Last night’s come from behind win by the Vancouver Canadians
was a good sign, for two reasons. First, they really needed the win as
Salem-Kaizer is level-pegging with them for the NWL West playoff spot.
But second, Eugene is playing for nothing for the rest of the season,
and a demoralizing win for the C’s was always going to be likely to
take the wind out of their sails - perhaps the last wind they have left.
Tonight, the Emeralds came out with a little small ball in the 2nd,
notching the first run of the game against the under-rated pitching of
Joseph Newby (left)… but once the charity was out of the way, it was time
for the C’s to get to work.
It all started with the Emeralds’ Brian Cavanaugh being hit by a
Newby pitch. A ground-out moved him along to 2nd, and Daryl Jones
doinked a shallow fly to right field to get him home. Well done Em’s…
now sit down and shut up.
Bottom of the 2nd, Vancouver trailing by one run, but the traditional
Canadians’ game of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ was once
again in play as Anthony Recker came up to the plate with 2 outs on the
board. Recker teed one up and smooshed it long ovver the left field
wall, rounding the bases with the home crowd on its feet, and
announcing to all that his recent spate of home run power was no fluke.
Recker’s pipes aren’t just for show.
Vancouver left two men on base in the 3rd, and when the 5th rolled
around with Eugene looking mostly tamed by Newby’s power-packed
fastball, the C’s went to the matresses for a big inning.
It started with a Wilber Perez groundball to 1st base. Daryl Jones did
well to get to the ball, but Perez is a quick one and made it to the
bag before the cover. Mike Massaro then sac bunted him along to scoring
position, looking to small-ball the C’s to a lead, but Chad Boyd then
popped up to the shortstop to rack up the second out of the inning.
Would the C’s leave yet another man stranded on the bags?
Would they heck. Justin Sellers doubled to left field, scoring Perez to
put the C’s a run up, then Jeff Baisley drew one of his patented
‘unintentional but totally acceptable since the pitcher is frightened
of him’ walks to put men on 1st and 2nd. That left it up to Haas Pratt
to dink a soft fly to left, scoring Sellers, then Jose Garcia pulled
the same routine to short center to score Baisley, and not to be
outdone, Steve Kleen hit a liner to left to score Pratt. An Anthony
Recker single to in the hole at short was well grabbed by shortstop
Billy Richardson, loading the bases for Wilber Perez before the
Emeralds management went for the hook.
New pitcher… booo.
In comes Arnold Hughey to replace the oft-bamboozled Grant Varnell, and
the change, though it probably came about 6 at-bats too late, was a
good one. Perez struck out swinging.
From there it was all a case of "oh no you don’t" from the Vancouver
pitching staff. Jason Ray came in to relieve Newby in the 7th and, oh,
struck out the side. Adam Gold, who Vancouver brutalized earlier in the
season, came out to the mound for Eugene in the 8th and copied Ray’s
routine to a T (turnabouts is fair play, I guess), but Jason Ray wasn’t
about to let Eugene have the last word in the strikeout battle royale,
so he went out again in the bottom of the 8th and smoked everything
that moved.
Billy Killian, a .167 average hitter, looked to hit Ray’s pitching
long… "Oh, you want to hit my pitching? I don’t think I’ll allow
that. K TO YOU!"
Clint Cleland, a .244 hitting outfielder, swung hard and swung often… "Swing at this, Bush League! K TO YOU!"
Seth Johnston, a .248 hitting infielder, closed his eyes, swung with all his might…
"Oh no you di’nt! Who you think you’re gonna hit with that whiffle bat, Rook? K TO YOU!!!"
SIX K’S IN A ROW! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, when
Jason Ray is zeroing in on his spots, there is nobody in this league he
can’t blow away on sheer speed alone. In fact, I’d suggest to you all
right now that if the Oakland A’s send him to instructionals and really
work on his location, he could rocket through this system and end up
being the pick of the litter. Sure, he can get erratic, but he’s only
been pitching for a little over one year, so with a little experience
under his belt, oh my freakin’ god.
Credit where it’s due, Adam Gold responded with a couple of K’s of his
own in the 9th, but the game was long out of his team’s hands by that
point. Danielin Acevedo shut the gate in the 9th, and the C’s coasted
to a big fat victory, and on a day when Everett CLEANED SALEM-KAIZER’S
CLOCK - 13-4 - to give the C’s sole leadership of the NWL West!
Life tonight is good. Life tomorrow promises to be worth paying attention to.
C’s win! C’s frickin’ win!
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GAME NOTES:
* With the lumber, the C’s were decent tonight, though with the
exception of one crazy inning, they still looked a little dry at the
plate, especially with men on base. New recruit Andre Piper-Jordan once
again struck out in a pinch-hitting appearance, which makes 0-2 with
2K’s in his short-season career, but Anthony Recker more than made up
for that, going 2-4 with a homerun, Wilber Perez went 2-4 with a run
scored, and Justin Sellers went 2-5 with a double and a run scored.
Every other starter with the exception of Chad Boyd managed at least
one hit on the night, but it must be said, most of them came in that
one 4-run inning.
* Joe Newby went great once again in the starting pitcher role, going 6
innings of 4 hit ball, with 1 earned run, 3 walks and 7 K’s. Jason Ray
was filth in the 7th and 8th, going 2 innings of scorless ball in which
he struck out the side twice, and Daniel Acevedo was clean in the 9th.
Great effort across the board, and if you look at who has pitched the
last few days - Piekarz and then Newby, it seems clear that Juan
Navarrete is planning to have Jimmy Shull, Mike Madsen and Trey Shields
rested for the Salem-Kaizer series… GREAT MOVE!
Tomorrow’s starter is Jeff Gray, hopefully fully recovered from his recent bout with injury.
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