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NL Gary SouthShore Railcats

RailCats Score Six Times in Ninth, Down JackHammers 12-6

July 28, 2009 - Northern League (NL)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release


JOLIET, Ill. - The Gary SouthShore RailCats scored the last nine runs of the night including six in the ninth to blow open a tie game, beating the Joliet JackHammers 12-6 Tuesday night at Silver Cross Field in the first of a three-game series.

The ‘Cats snapped a three-game losing streak with an authoritative win that early on was anything but easy. The JackHammers limited Tony Cogan to his shortest outing since May, answering a three-run RailCats first with six straight runs, but the RailCats battled all night long, finally tying the game on a Jordan Czarniecki RBI double in the seventh before tagging former RailCats reliever Chad Blackwell (1-4) for six in the ninth.

Blackwell had retired five straight entering the ninth inning, but Eric McNamee led off the frame with a line drive single to center. Jay Pecci replaced McNamee at first after a fielder's choice, and Pecci went around to third when Steve Haake singled through the right side. With Czarniecki standing in with a chance to give the ‘Cats a lead, Blackwell's first pitch went to the backstop to score Pecci and from there the inning snowballed. Jeff Beachum, Mike Massaro and McNamee all picked up RBI hits later in the frame and by the time the dust cleared, the RailCats had scored six times on six hits.

The RailCats scored three times in the first inning against Derek Barrows, but Joliet answered quickly scoring three times in the bottom of the second against Cogan and taking the lead on Joe Gaetti's first Northern League home run in the third, a two-run blast. Rob Dahlberg finished a 3-for-3 day by singling in another run off Cogan in the fifth to make the score 6-3. Cogan - named the Northern League's Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row earlier Tuesday - allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in 5.0 innings but got a no-decision.

Barrows settled down after the first to give his offense time to take the lead, but in the sixth the RailCats went back to work. With two outs, Anthony Esquer and Rob Marconi singled in front of Massaro, who whacked a double off the wall in right to score both runs. Massaro had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a walk and a season-high four RBI.

The ‘Cats tied the score in the seventh off Joliet reliever Ryan Paul. Pecci led off the inning with a walk and scored two batters later when Czarniecki drilled an opposite field double into the right field corner, scoring Pecci all the way from first.

The RailCats bullpen had a perfect day, with Eddie De la Cruz throwing two scoreless innings before Grant Johnson (4-6) got the side in the eighth to earn the win against his former team. Andy Shipman struck out two in the ninth.

McNamee - who had two hits in the ninth - joined Massaro with three hits to lead a 15-hit RailCats attack. All nine RailCats starters had at least one hit, with Beachum and Esquer each adding two apiece.

The RailCats (37-28) and JackHammers (24-41) continue their series Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Silver Cross Field. Derell McCall (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second RailCats start against veteran Joliet right-hander Nate Sevier (0-0, 2.19 ERA). The game will be broadcast live on 89.1 FM, The Lakeshore, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Notes: Massaro's four RBI give him a career-high 39 this season. The 25-year-old drove in 35 runs in 2007 with Kane County (A), but did so in 129 games. Massaro has played in only 62 games this year ... the RailCats improved to 10-4 against the JackHammers in 2009 and 17-6 overall in July ... Marconi's single in the seventh extended his hitting streak to nine games ... before Tuesday, Cogan had not allowed an earned run since July 10 in Winnipeg, a span of 29.2 innings ... the RailCats are now 61-29 under Greg Tagert against the JackHammers.

More Info: The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. The RailCats won the Northern League championship in 2005 and 2007 and for each of the last five years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 48 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65.

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