Rock Cats Roll Past Squirrels in Opener, 5-1

August 14, 2012 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release

New Britain, CT - The New Britain Rock Cats (66-56) got out to an early lead and never looked back, dumping the Richmond Flying Squirrels (61-61), 5-1, in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night at New Britain Stadium.

The Rock Cats broke through first with a pair of runs off of Richmond lefty Mike Kickham. Chris Herrmann sparked the uprising with a one-out double to the left-field corner. Oswaldo Arcia followed and lofted an RBI double to the warning-track in left. Two batters later, Deibinson Romero made it 2-0 New Britain with an RBI single into left field.

New Britain doubled their lead and chased Kickham in the fifth inning. Kickham issued an inning-opening walk to Arcia and two batters later, Romero launched a two-run home run over the left-field wall for a 4-0 lead. Romero's 17th homer of the season marked the finish-line for Kickham in his shortest outing since June 26th.

Kickham (10-9) lasted just 4 2/3 innings and endured his ninth loss of the season. He conceded four earned runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out nine. The eight hits allowed tied a season-high for Kickham. The nine strikeouts were the second-most he had registered on the year.

Richmond right-hander Chris Wilson relieved Kickham in the fifth and allowed a run to the Rock Cats in the sixth inning. Nate Hanson led off with a double, advanced on a groundout and scored for a 5-0 lead on a wild-pitch.

Meanwhile, New Britain left-hander Logan Darnell (9-10) cruised through six scoreless innings. Richmond finally picked up their first run against the left-hander in the seventh inning, but by that point it was too little too late. Darnell departed after Ryan Cavan lifted a sacrifice-fly to plate Russ Mitchell. He earned the win over 6 2/3 innings, allowing just the lone run on six hits. He walked two and struck out eight, improving to 4-0 against the Squirrels on the year.

Right-hander Bruce Pugh took over for Darnell and took the Rock Cats to with in an out of the win. Left-hander Edgar Ibarra came on and struck out Luke Anders to seal the win for New Britain.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Wednesday night at New Britain Stadium. Richmond RHP Justin Fitzgerald (7-7, 3.60) will make the start opposite New Britain RHP B.J. Hermsen (10-5, 3.09). Pregame coverage will begin on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com at 6:35 PM.

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