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North Shore yields two victories in Skyhawks double header

July 12, 2006 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


Forced to dodge the raindrops and battle through two lengthy delays, the Spirit and the Skyhawks played a marathon doubleheader at Fraser Field on Wednesday that yielded two North Shore victories and a first-half crown guaranteeing the Spirit a postseason berth.

The Spirit staked Ryan Bicondoa to an early lead in Game two of the doubleheader. B.J. Weed laced a one-out triple in the first inning and scored on a sac fly to right field of the bat of Chris Rowan.

The Spirit doubled their lead in the third inning and once again it was the fleet-footed Weed providing the spark. Weed reached on an infield single and stole second to move into scoring position. Running with the pitch, he was able to score all the way from second on a groundout from Vic Davilla to put the Spirit ahead, 2-0.

Sussex, however, would cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth inning. Former Spirit second baseman Marcos Agramonte reached first on a bunt single and moved to second on a balk. He scored the first Skyhawks run of the game on a single from third baseman Elvis Corporan.

The Spirit regained their two-run lead in the home half of the inning, though, with Weed again factoring into the scoring. Ryan Bethel got things started with a singe and came around to score the third Spirit run on an RBI single from Weed.

Unfortunately for the Spirit, three outs away from an official game, the heavens opened up over Fraser Field once again forcing another long delay. It would be more than two hours before the two teams would be able to take the field once again.

Bicondoa shook off the long delay to come back with a scoreless fifth inning. The Spirit offense rewarded their ace with a pair of runs and a 5-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning, courtesy of a Jeff Brooks homerun.

Sussex wouldn't lay down in this game, fighting back for two runs in the top of the sixth.

North Shore responded with two scores in the bottom of the sixth though and reclaimed the four-run advantage. Weir and Weed started the inning with back-to-back

singles and both came around to score. The single was Weed's fourth hit of the game, and the run was his third of the nightcap.

That would close out the scoring in this lengthy affair as the Spirit and Skyhawks finally completed their doubleheader 11 hours after it started.

Bicondoa picked up the victory f the Spirit, his fifth of the season (5-0). Sussex starter Chris Farley (1-1) suffered the loss.

The first game was much of the same, as the Spirit waited out a long delay to claim a 3-1 victory. North Shore struck first in the game. Garrett Weir led off the game with a single and scored all the way from first on a hard-hit double down the left field line from B.J. Weed. Vic Davilla followed that up with a screeching double off the right field wall that scored Weed with the Spirit's second run.

Bobby LeNoir cut the Spirit lead in half in the top of the fourth inning with a solo homerun to left field.

After a rocky first inning, Sussex starter Jose Correa settled in to keep the Spirit offense in check. He didn't allow a base runner after Davilla's first-inning RBI double and he struck out the side in both the third and the fourth inning.

Spirit starter Bryan Morse was equally effective, with just the solo shot blemishing and otherwise dominant performance.

Both pitchers were removed from the game, however, after an hour and 40-minute rain delay. Kevin Fitzgerald took over for Bryan Morse with two outs in the top of the sixth innings when the game resumed and recorded the last out of the inning.

The Spirit tacked on an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth, on the heads up baserunning of B.J. Weed. Weed reached on a one-out single, advanced to third on two wild pitches and stole home with the final Spirit run.

Morse picked up his league-tying sixth victory of the season (6-2) while lowering an already microscopic ERA. Fitzgerald recorded the game's final four outs to earn his league-high eighth save of the season. Correa paid the price for a shaky first inning and suffered just his first loss of the season (5-1).

The Spirit have an off day tomorrow, but they will return to action on Friday to host Brockton. Thursday night, the King and his Court take over Fraser Field at 7:05 p.m.



Canadian American League Stories from July 12, 2006


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