Outlaws' Sweep Double-Dip with St George

August 29, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Chico Outlaws News Release


Behind a great pitching performance from Demetrius Banks, the Chico Outlaws won a tight 2-1 game over the St George Roadrunners in game one of a double-header on Sunday at Nettleton Stadium.

Chico, leading the GBL in hitting with a .313 average coming into Sunday, outhit St George five to four in a pitcher's duel between Banks and the Roadrunners' Ben Hildreth.

Banks (9-3) pitched six-plus innings and threw 78 pitches (49 strikes), allowing just one earned run on four hits, striking out one.

Justin Segal picked up his fifth save of the year after coming into the game in the top of the seventh after Banks walked the first batter. Segal retired the next three hitters, including two on strikeouts . The Roadrunners scored first in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Chris Brown, scoring Matt Huggins who had singled to lead off the inning.

Catcher Kyle Obal gave the Outlaws a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sac fly, tying the game at one each.

St George's Ben Hildreth (0-1) pitched a complete game himself, but took the loss when Blake Gailen scored on a Santo DeLeon sac fly in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Outlaws the one-run lead at 2-1.

Game 2: Game two of the double-header saw Chico get going offensively, sweeping the double-dip with a 6-1 win in the nightcap between the two teams.

David Dinelli (2-1), making a spot start and only his second start of the season out of the bullpen, threw five innings and allowing just one hit to the Roadrunners. Dinelli struck out five hitters and walked four, while Josh Dew pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for the Outlaws.

The Outlaws offense got a jumpstart in the bottom of the first frame when center fielder JJ Sherrill launched his team-leading 16th homerun of the season over the Nett's right field wall, putting Chico up 2-0 right out of the gate.

St George's only run of the contest came in the third inning after Dinelli walked the bases full to start the inning. The Roadrunner's next batter, shortstop Jason Cramer, hit a ball that dropped in front of center fielder JJ Sherrill, but Sherrill's strong throw to third base forced Chris Jaurez out at third, making the play a fielder's choice. Sean Guinard scored from third on the play, cutting the Outlaws lead to 2-1.

Three more runs scored for the Outlaws in the fifth. Sherrill walked to lead off, advancing to second on a passed ball. Mikael Jova singled to put two runners. John Urick's sac fly to right scored Sherrill and was immediately followed by a Santo DeLeon double. Rookie shortstop Pascual Del Real then plated both runners with his single and giving the Outlaws a four run lead at 5-1.

Jova's RBI single in the sixth inning was the game's final run, scoring Sherrill who had hit a two-out double.

Sean Guinard (0-2) went four innings for the Roadrunners in taking the loss, giving up two runs, one earned on three hits and three walks. David Liffers allowed three runs in relief of Guinard, while Lou Bernardi got touched for an earned run in the sixth inning.

With the win, Chico improved to 21-16 in the second half and now stand 2.5 games behind Calgary with a big three game series against the Vipers starting on Tuesday night at Nettleton Stadium. St George is now 8-25 in the second half and travel to Tucson to start a three-game set on Tuesday.

Kris Honel (8-2. 2.99 ERA) gets the ball on Tuesday for the Outlaws with first pitch set for 7:05 pm.

The game will be broadcast live on the Outlaws Baseball Network and fans can catch all the action with Dan Hawkins starting at 6:50 pm. Watch live on www.justin.tv.com/chicooutlawsbaseball or audio only at www.chicooutlaws.com.

OUTLAWS NOTES: Chico took six of the seven games in the series, improving to 24-17 on the year at home....Jova's two-hit game in game two was his 32nd multi-hit game of the year, tying the Outlaws franchise record (Desi Wilson, 2006)...Sherrill's homerun in the first inning was his second homerun of the series and JJ ended up a triple shy of the cycle for the game....Sherrill came into the day tied for third in the GBL with 74 runs scored, but he added three more runs in the nightcap for 77 runs scored on the season....St George and Chico played two one-run games in the series, finishing 1-1 in that department.



Golden Baseball League Stories from August 29, 2010


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