NL Gary SouthShore Railcats

RailCats Clinch Playoff Berth With 4-3 Win Over Winnipeg

Published on August 15, 2009 under Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release


GARY, Ind. - The Gary SouthShore RailCats locked up their fifth consecutive postseason berth and re-claimed a share of first place in the Northern League with a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Goldeyes Saturday night in front of 4,874 fans at U. S. Steel Yard.

The RailCats are the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot and moved back into a virtual tie with the Goldeyes by winning for the second time in a big four-game series. The RailCats won the series opener 6-2 Thursday night before Winnipeg came back to claim a 3-1 victory on Friday. The win also clinched the fifth straight over-.500 season for the RailCats and the 14th in as many years as a manager for Greg Tagert.

Andy Shipman finished the game off to earn his league-leading 13th save, but the ninth inning was anything but easy for the RailCats closer. Dustin Richardson singled to lead off the frame and went to second on a bunt base hit by Adam Frost. Richardson got to third on a flyout to bring triple-crown treat Juan Diaz to the plate. After getting ahead of Diaz 0-2, the Winnipeg designated hitter fouled off three two-strike pitches before Shipman fired a fastball high and tight, past a swinging Diaz for strike three. Kevin West - who ranks third in the league in RBI and hits over .300 - came up next and Shipman struck him out too, getting West swinging at a 1-2 breaking ball to end the game.

Shipman saved the win for 24-year-old right-hander Garret Holleran (3-2) who came up large in one of the biggest starts of his professional career. Holleran gave up single runs in the second, third and fourth innings but never gave up an early 3-1 RailCats lead and worked into the seventh. Holleran allowed seven hits and three earned runs in 6.1 innings, walking two and striking out a season-high five.

The RailCats got the early lead with a three-run second inning against starter Mark Michael. Cristian Guerrero walked to lead the off and went to third when Jeff Beachum singled. Brett Wallace hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Guerrero to tie the game, but Beachum was still at third base with two outs. Rob Marconi would come up big, however, cashing the run in with a two-out triple into the right field corner and he would score one batter later when Mike Massaro singled.

Ahead 3-1 after two, Josh Asanovich homered in the third and Winnipeg got the tying run on a Kurt Crowell RBI single in the fourth.

The RailCats got the game-winning run with a lot of help from the Goldeyes defense in the sixth. Beachum reached on an error with one out and was at second with two down when Marconi stepped in again. The RailCats centerfielder lobbed a fly ball into shallow right that was dropped by Dustin Richardson who was charged with an error, allowing Beachum to score with the eventual winning run, charged to Ian Thomas (0-1).

The RailCats (49-33) and Goldeyes (48-32) finish their four-game series Sunday afternoon at U. S. Steel Yard at 2 p.m. on Northern League T-Shirt Giveaway Day. The first 1,000 fans Sunday will get an Adult XL t-shirt featuring the Northern League logo and the logos of all eight teams that will make up the circuit in 2010 with the additions of the Lake County Fielders and Rockford RiverHawks, courtesy Salvi, Schostok and Pritchard, P.C. It's also another The Times Family Sunday, with a discount family coupon available in Sunday editions of The Times. Tickets are available by calling 219.882.2255 or logging on to www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Sunday's pitching matchup features RailCats ace Tony Cogan (7-6, 3.92 ERA) and second year Goldeyes right-hander Bear Bay (8-3, 3.54 ERA). The game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

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Northern League Stories from August 15, 2009


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