Tornadoes Blow by Bears 9-3
May 31, 2012 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Worcester Tornadoes News Release
Despite carrying the title of team ace, Zach Zuercher struggled through his first two starts with poor results. The lefty turned it around Wednesday morning as he helped the Tornadoes (5-6) earn their first series win of the season with a 9-3 victory over the Newark Bears (7-6).
Zuercher threw seven fantastic innings to earn his first victory of the year, as the stalwart gave up just three runs on six hits and struck out seven batter batters. Relievers Nick Serino and Matt McDonald each worked a perfect inning of relief for the Tornadoes who moved to 3-1 at home this year.
Nick Salotti had the big hit of the day with a three-run home run to left center field to give the Tornadoes a 5-1 lead in the third. The first baseman added a double and a hit by pitch, as he finished 2-for-4 on the day. Left fielder Brendon Kelliher had his first three hit game of the season and second multi-hit game of the series.
Cameron Monger reached base in all five of his trips to the plate. After reaching base just once in nine trips to the plate in the first two games of the home stand, Monger drew walks in the first, second and third innings, before adding a single in the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh inning.
The Tornadoes did the majority of their damage against Sean Campbell, the Bears starting pitcher. The lefty walked the first three batters he faced in the first inning on 13 pitches, before retiring Jose Canseco on a short flyout to center field. Alex Trezza followed with a soft grounder to first base, but Daryl Ward's throw to second went wide and two runs scored on the play. Campbell would get out of the jam and have an easy second inning before finding himself in trouble in the third.
Jose Canseco led off the bottom of the third frame with a walk and proceed to steal second and third base during Trezza's at bat. After Trezza walked to put two runners on, Salotti crushed a home run to left-center field that easily cleared the fence to give the Tornadoes a 5-1 edge. Johnny Welch and Kelliher followed with back-to-back singles to knock Campbell out of the game. Tony Patane knocked in Welch with a sacrifice fly to end the scoring in the inning.
Newark cut the deficit to 6-3 with single runs in the fifth and the seventh on a double from Bryce Lane and a long home run from Courtney Billingslea.
But the Tornadoes responded quickly. In the bottom of the seventh, the Tornadoes scored three runs on four hits off of Newark reliever Mark Fitton. Kelliher started the inning with a double to left field and Monger drove him in with a single to left field. After Brandon Pinckney added a soft double down the right field line, center fielder Jerod Edmondson lined a soft single over the drawn-in infield to plate both runners.
With a 9-3 edge headed to the eight, Chip Plante pulled Zuercher who threw 118 pitches for his first win of the year. Serino and McDonald had no trouble with the Bears, as the Tornadoes moved within a game of .500.
The Tornadoes will continue their home stand Friday, when they host the New Jersey Jackals at 7:05 p.m. Nick Gagalis and Davis VanOpdorp will be on the call, with Tornadoes PreGame Live beginning at 6:50 p.m. You can listen live to every Tornadoes game this season on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/worcester-tornadoes-games-in-2012.
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