonathan Arias in the third inning, getting a two-out RBI single from Williams and scoring another run on a wild pitch by Arias.

Wiswall doubled home Catricala to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third, but the Snappers answered back with two more runs on RBI singles by James Beresford and Liddle in the fifth. Those two runs went to the line of right-hander Fray Martinez, who lasted just 0.2 innings before right-hander Brandon Josselyn came on to strand two.

Catricala lifted a solo home run - his 17th of the year - to the berm in left to bring the Kings back within two in the bottom of the fifth, but a disastrous seventh inning put the game out of reach. Right-hander Nolan Gallagher walked three and allowed two hits, giving up four runs without recording a single out. Right-hander Stephen Pryor struck out the side, but an 8-2 deficit proved too much to overcome.

Left-hander Nelvin Fuentes (W, 1-1) ended up with the win despite a run over 2.0 innings and right-hander Peter Kennelly worked a non-save bottom of the seventh.

Arias (L, 0-1) took the loss with two runs on three hits over 4.0 innings in the spot-start. He walked three and struck out one.

The LumberKings (37-30, 74-62) are now a half-game behind Kane County for the West Division's top playoff spot and 1.5 games ahead of Beloit for the Wild Card with three games to play. A regular-season-ending three-game set against Burlington begins tomorrow night at Community Field, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM. Right-hander Taylor Stanton (12-6, 4.27) will make his 24th start of the year. Listen to the game on AM 1390 KCLN in Clinton or live on the web at 1390kcln.com.

Check out the Clinton LumberKings Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from September 3, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central