Hoppers grind way into tie for 1st
(courtesy of Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball at www.gsohoppers.com)
Officially, they’re known as the Grasshoppers….Hoppers for short.
But so far this season, the Greensboro Grinders seems to be a better nickname.
That style of play has been the trademark of this team. Sunday afternoon, after the offense had been dead in the water for eight innings, the Hoppers mounted a 9th-inning comeback and scored four times to beat Delmarva 4–3.
Not only did it complete a four-game sweep of the Shorebirds, it lifted the Hoppers into a tie with Hagerstown for first place in the SAL Northern Division. The Hoppers, having won 13 of their last 16, are 25–17 overall.
“There’s no quit in this team,” said manager Todd Pratt, who got the dramatic welcome back present after missing two games to attend his son’s high school graduation. “They just keep grinding at-bats to keep this team going.”
And getting contributions throughout the lineup.
“We’ve been good in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings,” said Eric Gutierrez, the DH Sunday. “We take it one pitch and a time, one at-bat at a time, until we put something together. And we did.”
After being stymied for eight shutout innings by Delmarva starter Alex Wells and reliever Francisco Jimenez, the Hoppers got going against closer Jake Bray.
Gutierrez took an inside pitch off his forearm that was ruled a foul ball by home plate umpire John Budka.
Gutierrez indicated where he had been hit (and he still had the mark after the game). Pratt came in from the third base coaches box and insisted that Budka check with base umpire Dillon Wilson. After a short conference, Budka directed Gutierrez to take first base.
“I really didn’t say much,” Gutierrez said. “Skip (Pratt) came in and talked the umpire into asking for help.”
It was only the second time in the game that the Hoppers had the leadoff hitter reach base and they took full advantage. Boo Vazquez followed with a single, his third hit of the game. Justin Twine then drew a walk to load the bases.
Alex Jones, the backup catcher, then rapped a hard single to right field to score Gutierrez with the Hoppers’ first run. Vazquez and Twine moved up to keep the bases loaded with no one out.
Mason Davis lifted a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score Vazquez and slice the lead to 3–2. Corey Bird kept the pressure on with an infield hit that loaded the bases again.
Walker Olis hit the second sacrifice fly of the inning, an uncommon occurrence, to center field. Twine scored to tie the game 3–3.
That brought up James Nelson, the Hoppers’ hottest hitter. He took a strike, then drilled a liner to right field that was well past outfielder Jake Ring. Aaron Knapp, pinch-running for Jones, scored from second base with the winning run. Nelson, credited with a double, disappeared in a swarm of happy teammates.
“The first pitch was a curve and I took it for a strike,” Nelson said. “He threw another curve and I stayed back on the ball and followed through with my hands. I tried to be calm and put the ball somewhere they weren’t.”
Nelson said he never had a doubt that the Hoppers would rally, even down three runs on a lackluster offensive day.
“I believe in this team,” he said. “Every day in the dugout I hear that we own the eighth and ninth innings. If we have the lead, we keep it. And if we don’t have the lead, we come back.”
Pratt said it wouldn’t have mattered who had come to the plate in that situation.
“I feel that way with everybody,” he said. “We just grind out those at-bats in the late innings.”
Jones, even though he plays behind Jarett Rindfleisch, said he comes to the park every day thinking like a starter.
“Everyone accepts their roles,” he said. “The cool thing is that it’s like a big family and there’s someone different contributing every day.”
While the offense got the highlights, the pitchers did their part. Starter Michael King pitched six scoreless innings, keeping his fastball down.
“That’s his bread-and-butter, forcing that early contact,” said pitching coach Mark DiFelice.
Sam Perez gave up the game’s first two runs in the seventh but returned to retire the side in order in the eighth.
Chad Smith gave up a run in the ninth, surviving a wild pitch and his own throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but escaping further damage. He wound up as the winning pitcher.
Pratt took it in stride when told his team was tied for first place, giving the standard “there’s a long way to go” reply.
“But it’s better than being tied for last place,” he added with a smile.
The always-quirky SAL schedule now calls for the Hoppers to travel nine hours to Lakewood for a three-game series, then return to Greensboro to begin a seven-game home stand on Thursday. Jordan Holloway will pitch the opener of the road trip.
