South Bend SilverHawks at Cedar Rapids Kernels


May 29th, 2002

Hawks
Name POS AB R H RBI
Jeison Paredes RF 6 2 2 0
Bryan Loeb C 5 0 1 0
Jarred Ball LF 5 0 2 1
Scott Hairston 2B 4 0 2 1
Kyle Nichols 1B 4 0 1 0
Heath Honeycutt 3B 6 0 0 0
Dustin Vugteveen DH 6 0 1 0
Lino Garcia CF 6 0 0 0
Scott Hillinski SS 5 0 2 0
Kernels
Name POS AB R H RBI
Ransel Melgarejo RF 4 0 1 0
Justin Turner 2B 6 1 1 0
Dallas McPherson 3B 5 0 1 1
Mike Napoli C 4 0 1 1
Greg Porter LF 5 0 0 0
Jeff Mathis DH 5 1 2 1
Mike Eylward 1B 5 0 0 0
Tommy Murphy SS 5 1 1 0
Nick Kimpton CF 4 0 1 0

South Bend 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 11 2
Cedar Rapids 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 0
E-Loeb, Honeycutt, LOB SB-13, CR-8, 2B-Hillinski, Napoli, 3B-Turner, HR-Mathis (Gonzalez), SB-Paredes, CS-Hillinski, Melgarejo, SACF-Napoli, SACB-Ball, Melgarejo, Kimpton

Hawks
Name IP H R ER BB SO Decison
Edgar Gonzalez 7.1 6 2 2 1 8 ND
Heath Heiberger 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 ND
Pete Sikaras 2.1 0 0 0 0 3 ND
Brian Bruney 1.1 2 1 0 1 2 L (2-3)

Kernels
Name IP H R ER BB SO Decison
David Wolensky 5 5 2 2 3 5 ND
Daniel Mozingo 2 1 0 0 0 2 ND
Dustin Griffith 1 1 0 0 1 0 ND
Jonathan Rouwenhorst 3 2 0 0 2 6 ND
Joel Peralta 2 2 0 0 0 3 W (2-0)
SO-Paredes 3, Loeb, Ball, Nichols, Honeycutt 3, Vugteveen 2, Garcia 3, Hillinski 2, Melgarejo 2, Turner, McPherson 2, Napoli 3, Porter 4, Mathis, Eylward, Murphy, BB-Loeb, Hairston 2, Nichols 2, Hillinski, Melgarejo, McPherson
T-4:02, A-1,462
U-Walters, Miller

South Bend Tribune

The 13th innings proved to be unlucky for the South Bend SilverHawks Wednesday night.

A pair of costly errors paved the way for Tommy Murphy to cross the plate with the game winner in the bottom of the 13th as Cedar Rapids edged South Bend 3-2, in Midwest League baseball action.

Muphy smacked a leadoff single, moved over to third on third baseman Heath Honeycutt's wild throw, and then scored when catcher Bryan Loeb couldn't handle a throw from second baseman Scott Hairston.,br>
Despite two hits apiece from Jeison Paredes, Jarred Ball, Scott Hillinski and Hairston, the Hawks dropped their fifth straight contest.

South Bend got on the board in the opening frame on Hairston's two out single, allowing Paredes to come around and score from second base.

After the Kernels evened the contest in the fourth inning, the Hawks bounced right back to reclaim the lead on Ball's two out RBI single.

It appeared this might be enough for South Bend right hander Edgar Gonzalez, but Cedar Rapids fought back once again to draw even on Jeff Mathis' seventh homer of the season in the seventh inning.

Gonzalez surrendered two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings for the Hawks.

Cedar Rapids Gazette
by Jeff Johnson

Don't worry The Cedar Rapids Kernels definitely know what's at stake the next three weeks.

A playoff berth is there for the taking.

It's a playoff berth they'll definitely get if they keep winning games like Wednesday night's. The South Bend SilverHawks gift wrapped a run in the bottom of te 13th with a pair of errors that handed the Kernels a 3-2 victory at Memorial Stadium.

"The players are well aware of it," said Kernels manager Todd Claus of being in a playoff race, "They know what we need to do, As far as I'm concerned, we control out own destiny."

The Kernels (27-24) who haven't been in the Midwest League playoffs since 1997, began the night 4 1/2 games behind first place Peoria in the Western Division. They were one half game ahead of Quad City for second place.

The top two teams in each half in each division make the playoffs. The Kernels have 18 games left in first half play.

"This is a young team, said winning pitcher Joel Peralta, who was recently sent to Cedar Rapids from Double-A Arkansas. "But they have a lot of good prospects. I definitely think we'll be in the playoffs."

Wrapping up a playoff spot in the first half is key, Claus said.

"That way you have the luxury of lining up your bullpen," he said, "You can get guys rested down the stretch. There's not as much pressure to perform."

South Bend (19-31) came into Wednesday's game with a four game losing streak and the worst record in the league.

The SilverHawks showed why in the 13th.

Tommy Murphy singled against losing pitcher Brian Bruney (2-3) to lead off. Nick Kimpton laid down a sacrifice bunt in front of the mound, then watched South Bend third baseman Heath Honeycutt airmail his throw wide of first and into the Kernels' right field bullpen, sending Murphy to third and Kimpton to second.

Ransel Melgarejo was intentionally walked to load the bases. Justin Turner flew out to short left for the first out, then Dallas McPherson hit a two hop grounder to drawn in first baseman Kyle Nichols, who threw home.

That throw was a tad low, and catcher Brian Loeb dropped it, allowing Murphy to slide home with the winning run. Not exactly a sparkling rally, but it'll do for the Kernels.

Peralta (2-0) got the victory with two shutout relief innings. Kernels relievers didn't allow a run in eight innings.

"I pitched 41 games here last year, and I don't have a win," said Peralta, who had no record but 23 saves for the Kernels last season. "Now I pitch 5 2/3 innings, I have two wins."

How They Scored

Top 1st
Jeison Paredes led off with a single to center against Kernels starter David Wolensky. He stole second and scored on Scott Hairston's two out RBI single past third.

Bottom 4th
Justin Turner tripled past first base and into the right field corner against South Bend starter Edgar Gonzalez to lead off. Dallas McPherson walked, then Mike Napoli hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Turner.

Top 5th
Scott Hillinski walked with one out and went to second on a Paredes single to left. Brian Loeb followed with a single to left, but Hillinski was thrown out trying to score. Jarred Ball then hit a two out single to right to score Paredes.

Bottom 7th
Jeff Mathis hit a long home run to left with one out.

Bottom 13th
Tommy Murphy singled to right to lead off. Nick Kimpton reached second, with Murphy going to third on third basemen Heath Honeycutt's errant throw after a sacfrice bunt. Ransel Melgarejo was intentionall walked to load the bases. Murphy scored on catcher Brian Loeb's fielding error after a ball was hit by McPherson.