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Spirit split doubleheader with Jackals

July 5, 2006 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


The Spirit rebounded from a 7-4 loss in the first game of a doubleheader with the Jackals on Wednesday night with a 9-1 victory in game two, behind a masterful complete-game performance from Bryan Morse and a 12-hit explosion from the offense. With the split, the Spirit moved to 21-17 on the season, while New Jersey remained stuck at .500 with a 19-19 mark.

Morse (5-2) earned the victory for the Spirit with his second complete game of the season. The lefty ace kept the Jackals offense in check throughout the contest. Jackals started Aaron Myers wasn't as fortunate as he suffered the loss, allowing 10 hits and seven runs in 4 innings of work.

After struggling to put runs on the board in Game 1, the Spirit bats came to life in the nightcap with runs early and often against Myers.

The scoring spree started in the second inning. Andrew Wishy reached on a two-base error by Jackals shortstop Guillermo Reyes and scored on an RBI single from Jeff Brooks. Alex Trezza followed with a two-run homer that wrapped around the right-field foul pole to put the Spirit ahead 3-0.

The Spirit picked up two more runs the very next inning. They scattered four singles, including an RBI bloop hit from Chris Rowan and a rare run-scoring infield hit by Brooks.

North Shore's lead ballooned to seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. J.D. Reininger got things started with a single through the left side. He moved to third on a hustle double from Garrett Weir, and both came around to score on a base hit from B.J. Weed.

The Spirit tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. Jackals' reliever Tim Tisch loaded the bases with a hit batsman and two walks. Weir scored one with an RBI single and Weed scored a second Spirit runner with a sac fly to center, for the ninth Spirit run.

The Jackals finally got to Morse in the top of the sixth inning. Bryce Kartler started the inning with a triple, the first Jackals hit since Jason Tuttle led off the game with a single. Guillermo Reyes followed with a single to put the Jackals on the board. Morse induced a double play, however, to escape the inning without further damage.

That would close out the scoring in game one as Morse settled in for a scoreless seventh.

The Jackals struck first in Game 1 as Jarrad Lavergne struggled with his control early. Lavergne walked two of the first three batters he faced in the contest. The free passes proved costly as both runners came around to score, giving New Jersey a 2-0 advantage in the first.

North Shore chipped away at the deficit in the home half of the inning, however, behind the bat of Vic Davilla. Davilla launched a solo shot over the right-field wall to cut the Jackals lead in half. The long ball was Davilla's fifth of the season.

The Jackals answered with two more runs in the top of the third inning, though, to extend their lead to three runs. After retiring the first man he faced in the inning, Lavergne allowed the next three batters to reach. He surrendered a walk to Zack Smithlin and then gave up back-to-back singles, including a RBI broken-bat shot to Wilton Veras. Lavergne almost escaped further damage with a strikeout to the next batter, but the Jackals pushed another run across the plate with an RBI single from John Lindsey.

The Jackals' offensive onslaught continued into the fourth inning. Taking advantage of a Spirit error, the Jackals put three more runs on the board. Joe Mihaliks and Clay Kuklick got things started with back-to-back singles and Tuttle loaded the bases when Lavergne failed to handle his sacrifice bunt cleanly. Belcher scored two runners with an RBI single, and Bill Peavey connected for his second RBI single of the game to give the Jackals a 7-2 lead.

J.D. Reininger tried to revive the Spirit attack with a homerun to open the sixth inning. The leadoff shot was Reininger's second of the season and it cut the Jackals' advantage to five.

Weir was hit by a pitch to give the Spirit another base runner in the inning. He advanced on a Davilla single, and came around to score on Rowan's groundout to pull the Spirit to within four.

The Spirit tacked on one final run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jackal's reliever Josh Schwartz loaded the bases with a single, walk and hit batsman, and then surrendered a two-strike, two-out RBI single to Trezza. That was as close as the Spirit would get in this one, however, as North Shore failed to score another run.

Lavergne (2-2) suffered the loss, while Jackals reliever Jason Wylie (3-3) picked up the victory.

The Spirit have an off day Thursday, but they will be back in action on Friday in Brockton. Ryan Bicondoa returns to the Spirit rotation as North Shore looks to maintain its stay atop the Commonwealth Cup standings.

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