MWL1 Clinton LumberKings

Playoffs a Reality for LumberKings

Published on August 28, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Clinton LumberKings News Release


Clinton, IA - The Clinton LumberKings are back in the Midwest League Playoffs with a sweep of the Quad Cities River Bandits in a doubleheader at Ashford University Field on Monday night.

Clinton can clinch the second-half Western Division title with a win on Tuesday or a Burlington loss in Kane County. The Cougars helped out the LumberKings with a 4-0 win over Burlington on Monday. Clinton has now made the playoffs in 11 of the last 15 years of Midwest League play.

Game one got off to a rough start for the LumberKings as the Bandits scored five times in the second inning when the defense went astray for Clinton. Ramon Morla committed a throwing error and Dillon Hazlett muffed a groundball that could have been a double play. The two miscues led to four unearned runs on the line of Mayckol Guaipe.

Clinton came back with a vengeance as Jharmidy De Jesus got things going with a run-scoring double. Hazlett made up for the error with a two-run double to trim the lead to 5-3. After Jamal Austin walked, red-hot Dan Paolini hit his 15th homer of the year, a three-run shot to give Clinton a 6-5 lead. They tacked on an insurance run and limited Quad Cities to a single tally the rest of the way.

Stephen Shackleford relieved Guaipe and notched his tenth save of the year by retiring all four batters he faced as Clinton took game one, 7-6.

Game two started like game one with the Bandits jumping out to a lead in the second inning. Anthony Melchionda belted his fourth home run of the year to give Quad Cities a 1-0 lead. But again, the LumberKings battled back. Ramon Morla hit the first pitch in the bottom of the second over the left field wall for a solo shot to tie it at 1-1. Jabari Blash doubled and De Jesus tripled to make it 2-1 and the rout was on.

They plated five runs in the fifth inning as Paolini hit his second three-run homer of the night. The LumberKings infielder has nine home runs, eight doubles and 30 RBIs in the month of August. Guillermo Pimentel and Ji-Man Choi added a pair of two-run doubles to close the scoring at 10-1. Jeremy Dobbs picked up the win in relief as Bobby Shore had a short start in preparation for the playoffs.

The 41 wins matches a season-high since becoming the "LumberKings" in 1994. They also won 41 in a half in 1999, 2007 and 2008. The Clinton franchise record for wins in a half is 44.

Right-hander Seon-Gi Kim (4-4, 4.13) gets the start for Clinton in the series finale against left-hander Dail Villanueva (3-3, 5.40) for the River Bandits. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30.

Check out the Clinton LumberKings Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from August 28, 2012


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