EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on April 12, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (3-2) VS. BOWIE BAYSOX (1-3)

LHP THOMAS VESSELLA (0-0, -.--) VS. RHP EDDIE GAMBOA (0-0, 0.00)

April 12, 2011 -- 6:35 PM

The Diamond

Game #6/Home #6

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Bowie Baysox will meet in game two of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels scored three runs in the first two innings and topped the Baysox 4-2 in the series opener in front of 3,196 at The Diamond on Monday night.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Thomas Vessella gets the start in game two for the Flying Squirrels...Making Double-A debut...Has not pitched above Low-A in three season in affiliated baseball...Split the 2010 season between Evansville (Ind.) and Laredo (Ind.)...Signed with Evansville 3/23/10...Appeared in six games going 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA...Allowed eight runs, five earned, in 6 1/3 innings...Released 6/7/10...Signed with Laredo 6/30/10...Appeared in 31 games going 0-1 with a 7.99 ERA...Allowed 24 runs, 21 earned, on 40 hits in 23 2/3 innings...Made 2 starts with Lake Erie (Ind.) in 2009...Went 0-0 with a 7.71 ERA, allowing seven runs, six earned, on nine hits in sevent innings...Released by the Houston Astros in March 2009...Promoted from Extended Spring Training to Low-A Lexington 5/25/08...Appeared in six games, five starts, from 5/25/08-6/20/08...Went 1-3 with a 6.83 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .319 against him...Placed on the DL 7/17/08...Made 15 starts with Short-Season A Tri-City in 2007...Went 2-7 with a 4.63 ERA, allowing 46 runs, 37 earned, on 80 hits in 72 innings...Led Tri-City in starts and innings pitched while finishing 3rd in strikeouts (52)...Took a no-hitter into the 7th inning 8/27/07 vs. ABE (Broken up by Wally Crancer's 2-out single in the 7th)...Made pro debut in 2006 with Rookie Greeneville...Went 1-5 with a 4.60 ERA in 13 games, nine starts...Allowed 25 runs, 22 earned, on 48 hits in 43 innings...Originally selected by the Houston Astros in the 11th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Whittier College.

Right-hander Eddie Gamboa gets the nod in game two of the series for the Baysox...Tossed a scoreless inning in relief 4/10 ing Harrisburg...Spent all of 2010 with Bowie, going 7-5 with a 3.75 ERA in 36 games, 11 starts...Went 4-1 with a 3.98 ERA in 11 starts with the Baysox and opponents hit .297 against him...Was 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 25 appearances out of the bullpen last season as opponents hit .219 against him...Is 1-1 with a 2.96 ERA in nine appearances, including three starts against Richmond last season...Allowed nine runs, eight earned, on 25 hits in 24 1/3 innings against the Flying Squirrels with 11 strikeouts and nine walks...Entering the 2010 season, hadn't started a game since making 12 starts in his pro debut with Rookie Bluefield Orioles in 2008...Went 1-7 with a 3.63 ERA in his 12 starts in 2008...Pitched at three different levels in 2009 going a combined 11-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 39 appearances...Struck out 75 and walked 17 in 83 2/3 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a .215 batting average against...Selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 21st round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended the University of California-Davis...Teammates with Flying Squirrels' right-hander Justin Fitzgerald with the Aggies.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL: Third baseman Jose Flores hit the Flying Squirrels first home run of the 2011 season when blasted a solo shot over the right field fence off of Baysox right-hander Tim Bascom...Richmond's first homer a season ago came in the third game of the season when Conor Gillapsie homered in the sixth inning off of Bowie's Pedro Beato at Prince George's Stadium...The Flying Squirrels hit a pair of home runs in their first game at The Diamond on April 15, 2010...Overall last season, the club hit an Eastern League-low 71 home runs, with just 21 of those coming at home. Meanwhile, the pitching staff surrendered 43 home runs at The Diamond...Brandon Waring's leadoff home run off of Ryan Verdugo in the top of the second inning last night was also the first home run of the season for Bowie...Harrisburg and New Hampshire are the only two teams in the EL that have not homered in a game yet.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS: Flying Squirrels outfielder Roger Kieschnick has hits in each of his first five games to open the 2011 season...The 24-year-old Texan is 5-for-17 (.294) in his five contests with a pair of doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored in addition to walking three times and striking out twice...The longest hit streak last season for Kieschnick was just six games which occurred twice...The Texas Tech product missed 75 games in 2010 due to a back injury.

ROOKIES IN THE ROTATION: A trio of starters made their Double-A debuts for the Flying Squirrels during the first week of the season...Left-handers Eric Surkamp and Ryan Verdugo and right-hander Justin Fitzgerald combined to go 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in their three starts, striking out 17 batters and walking four...Opponents hit just .188 (9-for-48) against the three in their first trips to the mound in 2011.

FRIENDS TURNED FOES: Several members of the Flying Squirrels and Baysox were teammates with the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League this past fall...Richmond second baseman Charlie Culberson, left-hander Ryan Verdugo, and right-hander Jason Stoffel were teamed with Bowie infielder Greg Miclat, catcher Caleb Joseph, and right-hander Wynn Pelzer on a Scorpions club that won the AFL championship...The Scottsdale club was comprised of prospects from the Giants, Orioles, Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies organizations.

RIVALRY RENEWED: The current three-game series marks the first meeting of the season between the Flying Squirrels and Baysox in 2011...Richmond will play Bowie 25 times this season, more than any other Eastern League opponent...The two teams met 29 times in 2010 with the Flying Squirrels taking 16 of the 29 meetings including the final three to eliminate the Baysox from playoff contention...Richmond went 9-6 against Bowie at The Diamond.

PROSPECTING THE SQUIRRELS: Eight members of the Flying Squirrels 2011 roster are ranked in the top-30 prospects in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...The group includes infielder Charlie Culberson (#8), left-hander Eric Surkamp (#9), outfielder Roger Kieschnick (#14), right-hander Jason Stoffel (#22), outfielder Juan Perez (#24), left-hander Ryan Verdugo (#25), catcher Johnny Monell (#28), and left-hander Clayton Tanner (#30).

FAMILIAR FACES: Seven members of the Flying Squirrels inaugural 2010 squad return to Richmond to start the 2011 season...Right-handers Daryl Maday and Ronnie Ray, left-handers Clayton Tanner and David Quinowski, catcher Aaron Lowenstein, and infielder Sharlon Schoop all spent time with the Flying Squirrels in 2010...Tanner and Ray spent the entire season in Richmond....Tanner and Maday were both named Eastern League All-Stars; however, neither were available to pitch in the game.

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Eastern League Stories from April 12, 2011


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