EL1 New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Near Perfection Lawrence One-Hits New Britain

Published on June 27, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


MANCHESTER, N.H. - Nearly ten years after Jamie Vermilyea accomplished the feat, Casey Lawrence fell one out shy of a perfect game on Friday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. The righty allowed just one hit, which came with two outs in the seventh inning of an 8-0 win. The victory helped the Fisher Cats (35-44) sweep a doubleheader from the New Britain Rock Cats (41-36) by scores of 3-2 and 8-0.

Lawrence's night began with an easy first inning, netting the first of his eight strikeouts. He set down the order again in the second and third, recording one strikeout and two groundouts in each frame.

After a 1-2-3 fourth with another strikeout, the Fisher Cats produced the only run Lawrence would need in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Matt Newman walked and advanced to third on a wild pick-off throw. Mike McDade singled him home for a 1-0 lead against starter Mark Hamburger (L; 0-1).

Lawrence struck out his fifth batter in the fifth before the Fisher Cats plated two in the bottom of the frame. Jon Berti brought home a run on a single before newcomer Dalton Pompey scored on a Newman single.

The sixth inning was marked by two more strikeouts for Lawrence before his offense made it 8-0 by scoring five runs in their turn at the plate. Jorge Flores and Newman each had RBI singles. McDade and Burns drew bases loaded walks, and the fifth run came across on a wild pitch by lefty Jim Fuller.

Lawrence had one inning to go for the perfect game, and it started smoothly with a groundout to first and his eighth strikeouts. But, with two outs, pinch-hitter Mike Kvasnicka lined a pitch to left field for a clean single to end Lawrence's bid at the team's second perfect game.

After retiring Kennys Vargas for the final out, Lawrence's final line read seven innings, one hit, and eight strikeouts. He threw 91 total pitches, 56 for strikes. He nearly matched Jamie Vermilyea's perfecto thrown on June 28, 2004 against New Britain in the second game of a doubleheader at Gill Stadium.

The offense was led by Newman's two hits and two runs batted in. McDade added two more RBI after homering in game one. Jon Berti was 2-4 while Jack Murphy reached three times and scored twice.

In the opener of the doubleheader, the Fisher Cats found themselves down 2-1 entering their final at-bat. McDade quickly erased that deficit by blasting his fourth home run to deep center field to knot the game at 2-2.

An inning later, with Cole Johnson (L; 1-4) on the mound, the Fisher Cats put together a one-out rally with the top of the order. Kenny Wilson reached on a bunt single, and then scored when Berti doubled into the right field corner to hand the Fisher Cats a walk-off 3-2 victory.

Tyler Ybarra (W; 3-3) earned the win in the first game, tossing a scoreless eighth inning. He needed some defensive help in the inning, but received it when Kevin Nolan made a diving stop at shortstop and flipped to second base from his stomach to strand runners at the corners.

Radhames Liz took a no-decision allowing two runs over five-plus innings. He walked a season-high four and struck out just one in his fifth New Hampshire start.

The Fisher Cats have won the first three games of the series and four in a row overall. They'll host the Rock Cats for the fourth game of the set on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. The game will feature postgame Atlas Fireworks presented by AutoFair. Tickets are available by visiting the stadium box office, calling (603) 641-2005, or visiting www.nhfishercats.com.

The Fisher Cats will send lefty Richard Bleier (3-5, 3.93) to the hill against New Britain's Virgil Vasquez (4-3, 3.71) Radio coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Tom Gauthier and Charlie Sherman on WGIR 610 AM and www.nhfishercats.com.

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from June 27, 2014


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