NOTES: Nelson extended his hitting streak to seven games and finished the day at .343 … Bird stole his 13th base in 18 attempts … Colby Lusignan went 0-for-4 but had a busy defensive day at first base, digging out and stretching for several errant throws to save potential base-runners.
Box Score courtesy of the South Atlantic League…..
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Delmarva 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 9 0
Greensboro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 10 2
W: Smith (1-0, 3.38) ; L: Bray (1-2, 5.40)
HR: None.
Delmarva Shorebirds
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG* Ryan McKenna CF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .259 Jake Ring RF 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .326 Collin Woody 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .241 Gerrion Grim DH 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Prest Palmeiro 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .219 Frank Crinella 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .197 Col Billingsley LF 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .233 Alfred Gonzalez C 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Alejandr Juvier SS 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .218 Totals 36 3 9 0 0 0 2 1 7 .245
BATTING
TB: Palmeiro; Grim; Juvier 2; Billingsley 3; McKenna; Ring.
RBI: Ring 2 (33).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gonzalez, Alfr 2; Grim 2; Woody; Palmeiro.
SAC: McKenna.
Team RISP: 1-for-10.
Team LOB: 10.
BASERUNNING
SB: McKenna 2 (7, 2nd base off King/Jones, 3rd base off King/Jones); Juvier (2, 2nd base off Perez/Jones); Ring (8, home off Perez/Jones); Grim (2, 2nd base off Perez/Jones).
FIELDING
Outfield assists: Billingsley (Nelson at home).
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player Pos AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Corey Bird CF 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .282 Walker Olis RF 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .194 James Nelson 3B 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 .343 Colby Lusignan 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250 Eric Gutierrez DH 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .291 Boo Vazquez LF 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .300 Justin Twine 2B 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .159 Alex Jones C 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .231 1- Aaron Knapp PR 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .270 Mason Davis SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .222 Totals 33 4 10 2 0 0 4 3 9 .242
1-Ran for Jones in the 9th.
BATTING
2B: Vazquez, B (9, Wells, A); Nelson (7, Bray).
TB: Bird 2; Jones; Nelson 3; Olis 2; Vazquez, B 4.
RBI: Jones (3); Davis (9); Olis (6); Nelson (13).
2-out RBI: Nelson.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gutierrez; Twine; Olis; Lusignan.
SF: Davis; Olis.
Team RISP: 4-for-11.
Team LOB: 9.
BASERUNNING
SB: Bird (13, 2nd base off Wells, A/Gonzalez, Alfr); Olis (3, 2nd base off Jimenez, F/Gonzalez, Alfr).
FIELDING
E: Nelson (6, throw); Smith (1, pickoff).
Delmarva Shorebirds
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA* Alex Wells 6.0 5 0 0 2 7 0 2.16 Fran Jimenez 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1.44 (H, 1) Jake Bray 0.2 4 4 4 1 0 0 5.40 (BS, 2)(L, 1-2) Totals 8.2 10 4 4 3 9 0 4.14
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Michael King 6.0 6 0 0 0 4 0 2.57 Sam Perez 2.0 2 2 2 0 2 0 8.15 Chad Smith 1.0 1 1 0 1 1 0 3.38 (W, 1-0) Totals 9.0 9 3 2 1 7 0 3.70
Game Scores: Wells, A 69; King 68.
WP: Jimenez, F; Smith.
HBP: Woody (by King); Woody (by Perez); Gutierrez (by Bray).
Pitches-strikes: Wells, A 95-67; Jimenez, F 28-18; Bray 24-15; King 84-52; Perez 25-18; Smith 20-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Wells, A 6-4; Jimenez, F 1-3; Bray 0-2; King 10-2; Perez 3-1; Smith 2-0.
Batters faced: Wells, A 24; Jimenez, F 7; Bray 8; King 26; Perez 9; Smith 5.
Umpires: HP: John Budka. 1B: Dillon Wilson.
Weather: 65 degrees, overcast.
Wind: 11 mph, In from LF.
First pitch: 4:00 PM.
T: 2:35.
Att: 4,339.
Venue: First National Bank Field.
May 21, 2017