AtL Lancaster Stormers

Road Warriors send Lancaster to ninth straight loss

Published on August 30, 2006 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Lancaster Stormers News Release


The Barnstormers are in one of those stretches where each night brings a different cause of their demise.

On Wednesday night, the Road Warriors knocked out 12 hits and seven runs, five of them in the second, off starting pitcher Eric Ackerman, en route to a 7-4 decision for the travel squad, the ninth consecutive loss for the Lancaster club in a game played in front of 4,134 at Clipper Magazine Stadium

With the loss, Lancaster (22-20) trails Camden by one game and Atlantic City by one-half length in the Southern Division after those two clubs split a pair at Bernie Robbins Stadium on Wednesday.

The Barnstormers appeared to be en route to ending the slide scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Reggie Taylor walked, stole second and went to third when catcher Manny Mejia?s throw skipped into center field. Danny Gonzalez brought him home with a ground out to tie the game at 1-1. Jeremy Todd clubbed a mammoth homer to right center for a 2-1 edge, and Manny Santana tacked on another run when his ground single scored Jose Ortiz from second base with two outs in the inning.

However, Ackerman (5-5) was unable to hold the lead. Jason Bryan led off the second with a solid single to left. Brian Jarosinski lifted a fly ball toward the right field corner. Steve Van Note overran the ball, then slipped trying to recover as the ball fell in for the second hit of the inning. Derek Barrows then extended his hitting streak to 12, crunching a double off the left field fence to cut the lead to 3-2. Joe Nichols, playing third base for the first time, looped a single into center, his first hit of the season to tie the game at 3-3, and Sheldon Fulse followed with an RBI single to left center, giving his club the lead.

Ackerman got one out on a sacrifice bunt and struck out Bernie Gonzalez for the second out of the frame but could not get through Mejia, who lined a two-run single into left for a 6-3 advantage.

The bullpen took over for the Barnstormers in the fifth after Jarosinski doubled off the fence in right. Andy Zwirchitz, Todd Pennington, and Charlie Weatherby combined to throw five perfect innings, save for one error, and strike out six.

However, the Barnstormers were stymied by Kyle Goldwater (6-8) until finally picking up a run in the seventh when Van Note walked, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a single by Taylor and scored when Taylor was caught leaving first base too early.

Lancaster still had a chance to pull the game out in the ninth against lefty closer Melvin Pizarro. With one out, Kris Dufner doubled down the third base line. Van Note struck out looking, but Taylor and Gonzalez drew walks. Todd got ahead in the count, 3-1, took a pitch on the outside corner for the second strike, then chased a breaking ball in the dirt to end the game as Pizarro notched his 10th save.

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Atlantic League Stories from August 30, 2006


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