Hoppers stay close to first with 7–0 win
from Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball at www.gsohoppers.com
The best way to catch a team that you’re behind is to beat them head-to-head, and the Hoppers get that chance coming up.
After disposing of Hickory 7–0 on Sunday for their third straight win, the Hoppers will start a three-game series at Hickory Monday. The Crawdads are in first place in the Northern Division with a 24–19 record. Greensboro and Hagerstown share second place, tied with 22–19 records. West Virginia is in fourth place at 22–21. Twenty-seven games remain in the regular season.
“We’ll just go in there and try to win the series,” said Hoppers manager Todd Pratt in a phone conversation. “Hickory has a very threatening lineup.”
If the Hoppers can take two out of three, they will be tied with the Crawdads. A sweep would give them a two-game advantage. Hagerstown is on the road for three games at Delmarva, which has lost nine straight games.
Pratt said he was proud of his team for being able to come back and play well in a 4 o’clock game after playing 15 innings in Saturday night’s win. The offense collected 11 hits, with Luis Pintor, Brian Miller and Jhonny Santos getting two each. Jarett Rindfleish had a double, Rony Cabrera tripled and Eric Gutierrez hit his fourth homer, a two-run shot.
Greensboro took advantage of Intimidators catcher Casey Schroeder, who had to pitch 1 2/3 innings Saturday (and was the losing pitcher). They stole five bases, led by Pintor with two.
A trio of pitchers held Kannapolis to four hits as the Hoppers posted their second shutout in three games. Starter Ethan Clark battled his way into the fourth inning, giving up three hits and three walks. He was removed with two on and two out in the fourth when his pitch count reached 82.
Kolton Mahoney entered and got the third out with one pitch. He then pitched four more scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks, to earn his fourth victory.
Nestor Bautista wrapped things up with a 1–2–3 ninth, striking out two.
“It’s our same M.O.?—?pitching and defense,” Pratt said.
NOTES: Brandon Miller, acquired from the Seattle organization in a July trade, will pitch the opening game of the Hickory series … Backup catcher Bryan De La Rosa was released and Jared Barnes, the Marlins’ 8th-round draft pick this year, will be promoted from the Gulf Coast League … Barnes, who played at South Alabama, will join the Hoppers in Hickory … He played 10 games in the GCL, hitting .333 with a homer and four RBIs … Half of his 10 hits were for extra bases—three doubles, a triple and a homer.
*****Box Score courtesy of the South Atlantic League*****
Final
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Kannapolis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Greensboro 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 X 7 11 0W: Mahoney, K (4-5, 3.42) ; L: Solorzano (3-9, 6.38) HR: GBO: Gutierrez (4) . Kannapolis IntimidatorsPlayer Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG* Luis Gonzalez CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .225 B Rutherford DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .280 Jake Burger 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .304 Micker Adolfo RF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .279 Gavin Sheets 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .267 Mitch Roman SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .269 Zach Remillard 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .248 Casey Schroeder C 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 A Schnurbusch LF 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .170 Totals 29 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 9 .251BATTING
TB: Schnurbusch; Schroeder; Gonzalez, L; Adolfo.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Adolfo; Burger 2; Schroeder; Remillard.
GIDP: Burger.
Team RISP: 0-for-11.
Team LOB: 7.BASERUNNING
PO: Schnurbusch (1st base by Mahoney, K).FIELDING
E: Solorzano (5, pickoff).Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Brian Miller CF 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .313 Walker Olis LF 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .190 Trenton Hill 1B 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .276 Eric Gutierrez DH 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 .263 J.C. Millan 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .197 Jhonny Santos RF 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .172 J Rindfleisch C 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 .237 Rony Cabrera 2B 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 .163 Luis Pintor SS 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 .232 Totals 34 7 11 1 1 1 7 6 9 .246BATTING
2B: Rindfleisch (10, Hobbs).
3B: Cabrera, R (1, Solorzano).
HR: Gutierrez (4, 3rd inning off Solorzano, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Pintor 2; Cabrera, R 3; Rindfleisch 2; Olis; Hill; Santos 2; Miller, Bri 2; Gutierrez 4.
RBI: Cabrera, R 2 (3); Pintor (38); Gutierrez 2 (24); Miller, Bri (13); Rindfleisch (33).
2-out RBI: Rindfleisch.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gutierrez 2; Olis; Cabrera, R 3.
Team RISP: 4-for-18.
Team LOB: 9.BASERUNNING
SB: Pintor 2 (8, 2nd base off Solorzano/Schroeder, 2nd base off Hobbs/Schroeder); Millan (1, 2nd base off Hobbs/Schroeder); Miller, Bri (11, 2nd base off Hobbs/Schroeder); Gutierrez (4, 2nd base off Hobbs/Schroeder).FIELDING
DP: (Pintor-Hill).
Pickoffs: Mahoney, K (Schnurbusch at 1st base).Kannapolis Intimidators
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA* Yosmer Solorzano (L, 3-9) 2.0 5 5 5 3 2 1 6.38 Lane Hobbs 3.0 2 2 2 2 4 0 4.09 Jake Elliott 3.0 4 0 0 1 3 0 1.96 Totals 8.0 11 7 7 6 9 1 3.44Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Ethan Clark 3.2 3 0 0 3 5 0 2.32 Kolton Mahoney (W, 4-5) 4.1 1 0 0 2 2 0 3.42 Nestor Bautista 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.89 Totals 9.0 4 0 0 5 9 0 3.74Solorzano pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd.
Game Scores: Solorzano 17; Clark 55.
WP: Solorzano; Hobbs; Clark.
Pitches-strikes: Solorzano 65-32; Hobbs 54-31; Elliott 60-39; Clark 82-47; Mahoney, K 48-29; Bautista 12-9.
Groundouts-flyouts: Solorzano 2-0; Hobbs 3-1; Elliott 3-1; Clark 2-1; Mahoney, K 4-4; Bautista 1-0.
Batters faced: Solorzano 14; Hobbs 12; Elliott 14; Clark 16; Mahoney, K 15; Bautista 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Hobbs 1-0; Mahoney, K 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Brandon Blome. 1B: Jude Koury.
Weather: 85 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, In from LF.
First pitch: 4:03 PM.
T: 3:02.
Att: 4,613.
Venue: First National Bank Field.