Michigan Battle Cats at Dayton Dragons
April 16th, 2002
| Michigan |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
9 |
2 |
| Dayton |
|
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
7 |
1 |
E-Mote, Stegall, Berolla, LOB MIC-5, DAY-7, 2B-Rodriguez, Conrad, Varner, HR-Conrad (Coffey), Shelf (Childress), CS-Conrad, Hodges, Hurtado, HBP-Stegall
HB-Childress, WP-Coffey, PiO-Coffey, SO-Rodriguez, Mote 2, Shelf, Obradovich 3, Hodges, Likely 2, Bergolla, Encarnacion 2, BB-Shelf 2, Prince
T-2:27, A-7,799
Battle Creek Enquirer
Brooks Conrad and Todd Shelf each hit two run homers and sparked Michigan to a 4-2 triumph over Dayton Tuesday night.
It was Michigan's ninth win in 10 games and lifted the Battle Cats to 9-3, the Midwest League's best record, while Dayton fell to 4-8.
Michigan's starting pitcher Mike Burns threw seven solid innings to collect his first win of the season. He gave up just one unearned run on five hits and a walk while striking out two.
Dayton's lone run off Burns (1-1) came in the third inning, but the Cats struck back in the sixth. Conrad doubled ahead of Shelf, who smacked his first homer of the season off Dayton starting pitcher Daylan Childress (0-1) for a 2-1 Michigan lead.
Conrad got in on the longball act in the eighth inning, collecting his second dinger of the year after Mike Rodriguez led off the frame with a double. Greg Powell made the lead stand up over the last two innings, giving up a run in the ninth but still collecting his third save.
Dayton Daily News
by Marc Katz
For a moment there, Dayton Dragons manager Donnie Scott thought he might have been looking at his previous team.
The way it worked out Tuesday night he was. Michigan's Battle Cats used two home runs to defeat the Dragons, 4-2, in a class A Midwest League game, played before 7,799 at Fifth Third Field.
It was the way the Dragons won last year, getting a hit here and there and pumping one over the fence for the victory. Now if these Dragons could put together a string of its, maybe they'd win a few more games.
"We've got to do better, especially with men in scoring position," Scott said, "We've got to bunch hits together."
While the Dragons left seven on base, including two with one out in the seventh and one with two outs in the ninth, they seemed to do everything else right.
Good pitching, good fielding and at least one well placed base hit provided what could have been the winning run.
It was all ruined by two pitched that went for homers.
In the sixth inning, with Dayton leading 1-0, Michigan's Todd Shelf lifted a ball over the left field fence for a 2-1 lead off starter Daylan Childress. In the eighth, Brooks Conrad lofted another two run shot over the right field fence to cream Todd Coffey.
The homer off Coffey was especially hurtfull since COnrad thought he was hit by a pith before and ran to first base as the ball eluded Dayton catcher Bryan Prince with a man on second.
"He definately thought it hit him", said Prince, who threw out two runners trying to steal in the game, "I couldn't see it because I was trying to block the ball. I thought if we had runners on first and second, they try to bunt them over, although you never know since thier third hitter was coming up."
Scott was thinking the same thing. Which would have been better? Having runners at first and second, or allowing Conrad, who had seven RBIs in his previous five games, try again? It turned out having Conrad try again was the bad choice.
"It was a fastball," Prince said, "It wan't as far away as we liked."
Childress felt the same about the pitch he threw to Todd Shelf in the sixth, which went over the left field fence for Michigan's other two run homer.
"It wasn't a bad pitch," Childress said, "It probably wasn't the greatest pitch I could have thrown. Sometimes when I have good stuff, they hit it. Sometimes I throw a bad pitch and they don't".
It was not the best way to begin a seven game homestand, although there was plenty to cheer about for Dragons' fans. In addition to Prince throwing out two runners and Coffey picking off another at first. Noochie Varner threw out a runner at third trying to take an extra base.
Dragons Tales
Michigan starter Mike Burns allowed only five hits in seven innings. With one run scoring on two hits in the third. Dayton had only one other two hit inning, scoring a run in the ninth.
Scott didn't go to Indianapolis on his day off Monday to watch the team play the Reds AAA Louisville team. Instead, he visited Cincinnati to meet with Reds' farm director Tim Naehring.