After two fun days that included a trip to the Space & Rocket Center in Alabama, Ruby Falls & the Tennesseee Aquarium in Chattanooga with my child’s 5th grade, I am back playing catch up. Here is the report Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday from the bus stop.
Round Rock
Tuesday Runelvys Hernandez allowed 11 base runners but no runs in 6 innings as the Express pulled out a 2-1 win.
Juan Guttierez enjoyed his return to Round Rock Wednesday. The RHP who was traded to Arizona over the winter got the win and a homer in the 4-3 Express loss.
Thursday, Josh Miller continued his good pitching and he got some stellar defense from Mark Saccommano to lead the Express to a 4-1 victory. In his last two outings, Miller has gone 12 2/3 innings, given up 14 hits and 1 walk resulting in 1 earned run while striking out 7.
Roster note – Ty Wiggington left Round Rock to return to Houston, Jack Cassel returned in his place.
Corpus Christi
Tuesday, Corpus Christi fell short in trying to comeback from a 3-0 hole. They made noise in the 9th but to no avail.
he Hooks made a bid to at least tie the game in the top of the ninth when Chris Johnson collected his third hit, a leadoff double off the left-field wall. Johnson moved to third on a groundout before Drew Sutton was hit by a pitch.
Tommy Manzella, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 18 games with an RBI single, sent a screaming liner down the first-base line. Midland first baseman Tommy Everidge, however, snagged the shot and easily doubled off Sutton at first, ending the game with Midland’s third double play of the night.
Wednesday night wasn’t close as Brad James took the loss in an 11-4 beating.
Thursday was closer but no cigar as Midland took the 3rd game of the series 6-5. One bright spot for the Hooks is Tommy Manzella has a 20 game hitting streak going. The Hooks defense has also been solid as they lead the league in double plays turned with 37.
Salem
Tuesday, Salem lost a heart breaker when the umpire ruled Wlad Sutil swung at a pitch that went to the backstop. If the umpire doesn’t rule swing, Salem ties the game in the bottom of the 12th. With the ruling it was a swing, the Avs lose 6-5.
“There’s no doubt in my mind, he didn’t even come close to swinging,” Pankovits said.
Wednesday, David Qualben returned to last year’s form picking off 3 of the 4 Kinston players to reach base during his time on the bump. Qualben credited a new mustache and sharper control of his pitches for this improved performance.
“My pitches felt like they were a lot sharper tonight,” Qualben said. “The first inning or two my control wasn’t all the way there, but I fought through it and then from the third inning it was like the ball felt smooth coming out of my hand. My slider was breaking a lot more and I felt like my change-up was tailing a little better.”
Control is important for Qualben, whom manager Jim Pankovits described as “far from a power pitcher.”
“It’s called getting ahead of hitters and making them hit in pitchers’ counts instead of hitters counts,” Pankovits said.
Thursday, Polin Trinidad surrendered his first two homers of the season as Myrtle Beach beat the Avs 6-2.
“He wasn’t sharp today and he couldn’t pitch around a couple of defensive mistakes we made,” Pankovits said. “One of the most important things these kids can learn is consistency — to consistently play up to their abilities.
Roster Note: Wladimir Sutil was moved up to Corpus Christi. No replacement has been made yet.
Lexington
Tuesday, Lexington couldn’t make it back from a 5-1 hole as they fell 6-5 in 11 innings.
Wednesday, Anthony Bello pitched 7 strong innings but it wasn’t enough as the Legends fell late 2-1. Bello went 7 giving up 1 run on 4 hits and no walks. He struck out 8.
Thursday, the Legends found their bats. They scored 4 in the 4th and 5 in the 5th to take a 9-5 victory. Leandro Cespedes got the win. He went 5 innings allowing 2 runs while striking out 8.