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MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Swing suffer late loss

June 11, 2005 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Swing's comeback fell short Saturday night, as South Bend broke up a tied ballgame with two runs in the top of the ninth and went on to win 7-5 at John O'Donnell Stadium. Quad Cities had tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, but Mike Sillman (2-2) could not hold on and picked up the loss.

The Swing (32-30) jumped onto the scoreboard first when Matt Lemanczyk led off the first inning with a double. He was then bunted over to third, and came home to score when Kellen Raab's wild pitch snuck through catcher Allen Mottram's legs.

Quad Cities extended the lead in the bottom of the third inning, when Simon Williams ripped a one-out double into left. He scored when Juan Lucena and Eric Verbryke had back-to-back two-out singles.

But South Bend (38-24) fought back in the middle innings. Agustin Murillo led off the third with a walk, and later scored when Cesar Nicolas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. In the fourth innings Billy Lockin led off by reaching base after a Jake Mullinax error, and with two outs Murillo drew another walk. Then Carlos Gonzalez hit a flare single into right to score Lockin, and when Eric Verbryke's throw back in missed the cutoff man Murillo was able to score as well and give South Bend a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth Joe Mather led off the inning with a mammoth home run that cleared the berm in left field, but back-to-back Silver Hawks doubles in the seventh put the South Bend advantage back to two runs. In the bottom half of the inning Brandon Yarbrough hit a sharp leadoff single to right, and moved to third following a Williams single and a Lemanczyk bunt. Lucena then blooped a ball into shallow center, but after a long run Jereme Milons could not come up with the grab and Yarbrough came home.

The catcher came up big in the bottom of the eighth as well. Down 5-4, Jarrett Hoffpauir got things started by taking a walk and eventually advanced to third. With two outs, Yarbrough's second single in as many innings tied the game at five.

Sillman then came in for the top of the ninth, and quickly found himself in a jam with men on second and third and only one away. When Gonzalez lined a 2-1 pitch to left, however, Lemanczyk charged hard and made a spectacular diving catch, both igniting the crowd and preserving the tie. One batter later Javier Brito quickly changed that by slapping a single to left, bringing home two runs with the decisive hit of the game.

Phillip Andersen started for the Swing, yielding three runs in five innings and walking four but getting no decision. Brian Miller and Jaymie Torres then combined to pitch the next three frames, each allowing a run.

For the Silver Hawks Josh Perrault (3-1) tossed two four-hit innings, allowing two runs. Though he blew the save he was also the beneficiary of South Bend's late rally, picking up the win on his 23rd birthday. Esmerling Vasquez came on for the ninth, and though the tying run reached base with only one out, he was able to induce a game-ending double play for his second save of the season.

Juan Lucena continued his torrid hitting, going 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .310.

UP NEXT: The Swing and Silver Hawks close out the series on Sunday, when the Swing send Mike Parisi (4-4, 3.77) to the mound against Koley Kolberg (2-1, 3.10). First pitch is scheduled for 2:00, and pregame coverage on WKBF AM-1270 will begin at 1:45.

PROMOTION: Sunday will be the QuadCity Times Plus 60 day at the ballpark, as well as a Family Fun Day.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics



Midwest League Stories from June 11, 2005


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