Lansing Lugnuts at South Bend SilverHawks
April 6th, 2002
| Lansing |
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0 |
2 |
0 |
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0 |
0 |
2 |
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0 |
2 |
0 |
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6 |
10 |
3 |
| South Bend |
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1 |
1 |
0 |
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0 |
0 |
0 |
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1 |
0 |
0 |
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3 |
9 |
1 |
E-Cedeno 2, Slavik, Garcia, LOB LAN-0, SB-6, 2B-Arteaga, Coats, Lopez, Nichols, Hairston, Janz, SB-Haydel, CS-Johnson, Arteaga, Haydel, GIDP-Hairston
WP-Mitre, Brown, BK-Wechsler, SO-Theriot, Cedeno, Bouras, Mallory, Hanna, Loeb 2, Vugteveen, Garcia, BB-Cedeno, Nichols, Vugteveen
U-Hanson and Barry
T-2:17, A-942
Lansing State Journal
The Lansing Lugnuts fell behind early for the third straight game but came back to win the final game of their series with the South Bend SilverHawks, 6-3 on Saturday.
South Bend took an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first off Lugnut starter Serio Mitre, but the lead was short lived.
Brad Bouras and Mike Mallory scored in the top of the second when Josh Arteags hit a two run double.
Scott Hairston scored to tie the game for the SilverHawks in the bottom of the inning when third baseman Joe Slavik bobbled what would have been an inning ending grounder.
The game remained 2-2 until the sixth. Buck Coats and Ryan Theriot led off with consecutive singles, South Bend starter Justin Wechlser balked then to second and third, and then Ronny Cedeno drove both home with a single to center for a 4-2 lead.
The SilverHawks scored one and threatened to tie the game again in the seventh when Jeramy Janz attempted to tag from third on a sacrifice fly, but he was cut down by a perfect throw from rightfielder J.J. Johnson.
The Lugnuts padded their lead in the eighth when Johnson drove in Coats and Cedeno on a single.
Johnson was thrown out trying to take third on the error, but the lead help up as Eric Brown pitcked up his first save of the season.
Mitre (1-0) was the winning pitcher, giving up two runs in six innings.
South Bend Tribune
by Matt Kopsea
Hitting is not the only thing Lansing's J.J. Johnson proved to be good at Saturday night.
In addition to having two hits and an RBI, the Lugnuts right fielder also flashed a little leather.
Johnson came up with three clutch putouts and made a perfect throw to home to cut down the potential tying run, helping Lanisng post a 6-3 victory over South Bend in Midwest League action at Coveleski Stadium.
Clinging to a 4-3 lead with one out and a runner at third base in the bottof of the seventh inning, Johnson worked his magic by taking a flyball off the bat of South Bend's Lino Garcia and turning it into an inning ending double play with a toss to catcher Warren Hanna who tagged Jeramy Janz out at the plate.
"At first, we thought J.J. might throw the ball to the cutoff man, but as it turned out, he made the right decision," said Lansing manager Julio Garcia, "He not only made a perfect throw to the plate bu Hanna deserves some of the credit as well for doing a great job of blocking the plate.
Named the top prospect last year in the Nortwest League (.317 average, seven home runs and 61 RBIs), Johnson went 5 for 11 at the plate with three RBI in the series.
None of those hits were bigger than the two out single to center in the ninth inning to score Buck Coats. A fielding error by South Bend outfielder Lino Garcia during the sequence allowed Ronny Cedeno to score all the way from first with another insurance run.
"We made the most of our chances tonight by coming up with some clutch two out hits," Garcia said, "Having Cedeno motor around the bases like he did to get that other run was huge because we knew they were not going to go down without a fight."
Garcis was on target with his prediction as the Hawks overcame the disappointing finish to the seventh inning to load the bases with on eout in the eighth against reliever Yorkin Ferreras.
The left came away untouched, though by getting Scott Hairston to ground into an inning ending double play, one of four turned in the game by the Lugnuts.
"We definitelyhad our shar of chances, but we hit the ball right at them and they made the plays", said South Bend manager Dick Schofield, "I thought our guys did a nice job of hanging in there by trying to make things happen."
South Bend grabbed the early advantage against Lansing starter Sergio Mitre in the opening frame as Rick Haydel singles, moved to second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on Bryan Loeb's single to left centerfield.
The lead was short lived. The Lugnuts strung together three hits against Justin Wechsler to tally a pair of runs in the second inning.
Mike Mallory's RBI fielder's choice evened the game, while Josh Arteaga delievered Mallory from first base with a two out run scoring double.
"Justin did a nice job of regaining his composure after the first couple of innings, but then ran into a little trouble in the sixth." Schofield said, "You have to give them (Lansing) credit though, because it seemed they were able to make the big plays whenever they needed to."
Wechsler (0-1) fanned four and scattered seven hits over six innings, while Mitre (1-0) allowed just five hits and struck out three during his six inning stint.
"Sergio is a battler and tonight he made some big pitches in clutch situations." Garcia said, "Our defense came through as well and helped him out of some rough spots."