Silver Hawks Take Early Lead in Eastern Division

Published on September 7, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


The South Bend Silver Hawks were victorious in the first game of the Midwest League Eastern Division Championship Series Saturday night at Parkview Field, travelling to beat cross-state rival Fort Wayne, 7-5. Like heavyweight boxers trading punches, whenever one team landed a blow, the other had a quick answer. Home runs were answered with home runs. Rallies followed rallies. Even odd bounces were mirrored by odder bounces.

The South Bend Silver Hawks, Class-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, connected with the first punch in the top of the second inning. Second Baseman Fidel Pena, sent a home run into the left field bleachers on a 2-2 pitch from Fort Wayne starter Max Fried. The TinCaps quickly answered back with a homer of their own in the bottom of the inning. Fort Wayne shortstop Tyler Stubblefield took South Bend right hander Blake Perry's first pitch of the inning over the left field wall to tie the game 1-1.

The first rally of the game led off with a home run by Silver Hawks third baseman Brandon Drury in the top of the fourth inning. Drury muscled a pitch from Fried into the right field stands for an opposite field home run, returning the lead to South Bend, 2-1. After Drury crossed the plate, first baseman Rudy Flores struck out swinging and second baseman Fidel Pena walked. Designated hitter Roidany Aguila reached on an infield single to the shortstop that moved Pena up to second base. With runners on first and second, left fielder Mike Lang came to the plate for the Hawks. He hit what looked like an easy double play ball to 'Caps second baseman Reynald Bruguera. Bruguera fielded the ball and tossed it to shortstop Stubblefield who dropped the ball. Aguila was safe at second and Pena, already on his way to third, continued around the bases to score. After catcher Michael Perez flied out F8, centerfielder Breland Almadova came to the plate. Almadova hit a sharp grounder back at the pitcher, Fried, who was able to get a foot on the ball, kicking it toward the Fort Wayne third baseman Gabriel Quintana. Quintana wasn't able to handle the ball in time to put out any runners. With the bases loaded, the next batter, shortstop Andrew Velazquez, knocked a line drive single to rightfield to score Aguila and Lang. Rightfielder Socrates Brito, the ninth batter of the inning, flew out to center to end the Hawks' rally, which saw them leading 5-1.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps, the Class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, would not take things lying down. They strung together their own rally in the bottom half of the fourth. Centerfielder Albreth Martinez led off with a line drive single to left field. Quitana followed up with a flyball double to left, which sent Martinez to third base. Perry was able to get right fielder Hunter Renfrow to ground out to third base, 5-3, but Martinez scored on the play. Left fielder Luis Domoromo came up next and sent a line drive single to right that scored Quintana, making the score 5-3. The rally ended on a soft grounder back to the pitcher by Stubblefield.

The pitchers took control of the game for the next few innings. Matthew Sheppard pitched three scoreless inning for Fort Wayne giving up only one hit, and striking out five. Perry pitched five innings for South Bend, giving up five hits, three earned runs, a walk and striking out five. Kyle Winkler pitched the sixth inning for South Bend, recording a walk and two strike outs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Geordy Parra took the mound for South Bend. He gave up a ground ball single to his first batter, Stubblefield. After striking out catcher Rodney Daal, a ball hit by designated hitter Mallez Smith took an unexpected high bounce over the head of Pena at second base. What looked like a potential double play ball turned into an outfield single. Stubblefield moved up to third base. Parra struck out Bruguera, but Martinez hit a line drive single to right field, scoring both Smith and Stubblefield to tie the game 5-5. The inning ended with a 5-3 groundout by Quintana.

After the body blow by the Fort Wayne offense, the Silver Hawks picked themselves up off the canvas to finish off the TinCaps in the ninth round. Early in the inning things were not looking good for the South Bend side. Fort Wayne reliever Ruben Mejia struck out the first two batters of the inning, Lang and Perez. Mejia's resolve started to crack when he walked Almadova. The outfielder from Hawaii was pushed up to second base by a groundball single from Velazquez. That was the end of Mejia's night. Fort Wayne manager Jose Valentine brought Chris Nunn in from the bullpen. The Hawks quickly took advantage of the new pitcher. Brito slapped a single up the middle which scored Almadova from second. The 'Caps centerfielder was unable to handle the hit, first dropping the ball when he attempted to pick it up, then tumbling head-over-heels as he attempted to field the ball the second time. Velazquez scored on the error, and Brito moved up to third. Just like that the raucous crowd of 2,486 at Parkview Field fell silent. After Drury was intentionally walked, Flores flew out to right field to end the inning.

Relief pitcher Jimmy Sherfy came on in the ninth to knockout the TinCaps. Fort Wayne went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, giving the visiting Hawks the opportunity to celebrate a playoff win on Fort Wayne's home field.

South Bend leads the best-of-three series 1-0. They are one win away from advancing to the Midwest League Championship Series.

The Silver Hawks and TinCaps return to action tomorrow night at Four Winds Field at 5:05 p.m. Rob Coe (Regular Season: 3-1, 3.12) is expected take the mound for the home team. Colin Rea (Regular Season: 2-1, 2.09) will get the start for Fort Wayne. Come out to cheer on the Hawks as they take their first shot at a berth in the Midwest League Championship Series.

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Midwest League Stories from September 7, 2013


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