MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Swing rally to win thriller

July 9, 2005 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Swing of the Quad Cities won their 26th come-from-behind victory of the year Saturday night, posting three runs in the bottom of the eighth to knock off Cedar Rapids, 8-7. The win puts the two teams back into a tie for the top spot in the Midwest League's Western Division, each sporting identical 11-6 records in the second half.

Down 7-5, Mike Ferris drew a leadoff walk in the eighth against Kernels reliever Chris Waters. Wes Swackhamer then smacked his third hit of the day back up the middle, to put the tying run on base. One out later Matt Shepherd loaded the bases with a single, and Nick Stavinoha brought Quad Cities to within a run with a sacrifice fly to left. With two away and men on first and second, Eric Verbryke then drove home Swackhamer with a flare single that touched down in left-center. When left fielder Richard Giannotti fumbled the ball as he tried to pick it up, Shepherd was able to turn on the afterburners and score the winning run all the way from first base.

Jason Cairns, the Cardinals' eighth round pick in June's draft, came on to close out the ninth. The Central Michigan product fanned two in the inning, earning the first save of his professional career.

Bo Dickerson (1-0) also recorded a first - the first victory of his professional career. The southpaw out of North Carolina tossed 1.1 innings, striking out one and holding down the Kernels while his offense rallied.

Quad Cities tallied first, putting one run on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Lemanczyk was hit with a pitch to start the inning, and was replaced by pinch runner Calvin Hayes. Shepherd perfectly executed a hit-and-run play, singling into left to move Hayes to third. Stavinoha followed with a single into right to score Hayes for a 1-0 Swing advantage.

The Kernels took the lead in the top of the second on a two-run double from Josh LeBlanc, but the Swing struck right back to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning. After Juan Lucena led off the inning with a single to center, Ferris doubled off the wall in left. The Swing took the lead when Swackhamer singled to score Lucena and Hayes' bounced into a run-scoring double play.

Cedar Rapids then jumped back on top in the ensuing innings. The Kernels tallied single runs in the third and fourth innings, before putting up a three-spot, sparked by a Sean Rodriguez home run, in the fifth.

But in the bottom half of the fifth, Quad Cities began to rally. The Swing singled three times in the inning, as Chris Patrick's knock drove home Stavinoha. In the next frame, Swackhamer led things off with a solo blast to right. The homer was his third of the season - all of which have come against Cedar Rapids - as the Swing crept to within a 7-5 score.

The win was the 700th of manager Joe Cunningham's career, as the skipper returned to the team after missing a few games while in St. Louis tending to personal matters. Quad Cities welcomed him back by continuing their late-game heroics, winning their 15th games this season in which they trailed after seven innings.

Chris Waters (1-4) picked up the loss for Cedar Rapids, yielding the three runs in the eighth inning, although only two of them were earned.

UP NEXT: The Swing and Kernels continue the series on Sunday afternoon, when the Swing send Quinton Robertson (1-2, 5.95) to the mound against Jesse Smith (4-5, 5.13). First pitch is scheduled for 2:00, and pregame coverage on Progressive Talk AM 1270 will begin at 6:45.

PROMOTIONS: Sunday's game will be Davenport YMCA at the Ballpark, along with American Red Cross day. In addition, it will be a Star 93.5 Family Fun Day, featuring clowns, caricatures, and Kids Run the Bases after the game. Tickets for all Swing games are available by calling the Swing at (563) 328-2000.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics



Midwest League Stories from July 9, 2005


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