Rzepczynski Too Much for Cats

Published on April 18, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - New Hampshire's Marc Rzepczynski struck out eight and was backed by 10 hits, including a home run by Nick Gorneault, as the Fisher Cats downed the Rock Cats, 7-2 on Saturday night.

Rzepczynski (2-1) limited the Rock Cats to two runs on four hits in six innings. The Fisher Cats were paced by a three-hit night by Brian Jeroloman and two doubles by David Cooper.

Rock Cats starter Matthew Fox cruised through the first, retiring all three batters he faced in the inning. Fox ran into trouble in the second, though, when he allowed back-to-back singles by Brian Dopirak and Jeroloman to open the inning. Gorneault then blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence for a 3-0 lead.

The Rock Cats answered back in the bottom of the inning. Wilson Ramos started off the inning with a single to right field, but was thrown out at second when Eric Lis grounded into a force out. Juan Portes hit a one-out single and Toby Gardenhire drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. Yancarlos Ortiz delivered a clutch single to right field to drive in two runs and close the gap, 3-2. That was as close as the Rock Cats would get.

Fox (0-1) returned to the mound in the third and hit a couple of speed bumps again. He walked the first batter he faced, but came back to force Brad Emaus to fly out to right field. Cooper then lined a double center field and it appeared that it would score Todd Donovan from first, but Donovan was thrown out at home on a throw by center fielder Juan Portes, who relayed the throw to Ortiz. Fox then unleashed a wild pitch before a double by Dopirak scored Cooper for a 4-2 advantage.

The Fisher Cats tacked on three more runs in the eighth, including a RBI double by Cooper.

The Rock Cats made some noise in the ninth against reliever Celson Polanco. Danny Valencia sandwiched a single between two walks to load the bases. Ex- Rock Cat David Shinskie came on to replace Polanco and forced Ramos to ground out and end the game. Shinskie picked up his first save of the season.

Fox finished with four runs on five hits and three walks through 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five. For the Rock Cats, Anthony Slama tossed one scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from April 18, 2009


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.

OurSports Central