Mike Causey for Insurance Commissioner GSO Hoppers Game Report
Beautiful Baseball Day at First National Bank Field on Sunday afternoon, where the Greensboro Grasshoppers topped the Greenville Drive, 7-2…This allowed the Hoppers to take the Three-Game Series, Two-Games-to-One…
Sunday was a day where the families played catch on the field before the game, and the Kids Got to Run the Bases after the Game, and this made for a near-perfect day at the park/stadium…
Game-Time Temp of 73 degrees made the conditions excellent and the winds from Friday and Saturday stayed away…This game drew 4,238 fans out to the old ballyard, and Sunday’s crowd actually topped the Saturday night gathering numbers…
The numbers on the field were fulfilling too, with that Greensboro win, highlighted by the Three-Run home run to left field by Jack Brannigan in the bottom of the fourth inning, and then Lonnie White Jr. followed up the Brannigan Blast with White’s stick of Dyno-Mite, when Lonnie left the yard, with his Three-Run HR in the sixth inning….
That final again:
Greensboro Grasshoppers 7, Greenville Drive 2
WP:Dominic Parachi(1-0)
LP:Gabriel Jackson(0-1)
Hoppers(2-1)/Drive(1-2)
Greensboro Grasshoppers-7-6-1 Greenville Drive -2-5-2
Our Jim Nantz Steak n Shake Players of the Game were:
A-plus:Jack Brannigan
A:Lonnie White Jr.
MORE on this game on the way later on….
Hopper Hitters:Jack Brannigan 2-3/2 BB/HR/3 RBI/SB/3 Runs…Lonnie White 1-4/HR/3 RBI…Termarr Johnson 1-4…Charles McAdoo 1-3/HBP…Hudson Head 0-3/BB/SB…Shawn Ross 0-4/Run…Luke Brown 1-3/BB/2 Runs…
(Lonnie White, with back-to-back Three-Run home run nights/games, and now White with a stick of Dyno-Mite in his hands, has 6 RBI for the new 2024 season.)
Drive batters:Cutter Coffey 1-4/Run/SB…Ronald Rosario 2-4/Double/RBI…Eduardo Lopez 0-3/BB/Run…Tyler Miller 1-3/BB…Bryan Gonzales 1-3/RBI…
Greensboro Grasshoppers’ winning pitcher Dominic Parachi goes 3 2/3’s Innings, allowing 0 Runs, on 2 hits, with 1 BB/3 K’s…
Hoppers’ starter J.P. Massey went 3 1/3 Innings, giving up 2 runs, on 2 hits, with 4 BB/2 K…
Greenville Drive losing pitcher Gabriel Jackson was out for 2 1/3 Innings, giving up 3 runs, on 2 hits, with 2 BB/3 K…
Drive starter, Hayden Mullins goes 2 2/3s Innings, allowing 1 run, on 1 hit with 3 BB/2 K…
from the Greenville Drive website:
Deep flies sink Drive in series finale; ‘Hoppers defeat Drive 7-2
Two three-run homers spell deja vu for Greenville
By Stephen Olschanski
For back-to-back games the three-run deep fly doomed the Greenville Drive (1-2) as the Greensboro Grasshoppers (2-1) knocked a pair en route to a 7-2 victory, zapping a Drive lead to earn the Opening Week series victory.
The ‘Hoppers drew first blood in the first inning as Termarr Johnson slapped a one-out single into left that left fielder Miguel Ugueto mishandled, allowing Jack Brannigan to score from first for the early 1-0 lead.
Johnson’s single would be the only hit that Drive starter Hayden Mullins relinquished in 2.2 innings of work. He’d allow three walks as well coupled with two strikeouts in his Drive debut.
The Drive struggled offensively through the first six innings, picking up just three hits though two of those would be RBI knocks – a double from Ronald Rosario in the third and an infield single from Bryan Gonzalez in the fourth to put the Drive up 2-1.
The lead would last for all of two outs in the ‘Hoppers’ top of the fourth. After a Tyler Miller throwing error put a runner at first, a walk issued by reliever Gabriel Jackson put two on for Brannigan. One pitch later, Brannigan made it 4-2 ‘Hoppers with a homer to left. Jackson finished his 2.1 innings of relief with three strikeouts
In the sixth the ‘Hoppers again made life tough for a Drive reliever, stringing together base knocks off Cade Feeney before Lonnie White Jr., smoked his second three-run shot of the series to put the game out of reach at 7-2.
The Drive threatened to cut into the lead in the seventh as Caden Rose and Miller reached safely. But a strikeout from Bryan Gonzalez and an inning-ending double play off the bat of Cutter Coffey ended any Drive thoughts of mounting a comeback.. In all the Drive went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.
The Drive would go down in order in the ninth, preserving the ‘Hoppers victory.
The Greenville Drive return to action for a six-game Opening Week at Fluor Field on Tuesday, April 9th with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. against the Bowling Green Hot Rods, affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.