|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
Parra Paces Senators to Lopsided Victory Over Diamonds in Jacobs Cup Playoffs |
July 29, 2008. Vienna, Va. -- The Arlington Diamonds have overcome a great deal of adversity this season. For the first three weeks of the season, a number of their players were living out of a motel, because the team still couldn't find host families. A few weeks before the end of the season, the team started losing players to injury, and some left the team altogether. It has forced manager Dan Hodgson to perform a juggling act of sorts, putting players in unfamiliar positions.
Throughout all of this adversity, the team has managed to stay competitive in the Clark Griffith League and finished the season with a .500 record. The team won its opening round game in the Jacobs Cup tournament over the DC Grays 6-3. However, Tuesday night they ran to an obstacle they could not overcome: the first-place Vienna Senators. The Senators offense overpowered the Diamonds, and the Senators took an easy 9-0 victory.
Diamonds starter BJ Byerly was tagged for seven runs in the first two innings. All of the runs came off the bat of Senators slugger Martin Parra. Parra hit a three-run home run to deep right center in the first inning, scoring Kevin Hall and David Harris. In the second inning, Parra hit a ball to exactly the same part of the ballpark, only this time he had three runners on base. Parra's grand slam staked the Senators to a 7-0 lead.
“I feel pretty good right now, my body feels real good,” said Parra. “Especially after those days off, we came back and we know that we're trying to finish off the season with a bang. I think everyone is a little bit more pumped up for that. If we win the Jacobs Cup, it shows that we're the #1 team in the league. It's really important for us.”
The Senators added runs in the fourth and the fifth inning to take a commanding 9-0 lead after five innings.
Senators starter Kyle Hald was dominant, shutting out the Diamonds over six strong innings. Hald, who has been one of the best strikeout pitchers in the CGL this season, struck out another six batters.
The Diamonds had nothing more to offer and were shut out over the final three innings by a combination of Richard Cary, Mason Griffin, and Jimmy Duggan. The Diamonds will now need to beat the Beltway Blue Caps tomorrow to stay alive in the Jacobs Cup tournament.
“Right now it's do or die,” said Diamonds manager Dan Hodgson. “We aren't going to save any pitchers for Thursday. We'll try to get whatever we can out of guys tomorrow. If we come focused and ready to go, I think we have a decent shot.”
For the Senators, a tournament championship would solidify their status as the top team in the CGL. However, the team has already won the regular season championship, and is still focused on their ultimate goal of winning the NBC World Series.
“We have already won the league championship, which was our focus,” said Senators manager Chris Burr. “We try to use this tournament as a barometer of how we're playing. If we win this tournament, it's a feather in our cap. We just use this as an opportunity to play as well as we can play.”
Such an offensive outburst was a good sign for Senators fans. The team has played inconsistently over the past two weeks, suffering a few tough losses. However, with a chance to finally get a day off the past two days, the Senators came out looking fresh and renewed with energy.
It will be crucial for the team to get Parra back to swinging the bat the way he was at the beginning of the season. For the first month of the season, Parra was undoubtedly the best player in the CGL. However, his numbers tailed off over this past month as pitchers have adjusted to him. Hopefully for Senators fans, Tuesday night's outburst is a sign that Parra is adjusting back.
Andrew Struckmeyer
Vienna Senators