Strong Pitching; Timely Hitting Lead Aviators to First Win of the Season
May 18, 2013 - Frontier League (FL)
Rockford Aviators News Release
LOVES PARK, Ill. - The Rockford Aviators (1-1), presented by Pearson, got another quality start and some timely hitting to earn their first win of the young season, 7-5 over the Frontier Greys (1-1) at Aviators Stadium in Loves Park.
Aviators starter Trevor Harden (1-0) pitched seven innings of three-hit baseball, giving up just one run, striking out 10 in the process.
Harden got some run support in the second when the Aviators scored four runs on two hits, both in the form of two-out RBI singles from Alvaro Ramirez and Matt Greener, to make the score 5-1 after two innings, where it stayed until the sixth.
Ramirez led off the sixth with an infield single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single from Evan Button. Button then stole second and scored from second on a wild pitch when the pitcher, Justin Yackee didn't cover home, and the Aviators led 7-2 after six innings.
The Greys made things interesting in the eighth. Rockford native Jake Nicholson came in to pitch for the Aviators and struck out the first batter he faced before running into trouble. Tyler Kolodny singled, Kenny Gilbert reached on an error by Aviators second baseman Ray Delvalle, then Mark Micowski and Esteban Meletiche followed with RBI doubles that brought in three runs for the Greys to cut the Rockford lead to 7-4. Nick Cicio came on to finish the inning, getting Justin Vasquez to ground-out to first and Justin McDavid to line-out to center.
The Greys added a run in the ninth to make it 7-5 Aviators, but Garrett Granitz closed the door with runners on second and third to seal the club's first win of the season and his first save.
Graham Johnson (0-1) started for the Greys and took the loss. The right-hander pitched four innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits and three walks. Johnson also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter.
The rubber match starts tomorrow at 5:05 p.m. on YMCA Family Day. Children 12 and under can play catch on the field prior to the game between 4-4:30 p.m. and the YMCA will have extra inflatables and activites for kids. Members of the Rockford Health System Kids club receive free admission to all Sunday home games. Ask about signing up by calling (815) 885-2255 or visiting www.rockfordaviators.com.
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