Tornadoes Crush Skyhawks, Take Three Of Four In Series
May 25, 2008 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Worcester Tornadoes News Release
Augusta, NJ -- Chris Colabello knocked in four runs and Alex Trezza homered to pace another offensive outburst, as the Worcester Tornadoes took three out of four games from Sussex in the season-opening series, winning the finale, 13-5, at Skylands Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Tornadoes offense roared out of the gate, as Scott Grimes tripled off the wall in centerfield leading off the game, and scored on a fielder's choice groundout by Colabello. Alex Trezza followed with his second titanic home run of the series, a two-run blast that cleared all three decks of signs in rightfield off Sussex righty Edysbel Benitez (0-1) that gave Worcester a quick 3-0 lead. The Tornadoes doubled that total in the 2nd inning, using two walks and three singles to score three more runs, with a Jeff LaHair sacrifice fly and a Colabello two-run hit doing the damage. The lead ballooned to 10-0 in the 4th inning, as Worcester capitalized on some shoddy Sussex defense to score four unearned runs.
Meanwhile, righty Eddie Pena (1-0), making just his second career professional start, did not allow a hit through the first three innings before running into trouble in the 4th inning. Three hits and an error got the Skyhawks on the board with two in the 4th and thre more hits and Pena's own throwing error chalked up two more for Sussex in the 5th, cutting the Worcester lead to 10-4. But the Tornadoes got another outstanding effort from the bullpen, as righthander Alex Beras tossed three brilliant shutout innings of relief, allowing just two singles and striking out four. A Mike MacMillan RBI single in the 6th and a B.J. Weed sacrifice fly and a Colabello RBI single in the 9th provided the final tally for Worcester. Righty Dave Wasylak allowed an unearned run in the 9th, but the Skyhawks fell well short.
Pena (1-0) allowed just two earned runs in 5 innings for the Win and Benitez (0-1) was charged with 10 runs (6 earned) on 6 hits and 7 walks in just 3.2 innings, and took the Loss. The Tornadoes took three out of four in Sussex County from the Skyhawks, outscoring their hosts 35-14 in the four-game series. The Worcester bullpen (Jake Ociesa, Ryan Lobban, John Birtwell, Alex Beras and Dave Wasylak) combined to allow just two unearned runs in 10 innings pitched over the final three games of the series. Grimes, Trezza, Francisco Caraballo and Chuck Jeroloman each had at least one hit in all four games of the series. The Tornadoes have Monday off before beginning the second leg of their season-opening road trip in Nashua on Tuesday night. Righty Matt Weagle (1-0) will make his second start of the season for Worcester. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
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Canadian American League Stories from May 25, 2008
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