Rock Cats Battle Back, Lose In 9th

Published on April 19, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


NEW BRITAIN, CT - New Britain clawed back to tie the game in the eighth only to watch New Hampshire score in the ninth as the Fisher Cats escaped with a 6-5 win on Thursday night.

The Rock Cats - who entered the game tied for first place in the Eastern Division - took an early lead courtesy of an RBI single by Aaron Hicks that scored Evan Bigley. After he reached base on a walk, Bigleymoved to second on Chris Colabello's single to center. Hicks then drilled a base hit into right field to knock in the first run. Fisher Cats starter Brett Cecil left the game after Hicks' hit with an apparent upper leg injury.

New Britain's Darnell Logan kept New Hampshire off the board until the third. John Tolisano delivered a one-out single before advancing to second on a wild pitch by Darnell and then to third on a Ryan Goins' base hit. With runners at the corners, Darnell misfired on a pickoff attempt that allowed Tolisano to cross the plate with the tying run. Mike McDade drew a walk before Kevin Howard's two-out single knocked in Goins to put the Fisher Cats on top, 2-1.

The Rock Cats answered back in the bottom inning with two runs of its' own. Chris Herrmann led off the inning with a double before scoring on Bigley's line drive single into left to tie the game. A fielding error by Tolisano in left allowed Bigley to move to second. Bigley advanced to third on a groundout before relief man Matt Daly unleashed a wild pitch that plated Bigley for the go-ahead run.

The back-and-forth scoring continued into the fourth when New Hampshire took advantage of Darnell's miscues again. Darnell retired the first two batters he faced before serving up a single to Jonathan Diaz. With Tolisano at the plate, Darnell overthrew another pickoff attempt, allowing Diaz to move to second. Darnell then threw another wild pitch to put Diaz 90-feet from home plate. Diaz drew a walk to bring Goins to the plate, who laced a double into center to score both runners for a 4-3 lead.

Kevin Howard added an RBI single in the seventh for the Fisher Cats. The Fisher Cats held its 5-3 lead until the bottom of the eighth when the Rock Cats jumped on relief man Ronald Uviedo. Nate Hanson led off the inning by reaching base safely on a fielding error by Uviedo. Estarlin De Los Santos followed with a single into center before a wild pitch allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Uviedo (1-0) retired the next two batters before Bigley laced a triple into center field to tie the game, 5-5.

In the top of the ninth, Lester Oliveros (0-1) came on in relief and picked up a quick out before walking McDade. Brad Glenn then grounded into a force out to retire pinch runner Brad McElroy at second. Glenn then swiped second base before scoring on Howard's single to center for the game-winner.

Matt Wright tossed a scoreless ninth to notch his first save of the season.

ALLSTATE PLAYER OF THE GAME: RF Evan Bigley went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in a 6-5 loss.

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Eastern League Stories from April 19, 2012


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