Thunder edge Rock Cats, 4-1

Published on September 2, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


NEW BRITAIN, CT - Connecticut native Pat Dean made his Eastern League debut before a

sellout crowd of 8,214 fans - a large portion hailing from his hometown of Naugatuck - but he was out-dueled by Trenton's Jeff Marquez as the Thunder edged the Rock Cats, 4-1. The Thunder remain alive in the Eastern Division playoff race with the victory.

The 22-year-old Dean started the game with not only the pressure of performing before his own cheering sections located throughout the stadium but also with the Rock Cats in the midst of a playoff race in the final days of the regular season.

Dean struggled in the opening frame, but settled down to turn in a solid start. In the first inning, the Thunder's Austin Krum greeted Dean with a double into center field. Corban Joseph followed with a base hit to right that scored Krum; Joseph moved to second on a throw to the plate. Dean retired the next two batters before Melky Mesa lined a single into right to plate Joseph for the 2-0 lead. Jose Gil (3-for-5) added an RBI single in an inning that the Thunder pounded out four hits.

Meanwhile, Marquez retired the first eight-straight batters before he plunked Mark Dolenc with a pitch in the third with two outs. Joe Benson was hit by a pitch in the fourth for the second Rock Cat to reach base. The `Cats didn't have a hit until Evan Bigley led off the fifth with a shot over the left field wall to close the gap, 3-1.

Marquez (2-0) struck out seven while limiting the Rock Cats to one run - Bigley's solo homer - in eight innings. Josh Schmidt hurled a perfect ninth - striking out two- to notch his ninth save.

Dean (0-1) finished with nine hits for three runs in six innings. He struck out three.

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Eastern League Stories from September 2, 2011


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