SL1 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Suns come back from seven run deficit to defeat Huntsville

Published on June 8, 2006 under Southern League (SL1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


Jacksonville, Fla. - After trailing the Huntsville Stars by the score of 7-0, the first half South Division Champion Jacksonville Suns scored 10 unanswered runs after the fourth inning to defeat the Stars 10-7 in front of a Thursday night crowd of 9,489 at the Baseball Grounds.

For Jacksonville, it was the biggest comeback of the season and improved their record to 42-20. The Suns have now won 17 of their last 18 games and 22 of their last 27. Jacksonville clinched the first half South Division Championship on Wednesday.

The Stars scored early and often off of Suns starter Danny Muegge, opening the scoring in the second inning with a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Chavez to open up a 1-0 lead.

The Stars continued to score in the fourth inning as Lou Palmisano drove in the second run of the game with a double and pitcher Tim Dillard belted his first career homerun, a three-run shot out of the Baseball Grounds that opened up a 5-0 Huntsville advantage.

Huntsville added two more runs in the fifth inning with an RBI single from Adam Heether and another RBI double from Lou Palmisano to open a 7-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Suns had trouble with Huntsville starter Tim Dillard in the first four innings with only three hits during that time. In the fifth inning Jacksonville came to life with RBI singles from A.J. Ellis and Chin-Lung Hu to cut into the Huntsville lead at 7-2. Tony Abreu then belted his fifth homerun of the season, a three-run shot to put the Suns back within two runs at 7-5.

Jacksonville added another run in the sixth inning as Jimmy Rohan came through with a busted bat RBI single that put the Suns within one at 7-6.

The Suns used help from the Stars defense to finally get over the top during the seventh inning. Following a leadoff strikeout from Craig Brazell, Chin-Lung Hu grounded a ball to shortstop that went through the legs of Ozzie Chavez. Tony Abreu next grounded a ball to second base that went through the legs of Callix Crabbe. Following a wild pitch to move the runners to second and third and a walk of Tydus Meadows, A.J. Zapp stepped to the plate. The veteran first baseman grounded a ball through the right side to plate the tying and go-ahead runs that gave the Suns an 8-7 lead. Next, Justin Ruggiano belted a double into left-centerfield to plate two more runners and open up a 10-7 lead.

Reliever Alvis Ojeda improved to 3-1 with the win for Jacksonville while Huntsville's Khalid Ballouli fell to 2-3 in the loss. Carlos Alvarez recorded his first save of the year.

Jacksonville and Huntsville continue the five game series Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Travis Phelps will pitch for Huntsville against Suns right-hander Heath Totten. The first 3,000 fans will receive a Suns beach towel and after the game it is Friday Family Fireworks. Tickets are available by calling the Suns box office at 904.358.2846 or visiting jaxsuns.com.

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Southern League Stories from June 8, 2006


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