Hoppers win 5-1 to go (5-2) today at NewBridge Bank Park(AC bringing the heat on a cool April afternoon)

If you had to give out a star of the game today, it would go to Adam Conely, the Greensboro Grasshoppers starting pitcher….Tuesday night the Hoppers lost, but there were probably two stars in that game, Greg Nappo and Ryan Rieger…..Nappo worked three scoreless innings and took down the Lakewood Blueclaws, nine-up and nine-down…..Rieger had the two-out, three-run double to center and over the head of CF Kyrell Hudson, on a 3-1 count…The three men in front of Rieger had all walked…..

Today, on Wednesday, Adam Conley(AC) was bringing the heat, on a cool April afternoon….Conley was in complete control and this was his second straight effective outing, to go along with his opening-night win back on Friday(Good Friday), of last week….Against the Blueclaws on this Wednesday, Conely gave up one run, on just two hits and he had eight strikeouts, with only one walk….The run against Conley today was unearned and the Washington State-product has yet to give up an earned run so far in 2012….That makes 15 K’s on the season now for Conley and he just seems to be getting better with time….As Grasshoppers public address announcer Jim Scott said, “Conley hit the corners on both sides of the plate today and he was a killer in killer weather conditions, with the wind nearly blowing him off the mound on more than one occasion, during the blustery Spring matinee”….

What more can you say, Conley has the right stuff to be a very successful left-handed pitcher….The kid kept it coming on this Wednesday and when we say he kept it coming, we really mean he kept it coming….Conley does not give the batters much time to think about what they have just seen between pitches…Bill Hass, at GSO Hoppers.com, says Conley likes to keep the batters brains scrambled….They don’t have time to evaluate what they have just seen, before the next pitch is arriving at the plate…Read more on Bill Hass at www.gsohoppers.com….

Conley will get his next scheduled start while the Hoppers are on the road in Lakewood of all places and the Blueclaw batters might be scratching their heads and trying to get their thoughts collected and their brains un-scrambled when they meet Conley again…..They say the batters have more of an advantage when they see a pitcher the second time around, but with Conley you may want to take a pass and hope somebody else might be the pitcher that day/night instead of Adam Conley…..

Conley can get it done and he has proven that twice already this season….Can’t wait to see him again soon, when he takes the hill for third time this season, at NewBridge Bank Park……Check out Conley’s and all of the Hoppers’ numbers below in the box score, courtesy of the South Atlantic League……(Three Hoppers had two hits each to lead the offense on this Wednesday; Josh Adams, Matt Smith and Ryan McIntyre.)

Lakewood 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1 6 1 
Greensboro 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 x  5 9 3

WP: Conley (2-0, 0.00)
LP: Manzanillo (0-1, 7.94)

Lakewood BlueClaws
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Gauntlett Eldemire RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .348
Brian Pointer DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .364
Kelly Dugan 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .217
Maikel Franco 3B 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241
Aaron Altherr LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
Tyler Greene SS 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .200
Carlos Perdomo 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
Kyrell Hudson CF 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .136
Logan Moore C 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .111

BATTING
2B: Greene (1, Omahen).
TB: Greene 2; Moore; Eldemire; Hudson; Franco, M 2.
RBI: Pointer (8).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dugan; Perdomo; Hudson.
SF: Pointer.
GIDP: Franco, M, Altherr 2, Pointer.
Team RISP: 0-for-6.
Team LOB: 4.

BASERUNNING
CS: Eldemire (1, 2nd base by Conley/Gimenez).
PO: Eldemire (1st base by Conley).

FIELDING
E: Eldemire (1, fielding).
PB: Moore (1).

Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Brent Keys CF 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 .348
Alfredo Lopez 2B 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214
Ryan Rieger 1B 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 .273
Terrence Dayleg SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .345
Josh Adams 3B 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .423
Matthew Smith DH 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .375
Ryan McIntyre RF 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .364
Wilfredo Gimenez C 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .455
Ryan Goetz LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .188

BATTING
2B: Rieger (2, Manzanillo), Smith (2, Manzanillo).
TB: Lopez, A; Rieger 2; McIntyre 2; Adams 2; Smith 3; Gimenez.
RBI: Rieger (5), Smith (1), McIntyre (5), Keys (3).
2-out RBI: Smith.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: McIntyre; Dayleg 2; Rieger 3.
SF: Keys.
Team RISP: 4-for-15.
Team LOB: 10.

BASERUNNING
SB: Lopez, A (1, 2nd base off Manzanillo/Moore), McIntyre (2, 2nd base off Manzanillo/Moore).

FIELDING
E: Rieger (1, throw), Lopez, A (1, fielding), Dayleg (2, fielding).
PB: Gimenez (1).
DP: 4 (Lopez, A-Rieger, Adams-Lopez, A-Rieger, Dayleg-Lopez, A-Rieger, Lopez, A-Dayleg-Rieger).
Pickoffs: Conley (Eldemire at 1st base).

Lakewood BlueClaws
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Ervis Manzanillo (L, 0-1) 2.2 7 4 4 4 1 0 7.94
Ryan Sasaki 2.1 2 1 1 0 2 0 3.60
Gabriel Arias 3.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 4.76
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Adam Conley (W, 2-0) 6.0 2 1 0 1 8 0 0.00
John Omahen 2.0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3.60
Kevin Cravey 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.25

WP: Manzanillo.
Balk: Conley.
HBP: Lopez, A (by Manzanillo).
Groundouts-flyouts: Manzanillo 2-5, Sasaki 3-1, Arias, Ga 3-4, Conley 6-3, Omahen 5-0, Cravey 1-0.
Batters faced: Manzanillo 20, Sasaki 9, Arias, Ga 10, Conley 21, Omahen 8, Cravey 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Sasaki 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Patterson. 1B: Alex Ziegler.
Weather: 53 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:27.
Att: 3,847.