Fort Wayne Wizards at Michigan Battle Cats
April 13th, 2002
| Fort Wayne |
|
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1 |
7 |
1 |
| Michigan |
|
|
4 |
2 |
4 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
X |
|
|
11 |
15 |
0 |
E-Barfield, LOB FW-5, MIC-8, 2B-McCool, Serranco, Rodriguez 2, Conrad, Lentini, Mote, Stegall, HR-Conrad (Earey), Mote (Fox), SB-Barfield, Rodriguez, Lentini, SACF-Conrad
SO-McCool, Hastings, Trzesniak, Hellman, Stockton, Conrad, Checksfield, Mote, Stegall, BB-Barfield, Likely, Shelf, Stegall, Lydic
T-2:13, A-964
Battle Creek Enquirer
by Howie Magner
Jerry didn't have much to scream about. Not that it stopped him from trying.
Fort Wayne Jerry, a fan known around the Midwest League for his vociferous support of the Wizards, made a stop at C.O. Brown Stadium Saturday night, hurling plenty of taunts at Michigan players. But the Battle Cats sent Jerry and his Wizards back to Fort Wayne contemplating an 11-1 loss.
"Give him credit though, said Michigan starting pitcher Russ Rohlicek, who worked six innings of five hit, one run ball and improved to 2-0. "Even when they were losing 11-1 in the ninth, he still had plenty to say."
Andy Jerry made sure everyone heard it. Think Don Rickles with a megaphone, though Jerry uses no amplification device other than his own lungs and had his volleys returned by many of the 629 Cats fans in attendence.
What was Jerry yelling?, "What wasn't he yelling", joked Cats manager John Massarelli. "He's a loyal fan, isn't he?, I asked him where he was the first two games of the series and he said he had a job. I said, you have a job?
It's just one example of the good natured jobs both sides traded Saturday. But if Jerry's job Saturday was to get the Cats off their game, he didn't quite accomplish the mission.
The Battle Cats scored 10 runs in the first three innings off Fort Wayne starter Ben Fox (0-1) then turned things over to Rohlicek and Coughenour, who tossed three scoreless innings for his third save of the season.
Michigan's win left both the Cats and Wizards with identical 7-3 records and forged a tie atop the Eastern Division standings. One team will claim first place outright when they finish off the four game series with today's 2pm start at C.O. Brown.
Saturday's lone bright spot for the Wizards was Josh Barfield's first inning RBI single. After that, it was all Cats, as all nine Michigan starters either had a hit or scored a run.
Michigan wasted no time coming back with four runs in the bottom of the first, getting a run scoring single from Steve Checksfield and a three run homer from Trevor Mote. The Cats scored twice more in the second on Brooks Conrad's sacrifice fly and Fehlandt Lentini's RBI single.
The Cats tacked on four more runs in the third inning, a rally highlighted by Mike Rodriguez's RBI single and Brooks Conrad's two run double, then got their final run on Conrad's solo round tripper in the fifth inning.
Conrad finished the game 2 for 4 with four RBIs, while Mote was 2 for 5 to up his team high batting average to .389. Rodriguez finished 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, a stolen base and three runs.
"I think we're starting to come together as a team," Rodriguez said, "We're getting good situational hitting and good timely hitting."