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Senators Pitchers Outduel Raiders in Victory |
July 9, 2008. Vienna, Va. -- Wednesday night's match-up between the McLean Raiders and the Vienna Senators featured four pitchers from the Clark-Griffith League All-Star Team. So it was only reasonable to assume that a pitchers' duel would ensue. That exact scenario unfolded at Waters Field, as the game wasn't decided until the eighth inning.
Eric Cantrell and Richard Cary matched Raiders starter Daniel Tillman pitch-for-pitch. Both allowed two-run third innings, but otherwise held the opposition in check. Raiders reliever Branden Bartlett pitched well in relief of Tillman. However, a costly error by Raiders third baseman Greg Bachman allowed the go-ahead run to score in the bottom of the eighth off of Bartlett. The Senators never looked back, adding two more runs in the inning, and coming away with a hard-fought 5-2 victory.
Tillman used a hard, low 90s fastball and a good changeup to overpower Senators hitters. In his seven innings of work, he struck out 12 Senators.
We were geared up for his fastball, said Senators infielder Blake Tagmyer. He got a couple of people with his changeup. I know he got some righties with his slider. He was throwing fastballs in early in the count, and we didn't do a good job getting to it, and then he would throw the changeup or slider for his out pitch.
The only two runs that Tillman allowed were on a Nick Boullosa home run. Center fielder Kevin Hall started the inning by dropping a perfect bunt down the third base line. Bachman air-mailed the throw to first base, and Hall used his blazing speed to get to third base. Boullosa then took an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right-field to tie the game at 2.
Cantrell bounced back nicely from his worst outing of the season last time out. Cantrell allowed six hits, but three of those were infield hits.
The second of those hits started the Raiders scoring in the third inning. La Dale Hayes hit a ball deep into the hole, and shortstop Seth Henry had little chance to throw out the fleet-of-foot Hayes. Dan Lopez and Wade Kirkland then followed with singles to load the bases. A groundout from Greg Buchman and a single from Zach Maggard scored the two runs.
Cantrell pitched himself into another jam the next inning. He allowed the first two batters to reach on singles. However, Cantrell settled in and promptly struck out the side to end the inning. After that, Cantrell retired six of the next seven hitters.
The Senators then brought on Richard Cary, who has been the league's most dominant starter, in relief. Cary, who got the win last night and is now 6-0 on the season, has pitched the last two outings in relief due to some off-days and the all-star break.
I try not to warm up as much, said Cary. I know that [the outing] is going to be short-lived, so I try to save it for the game. When I start, I go through a mental game plan and try to build my plan of attack, but when you're relieving it's somebody else's game that you're trying to finish and win.
Cary had a few control issues as he hit two batters in his two innings of work. However, he was able to work out of jams and keep the Raiders off of the board.
I'm starting to throw some more breaking pitches, working for the end of the year, said Cary. A couple of them got away from me and I hit two batters. Other than that, I was just trying to get us in a good position to win.
The Senators offense won the game in the bottom of the eighth. Bartlett came on in relief of Tillman and promptly walked Boullosa to start the inning, breaking one of the cardinal rules of pitching. David Harris laid down a nice sacrifice bunt, and Seth Henry grounded out to move Boullosa to third with two outs.
Martin Parra, the Senators best hitter all year, came to the plate with a chance to win the game. Parra, who has been a slump by his lofty standards recently, chopped a slow roller down to Bachman at third. Bachman fielded the ball cleanly, but one-hopped the throw to first base. Nick Caito was unable to pick it at first, and the hustling Parrra was safe and the Senators took the lead.
The Senators offense, as they have done all season, capitalized on the error. Parra immediately stole second, and scored on a single from Nick Kuroczko. Kuroczko repeated the procedure, stealing second and scoring on a double from Matt Goulas.
Jimmy Duggan, the last all-star pitcher, came on to pitch the ninth inning for the Senators. Duggan made it a little bit more dramatic than Senators manager Chris Burr probably would have liked. Duggan loaded the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch. With two outs, Daniel Baggett came to the plate representing the go-ahead run. However, Duggan who had been pounding hitters with his hard fastball, struck out Baggett with a good off-speed pitch to end the game.
The Senators bounced back from only their third loss of the season Monday night. The Senators suffered a tough 4-2 loss to the Beltway Blue Caps. Even with the loss, the Senators still realize that their goals are still lie down the road.
We still have the same attitude, said Tagmyer. Our main focus is Wichita, so whether it's practice or at-bats in a game, we're just trying to work hard and get better.
Andrew Struckmeyer
Vienna Senators