Greensboro Grasshoppers Friday Night Baseball Report…
brought to us by Mike Causey for North Carolina Insurance Commissioner……
Final from Friday night at First National Bank Field:
Greensboro Grasshoppers 6, Rome Emperors 0
WP:Scott Randall(2-1)
LP:Blake Burkhalter(2-3)
Hoppers' Line- 6-5-0 Emperors' Line-0-5-2
Greensboro Grasshoppers(61-43/22-17)
Rome Emperors(49-52/13-24)
Very positive results from Friday night at First National Bank Field…The Greensboro Grasshoppers were picking up their second win of the week, against one loss to the Rome Emperors…Hoppers now (4-6) over their last 10 games, and (4-8) last 12 contests, plus (6-9) over their 15 previous games…But, the real story is that the Greensboro Grasshoppers are (22-17) overall in the Second Half of the Season of the Summer in the SALLY…Still a half-game edge over the second half, second place team, the Hudson Valley Renegades, at (21-17)…
Not a bad run at all going in here in 2024 for the Grasshoppers…The tale of the tape in our Friday night affair, was the work turned by the Greensboro pitching staff….Starter J.P. Massey went for 4 innings, giving up Zero(0) Runs on two hits, with 0 BBs/3 Ks…Reliever Scott Randall worked four innings, and he allowed Zero(0) Run, on two hits, with 0 BBs/4 Ks…Four innings each for Massey and Randall, and then Valentin Linares comes on to close it all out, throwing for one inning, with Zero(0) Runs, on 1 hit, with 0 BBs/1 K….For the very efficient Hoppers’ pitching staff it was 0 Walks and 8 Ks that helped pave the way to the victory….
I am no sports analyst, no Ken Rosenthal, but all I know is, if you don’t allow the other team to score, you will not lose the game…”Makes sense to me”, said the old sport psychologist John Kruk, and the Greensboro Grasshopppers pitching staff going 0 BBs, and 8 Ks, and then the Rome pitching staff going 6 BBs/8 Ks, heavy edge to Massey, Randall, and Linares…
And one more note on the Hoppers pitching…Early on this year, I was really fixated and intrigued by the work turned in by the Reilable Righty who was always Ready, Patrick Reilly…Now I think I have found another pitcher that has captured my interest…And that would be Scott Randall…Didn’t know much about him coming into the season, just knew he was on the injured list early, and then he looked a little rugged his first few outings at First National Bank Field…But now, this kid/man has really come on, and turned it on here lately…His past two times out there on the hill, have been a thrill, and he will not chill, he just keeps on bringing the pill…This fellow is one to watch, and if he keeps improving, he is going to be on the Pittsburgh Pirates “Watch List”…Of all the pitcher from both teams, to me, he(Scott Randall) had the best stuff out there on Friday night….
And going back, I must drop in a Shoutout for Tommy Caudill…Haven’t seen Tommy recently, but he was always the local umpire that would show up at the FNB Field, when one of our regualr South Atlantic League umps got hurt…Tommy Caudill lives just minutes from the stadium, and he would be there at the drop of a hat if needed, and stay for 2-3 more days/games if necessary….”Let’s Hear It For The Hoppers, and Let’s hear it for Tommy Caudill”, and long live TC…
Hoppers did it in bunches on offense on Friday night…Three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, and then here comes three more runs in the bottom of the fifth frame…Who done it??? Hoppers with just five hits on the night, but they made the most of them….Lonnie White Jr. goes 0-3/SAC Fly RBI…Termarr Johnson 1-4…Shawn Ross 1-4/Run/2 SB…Hudson Head 0-3/BB…P.J Hilson 1-3/BB/Run/SB…Omar Alfonzo 0-2/2 BBs/2 Runs/SB…Josiah Sightler 1-4/Double/Run/RBI…Sergio Campana 0-2/BB/HBP/Run…Kalae Harrison 1-3/BB/RBI…
Top Rome Emperor hitters:Jace Grady 2-4…Adam Zebrowski 1-3…Justin Janas 1-3…Drew Compton 1-4…No extra-base hits for Rome, and the Hoppers had one Extra-Base hit with the Josiah Sightler double…
You might be saying, “I was real curious how the Hoppers scored” and if that is the case, let’s solve this baseball run-scoring mystery…
Here we go/run…Greensboro Grasshoppers’ Friday night scoring parade…..
