Pioneers Get Swept For 1st Time This Season
Published on June 30, 2002 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Elmira Pioneers News Release
Sunday, June 30 2002 - Le Stade Municipal, Quebec City, Quebec -
The Quebec Capitales won their 7th straight in completing a 3-game series sweep of the Elmira Pioneers with a 6-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Le Stade Municipal in front of 2,741 fans.
The Pioneers have have dropped 6 of their last 7 games and went 1-5 on their gruelling road trip to the North Division's top teams of Adirondack and Quebec.
If New Jersey extends their Northern League record win streak to 14 games then the Pioneers will trail by 7 games with only 9 games remaining in the 1st half. New Jersey's magic number currently stands at 4 and could be trimmed to 3 later today.
Quebec is currently 4.5 games ahead of Adirondack in the North Division race.
The Pioneers open a 3-game series with the league's defending champion New Jersey Jackals Tuesday night at Dunn Field. A spectacular post-game fireworks extravaganza will highlight the Tuesday game festivities on Toshiba Night at Dunn Field.
The Pioneers were once again playing without 3 of their top players as Pedro Quero, Rafael Alvarez and Osmani Garcia were all missing from the lineup for various reasons. Rookies Luke Syfert, Rolando Bello and Brian Baker tried to fill the gaps left by some of the team's top hitters.
Ron Bush led the attack for the Pioneers going 4-for-4, all singles. Rod Smith started a comeback rally late in the game with a solo HR in the 7th down the LF line, his 2nd of the season.
The last batter in the Quebec lineup, SS Robbie Kison, led the attack going 2-for-3 with 3 rbi's. Brian Cornelius was 2-for-4with a double and 2 rbi's.
The Pioneers made 2 errors in a crucial 3-run rally in the 5th but otherwise made several exceptional plays in the field. Ron Bush made 2 diving plays, one on a looping line-drive and one on a grounder up the middle. Luke Syfert at 1B made a terrific diving catch on a bullet line-drive off the bat of John Cotton that he was able to turn into an unassisted double-play in the 3rd.
Quebec struck early against Pioneer LF Jeff Andra (4-4) with a run in the 2nd inning when BJ Garrison doubled down the LF line and scored on a single to RF by Robbie Kison.
Elmira put together a 2-out rally in the 3rd with Ron Bush singling off Quebec starter Tim Stanton (5-1). He advanced on a balk and scored on a single to left by Sandy Vasquez. Brian Jones blasted a double off the wall in left-center to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.
Quebec tied it in the 4th. Eddie Lantigua singled and was replaced on a fielder's choice by eric Kofler. Rudy gomez singled and BJ garrison walked to load the bases and Robbie Kison hit a sac-fly to right allowingKofler to score just ahead of the throw from Vasquez.
Quebec would break the 2-2 tie the next inning with a 3-run rally in the 5th taking advantage of 2 Pioneer errors. Pat Scalabrini, the leage's top hitter with a .376 average, reached on a dropped fly in RF by Vasquez. Rafael Pujols singled Scalabrini to 3rd on a hit-and-run. Brian Cornelius doubled to left center bringing in both runs with Pujols racing all the way around from 1st and tumbling around the diving tag attempt of Jones at the plate.
Later in the inning, with 2 outs, Eric Kofler hit a slow roller to short but Bobby Hill was late getting to the ball and his throw in the dirt skipped past Luke Syfert at first bringing in Cornelius with another unearned run giving Quebec a 5-2 advantage.
Rod Smith hit a2-out HR with 2 outs in the top of the 7th. The solo shot was his 2nd long-ball of the season barely staying fair down the LF line and cutting the margin to 5-3. Norm Hutchins legged out a double into the left-field corner barely beating the throw. His hustle paid off as he was able to score easily on Ron Bush's 4th hit of the afternoon to close the gap to 5-4.
Bush advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch by reliever Keith Forbes but was left stranded when Vasquez hit a soft sinking lined that 3B Rudy Gomez turned into a ground-out with 1B John Cotton making a nice back-hand dig on a poor throw.
In the 8th, the Pioneers would again threaten with 2 outs when Rolando Bello would wak and Bobby Hill would single to left. Luke Syfert struck out stranding the runners at 1st and 2nd.
Quebec pushed across an insurance run in the 8th to build their lead to 6-4. Eric Kofler singled off Andra. Rudy Gomez sacrificed the runner to 2nd against reliever Matt Pike. After Garrison struck out looking, Robbie Kison delivered his 3rd RBI of the day with a single to right bringing home Kofler.
The Pioneers went down in order in the 9th against the league's top closer, Mark Cisar, who recorded his league-leading 8th save.
Elmira has a day off Monday before returning to action Tuesday night against New Jersey in a 3-game series at Dunn Field. The Tuesday game is Toshiba Fireworks Night with a postgame fireworks extravaganza to follow the contest.
Canadian American League Stories from June 30, 2002
- Bridgeport Bounces Back - Newark Bears
- Pioneers Get Swept For 1st Time This Season - Elmira Pioneers
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