Returning Chief Leads Peoria to 4-1 Opening Night Win
Published on April 9, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
Peoria, IL -Using a 2008 Chief to propel themselves on 2009 Opening Night, the Peoria Chiefs ran past the Kane County Cougars 4-1 Thursday night at O'Brien Field. First baseman Rebel Ridling put the Chiefs on top for good with a bases loaded double in the fourth inning and four pitchers made the lead standup.
Kane County jumped on Chiefs starter Aaron Shafer in the top of the first. David Thomas led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout. Jason Christian gave the Cougars an early lead with a single up the middle that easily scored Thomas.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, the Chiefs finally broke through against Cougars starter Matt Fitts. After retiring the first 10 Chiefs he faced, Fitts allowed a Josh Harrison infield single with one away in the inning. Kyler Burke struck out and Josh Vitters was hit by a pitch. After a Nelson Perez walk to load the bases, Ridling smacked a two-run double to rightcenter to score Harrison and Vitters. Perez also tried to score on the play was thrown out at the plate.
The Chiefs would tack on solo runs in both the fifth and the eighth. Ryan Flaherty led off the inning with a slicing triple to left. Junior Lake struck out swinging, and Luis Flores was hit by a pitch. Flores then attempted to steal second base, but stopped short of the bag to purposely get caught in a run-down. Recognizing that the Cougars infield was committed to tagging out Flores, Flaherty took off for the plate and scored easily to pad the Peoria lead to 3-1.
Peoria added an insurance run in a crazy bottom of the eighth. With one down, Campana singled to left. With Josh Harrison batting, Campana stole second and moved to third on the same play as the ball got away from Kane County catcher Juan Nunez. Kyler Burke drew a two out walk to put runners on the corners and Campana scored moments later on a wild pitch by Mike Hart.
Shafer (1-0) lasted five innings and gave up the one run on six hits while striking out two to earn the win. Jeff Beliveau entered out of relief and gave up two hits in 2/3 of an inning. Returning Chief Kevin Kreier fired two and a third scoreless innings and struck out four. Ryan Buchter, who was traded for 2006 Peoria closer Matt Avery, earned the save firing a perfect ninth. Fitts was draped with the loss for Kane County. The right-hander allowed three runs in five innings of work. Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Rebel Ridling (1B): Ridling was 1-3 on the night, including his clutch game-winning double in the sixth. He was also robbed of a homer in the second inning by Thomas who reached over the centerfield wall to make the catch and end the inning. Notes... The Chiefs are now 2-0 in regular season openers at O'Brien Field, 7-6 in openers in Peoria, and 12-15 in openers overall...Peoria had not opened at home since the 2003 season when they beat Burlington 11-10 en route to a 7-0 start...Flaherty collected two extra base hits, a double and a triple...The four Chiefs pitchers did not issue a walk and combined to strike out nine...Kane County was 2-for-12 to start the game with a runner in scoring position...The two teams combined to steal four bases...Former Chiefs manager and Cubs star Jody Davis threw out the ceremonial first pitch...Davis led the Daytona Cubs to the 2008 Florida State League Title and is now a roving catching instructor in the Cubs organization...The two teams meet again Friday night at 6:30 pm...All tickets are $5.00 due to the Dime a Degree promotion...The Chiefs will send RH Chris Carpenter (0-0, 0.00) to the hill against RH Shawn Haviland (0-0, 0.00)...The game can be heard live beginning with the pre-game show at 6:15 PM online at www.peoriachiefs.com or on ESPN 96.5.
Midwest League Stories from April 9, 2009
- Loons Open '09 in Impressive Fashion - Great Lakes Loons
- Returning Chief Leads Peoria to 4-1 Opening Night Win - Peoria Chiefs
- Loons Top Dragons on Opening Night - Dayton Dragons
- TinCaps Blank Lugnuts, 4-0, on Opening Day - Lansing Lugnuts
- Bees Lose Opener - Burlington Bees
- Returning Chief Leads Peoria to 4-1 Opening Night Win - Peoria Chiefs
- Rattlers make a little history - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Bandits defense costs them late - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Cougars Score First but Drop Opener - Kane County Cougars
- Whitecaps Take Down Silver Hawks in Season Opener - South Bend Silver Hawks
- Who Needs Love? Stockton Does - Kane County Cougars
- Loons Begin 2009 Season Today - Great Lakes Loons
- Cedar Rapids mourns the passing of Nick Adenhart - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Opening Night Dragons GameDay - Dayton Dragons
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