Bottom 4th
Kalae Harrison singles on a ground ball to second baseman Carlos Arroyo. P.J. Hilson scores. Omar Alfonzo to 3rd. Sergio Campana to 2nd.
ROM 0,GBO 1
Lonnie White Jr. out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Stephen Paolini. Omar Alfonzo scores. Sergio Campana to 3rd. 2 outs
ROM 0,GBO 2
Throwing error by pitcher Blake Burkhalter on the pickoff attempt. Sergio Campana scores.
ROM 0,GBO 3
Bottom 5th
Josiah Sightler hits a ground-rule double on a line drive to right field. Shawn Ross scores. Omar Alfonzo to 3rd.
ROM 0,GBO 4
Sergio Campana reaches on a throwing error by shortstop E. J. Exposito. Omar Alfonzo scores. Josiah Sightler scores.
ROM 0,GBO 6
Hoppers score two runs off of Rome Emperors throwing errors…Errors on the Emperors…Lots of Es, Rs, and Os in that line there…
So with all that being said and printed by our local baseball writer on this Friday night, let’s get him to wrap up this journey…Good deal…
Game Particulars:
Attendance-4,127
Time of Game-2:12
Game Time Temp-85 Degrees at 6:36pm
Next Up:
Rome Emperors(49-52) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(61-43) on Saturday night, at First National Bank Field…First pitch for the Doubleheader will come in at 5pm…..
from Friday’s South Atlantic League games:
GBO 6, ROM 0
W:
Randall
(2 – 1)
L:
Burkhalter
(2 – 3)
WIL 4, JS 3
BG 7, ASH 1
ABD 5, HIC 1
WS 5, GVL 2
Hudson Valley
@
Brooklyn
Postponed
Saturday games in the South Atlantic League/SALLY League:
Rome
@
Greensboro
5:00 PM ET
Rome
@
Greensboro
Game 2
First National Bank Field – Greensboro, NC
Aberdeen
@
Hickory
5:00 PM ET
Aberdeen
@
Hickory
Game 2
L.P. Frans Stadium – Hickory, NC
Jersey Shore
@
Wilmington
5:05 PM ET
Jersey Shore
@
Wilmington
Game 2
Frawley Stadium – Wilmington, DE
Greenville
@
Winston-Salem
5:35 PM ET
Truist Stadium – Winston-Salem, NC
Greenville
@
Winston-Salem
Game 2
Truist Stadium – Winston-Salem, NC
Hudson Valley
@
Brooklyn
6:00 PM ET
Bowling Green
@
Asheville
6:05 PM ET
Pittsburgh Pirates Overall System:
CLASS A Bradenton Marauders 9-4 over St. Lucie…Today at 6:10 PM Bradenton(45 – 61)
at St. Lucie(34 – 70)……
Double A Altoona 12-9 Friday winners over Portland Sea Dogs…WP:Brad Case(1-1)..Big day for Jackson Glenn 3-4/HR/BB/3 Runs…Sammy Siani 2-5/Double/Run/RBI…Brendan Dixon HR…Pitchers Case, Justin Meis, Cy Nielson, Eddy Yean…TODAY: 6:00 PM ET Altoona(45-61) at Portland(59-45) Dominic Perachi(0-2) on the bump for Altoona Curve…
From Friday it was Indianapolis winning 6-0 over Nashville…WP was Bubba Chandler(1-0)…First start/first win at Indy for the Indians…Henry Davis 2-3/HR #12 and he walked twice, plus scored two, and drove in 2 runs….Former Hopper Matt Gorski reached and scored for the Indians…Chandler first start went 7 Innings, 0 runs/2 hits/1 BB/6 Ks…TODAY:7:35 PM EDT
Indianapolis(51 – 57)
at
Nashville(58 – 53)…Former Hopper Thomas Harrington on the hill for Indians..
From Friday:LA Dodgers 9, Pittsburgh Pirates 5…Only former Hopper was from the bullpen, Domingo German goes 4 innings, 2 runs on 1 hit with 2 BBs/3 Ks/HR..Today:Pirates(56-59) at Dodgers(67-49) 9:10 with Paul Skenes(6-1) for the Pirates…..