Courtesy of Omega Sports, “Your Neighborhood Sports Store”, on Battleground Avenue, in Greensboro…..
Final from Sunday afternoon, at First National Bank Field, in downtown Greensboro:
Greensboro Grasshoppers 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks 2
WP:Cameron Junker(3-1)
LP:Curtis Taylor(0-1)
SV:Oliver Mateo(1)
Hoppers(22-28)/Blue Rocks(25-23)
Hoppers' line:4-6-2 Rocks' line: 2-7-0
Steak n Shake Players of the Game:Sammy Siani, who had his seeing-eye home run to left field, that hit the top of the Wyndham Golf Tournament sign, and went out of the yard for the Three-run Home Run, that pushed the Greensboro Grasshoppers past the Wilmington Blue Rocks, on Sunday afternoon, at First National Bank Field….
Siani’s HR seemed like it had eyes and just barely got over the outfield wall, and it actually hit the top of the blue padding on that Wyndham sign, and bounced out of the field of play for the Three-run differential…
Greensboro Grasshoppers’ manager Callix Crabbe told www.gsohoppers.com‘s Jeff Mills:
“It’s a good moment for Siani,” Greensboro manager Callix Crabbe said. “He’s been struggling a little bit and working through some mechanical stuff. He had a chance (Saturday) night with runners in scoring position and couldn’t get the job done. So this hit today was big for him.”
Siani hit a 3-2 pitch high in the air to the opposite field, a ball that looked like a sure sacrifice fly off the bat. But it carried … and carried … and carried before hitting the top of the left-field wall near the 315 feet marker and bouncing over.
“I wasn’t sure when it left the bat, but once I saw it kept going, I thought it had a chance to go out,” Crabbe said. “From our angle in the dugout, you lose vision down there in the corner. I didn’t see it hit the top of the wall. All I heard was the crowd started cheering.”
Siani’s homer was followed up by solo shot to to right field, by Yoyner Fajardo, and with the back-to-back home runs, the Greensboro Grasshoppers had pretty much secured their Sunday day game victory, their second win over Wilmington, in this six-game series…
The Grasshoppers trailed the Rocks 2-0, heading into that critical bottom of the eighth inning…Four runs in the eighth for the Hops, and it was Oliver Mateo’s time to put the finishing touches on this game, with his ninth-inning pitching effort for the Hops…
Mateo came on in the ninth, taking the bump/hill/mound, and he was able to keep the Rocks off of the scoreboard, as Mateo went on to throw his scoreless top of the ninth frame, allowing 0 Runs, on one hit, with one walk and one strike out…In the process, Mateo was able to earn his first save of the season…
A 4-2 victory for the Hops, and these Sunday afternoon games are becoming very dramatic at FNB/First National Bank Field(Three HR’s by Greensboro’s Matt Gorski two Sundays back, and his Walk-off HR in the bottom of the 9th, was the game-winner)…
And we have seen the team names grow shorter as the week wore on….The Greensboro Grasshoppers, also known as the Hoppers, end up becoming the Hops…And the Wilmington Blue Rocks, also going by the moniker Blue Rocks, ending up turning into the shorter name version, The Rocks…The Hops vs. the Rocks, at FNB Field/First National Bank Field..Got to be making some changes/adjustments, and there always seems to be changes going on…
Oh, so much for our ballgame jargon, and we now get back to our regular ballgame report….More on those Hopper hitters for Sunday…We will start back at the top of the Hops’ batting order, with Yoyner Fajardo going 1-4/HR on Sunday…Abrahan Gutierrez 1-4…Jacob Gonzalez 1-3/Double…Jack Herman 0-2/BB/Run…Eli Wilson 1-2/Run…Maikol Escotto 1-2…Sammy Siani 1-3/HR/3 RBI…And that accounts for the Hops’ six hits, and four runs on the afternoon…
Our defensive Player of the Game, to go along with Sammy Siani, as our overall Steak n Shake Player of the Game, our defensive stalwart from Sunday, was starting pitcher Sean Sullivan…Sully gave up 0 runs, on four hits, with 0 BB’s, and 7 extra large strikeouts, and one HBP…Not a bad job at all from the Hoppers’ starting rotation…Sullivan keep the team within range of the Rocks, and even though he didn’t have any run support, the Hops were able to come back and win the game, after Sully gave them that strong beginning….
Left-hander Nick Dombkowski was steady and ready from the bullpen, working one inning, producing all zeros and two strikeouts, while the Notre Dame-product Cameron Junker, only worked two-thirds of inning, with 0 Runs/0 Hits/1 BB/2 K’s, and Junker picked up the win… Then Oliver Mateo came on to grab the save…
The Grasshoppers used six pitcher on Sunday, as did the Rocks…Hops’ pitcher Ricky Devito with one inning of work, allowing 0 runs, on one hit, with 2 BB’s, and 1 K….Logan Hoffman, from the pen, struggled more than any other Hop pitcher, lasting just 1/3 of an inning, giving up 1 run, on 1 hit, with two walks and one strikeout….After back-to-back walks in the sixth inning, Hoffman was replaced by Ricky Devito…
A bright spot for the Hoppers’ pitching staff from Sunday, was the fact that the Hops did not give up a home run to the Rocks, and the Hoppers’ pitchers only allowed the two runs in the contest….
Hopper batters only drew one walk on Sunday afternoon, the third time they had been limited to one walk, during the weekly series with the Rocks..
Curtis Taylor was the Rocks losing pitcher, and he was also charged with a blown save…Taylor only worked 2/3’s of an inning, and he gave up all four Hopper runs, on two hits, with 1 BB, and 2 K’s…Taylor gave up both of the Hops home runs in the eighth inning, the three-run shot to Sammy Siani, and the solo blast, by Yoyner Fajardo….All four of the runs charged to Taylor, were earned runs…
Attendance:3,145
Time of Game-2:13
The Greensboro Grasshoppers will be off on Monday, before heading to Winston-Salem to begin a six-game series with the WS Dash, on Tuesday…
Omega Sports, “Your Neighborhood Sports Store”, on Battleground Avenue, in Greensboro
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