| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 1 |
 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
SEE YOU AT FRASER FIELD!!!!! BRING ON THE FINALS!
Showing posts with label atlantic city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atlantic city. Show all posts
Saturday, September 08, 2007
BURY THEM
Game 4.
SEE YOU AT FRASER FIELD!!!!! BRING ON THE FINALS!
SEE YOU AT FRASER FIELD!!!!! BRING ON THE FINALS!
Friday, September 07, 2007
Alive and kicking
Wow. Put this one up there with the Spirit's win in Quebec in 2004. This game had it all.
Tonight's starting pitchers, Gary Galvez and JC Huguet, cruised early on, and the game settled into a calm pattern. It was scoreless through 5. Then, the runs came fast and furious, and in the end the Spirit emerged with a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series lead. WOOO!!
With the game tied at 4, Mike Torres smashed a home run off of Surf closer Matt Pike to decide the game. Derek Drage came in and set Keesee, Fischer, and Taylor down 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Spirit struck first in the 6th on Alex Trezza's solo home run, but the Surf came right back to chase Galvez with 3 of their own in the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the 7th, Mike Torres's RBI single and Alex Trezza's bases loaded sac fly tied the score again.
But once again, the Spirit bullpen could not hold it. With Lucas Taylor (who else?) on 3rd and 1 out, Anthony Granato grounded out against Carl Schaeffer to bring home the 4th Surf run.
The Spirit, however, did not give up. Vic Davilla came through with a clutch RBI single in the top of the 8th, scoring Gary Roche and tying the game before Torres's winning blast an inning later.
ONWARD!
Tonight's starting pitchers, Gary Galvez and JC Huguet, cruised early on, and the game settled into a calm pattern. It was scoreless through 5. Then, the runs came fast and furious, and in the end the Spirit emerged with a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series lead. WOOO!!
With the game tied at 4, Mike Torres smashed a home run off of Surf closer Matt Pike to decide the game. Derek Drage came in and set Keesee, Fischer, and Taylor down 1-2-3 to end the game.
The Spirit struck first in the 6th on Alex Trezza's solo home run, but the Surf came right back to chase Galvez with 3 of their own in the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the 7th, Mike Torres's RBI single and Alex Trezza's bases loaded sac fly tied the score again.
But once again, the Spirit bullpen could not hold it. With Lucas Taylor (who else?) on 3rd and 1 out, Anthony Granato grounded out against Carl Schaeffer to bring home the 4th Surf run.
The Spirit, however, did not give up. Vic Davilla came through with a clutch RBI single in the top of the 8th, scoring Gary Roche and tying the game before Torres's winning blast an inning later.
ONWARD!
Let's play ball.
Game 3, folks.
IT'S OVER!! SPIRIT WIN 5-4 AND TAKE A 2-1 SERIES LEAD!!
W) Baker
L) Pike
SV) Drage
HR) Trezza, Torres
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
IT'S OVER!! SPIRIT WIN 5-4 AND TAKE A 2-1 SERIES LEAD!!
W) Baker
L) Pike
SV) Drage
HR) Trezza, Torres
Let's keep it going.
Game 3.
Gary Galvez vs. JC Huguet.
To steal/modify a rallying cry from my favorite Red Sox blog, we've just got to win one game tonight. Not win two games, not win five games, not save the franchise... just win one game. Tonight.
Semi-interesting albeit unimportant tidbit:
The Spirit are 3-2 all-time in 'game threes'.
2003: Spirit defeat Quebec in the semifinals to sweep
2003: Rox sweep the Spirit in the finals
2004: Spirit win game 3 in Quebec in the infamous 'turn out the lights game'
2004: Jackals start their comeback at Fraser
2006: Spirit take a 2-1 series lead in Quebec
On the road, the Spirit are 6-4 in the playoffs all-time.
2003: 1-0 @ Quebec, 0-1 @ Brockton
2004: 2-1 @ Quebec, 2-0 @ New Jersey
2006: 1-2 @ Quebec
Gary Galvez vs. JC Huguet.
To steal/modify a rallying cry from my favorite Red Sox blog, we've just got to win one game tonight. Not win two games, not win five games, not save the franchise... just win one game. Tonight.
Semi-interesting albeit unimportant tidbit:
The Spirit are 3-2 all-time in 'game threes'.
2003: Spirit defeat Quebec in the semifinals to sweep
2003: Rox sweep the Spirit in the finals
2004: Spirit win game 3 in Quebec in the infamous 'turn out the lights game'
2004: Jackals start their comeback at Fraser
2006: Spirit take a 2-1 series lead in Quebec
On the road, the Spirit are 6-4 in the playoffs all-time.
2003: 1-0 @ Quebec, 0-1 @ Brockton
2004: 2-1 @ Quebec, 2-0 @ New Jersey
2006: 1-2 @ Quebec
For now, we've still got tomorrow.
Note: Yes, I am aware of the news. And I will have plenty to say about the departure of the Spirit once the season is over. But for now, I have precious few chances to do what I love the most - talk about the games played by my favorite baseball team. So that's what we'll do.
It was definitely not the best of nights at Fraser Field. All night, the Spirit tried to scratch and claw their way back from an early 2 run deficit. From the 1st thru 7th innings, the Spirit stranded 9 baserunners and wasted many chances to get back in it. Finally, in the 8th, they broke through, when Mike Torres's broken bat bloop single over the shortstop's head scored Nilson Teilon and tied the game at 2.
Unfortunately, as if Spirit fans needed another kick in the balls tonight, the Surf got the win by fighting back to put a run on the board in the 9th off of Jamie Baker. Lucas Taylor hit a go-ahead RBI single up the middle with 2 outs to give Atlantic City a 3-2 win and even the best-of-5 series at 1 as the scene shifts to scenic (not) New Jersey for the remainder of the series.
Jamie Baker got the loss for the Spirit. Jamie Tricoglou earned the win, giving up the 1 run in the 8th over 3 innings of relief work. Each starter got a no decision - Matt Bishop, who gave up two runs in 6.1, and Ben Thurmond, who yielded 1 run in 6 innings of work.
Bishop pitched quite well in the game overall, but put the Spirit behind the 8-ball by giving up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Will Quintana's RBI groundout scored Taylor to make it 1-0. Atlantic City added one in the 2nd. Clyde Williams led off the inning with a double and was brought home by a Wally Rosa RBI single.
The Spirit halved the lead in the 4th on a sacrifice fly to center by Mike Torres which scored Teilon, but they blew a chance to do more damage. North Shore had runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out but could only bring in the one run as Josue Lopez grounded out to end the inning.
North Shore had baserunners in each of the next three innings, but failed to score in each before ultimately breaking through in the 8th.
When forced to rally in the 9th, however, they fell short, when Vic Davilla grounded out weakly to first to end the ballgame, and perhaps an era.
It was definitely not the best of nights at Fraser Field. All night, the Spirit tried to scratch and claw their way back from an early 2 run deficit. From the 1st thru 7th innings, the Spirit stranded 9 baserunners and wasted many chances to get back in it. Finally, in the 8th, they broke through, when Mike Torres's broken bat bloop single over the shortstop's head scored Nilson Teilon and tied the game at 2.
Unfortunately, as if Spirit fans needed another kick in the balls tonight, the Surf got the win by fighting back to put a run on the board in the 9th off of Jamie Baker. Lucas Taylor hit a go-ahead RBI single up the middle with 2 outs to give Atlantic City a 3-2 win and even the best-of-5 series at 1 as the scene shifts to scenic (not) New Jersey for the remainder of the series.
Jamie Baker got the loss for the Spirit. Jamie Tricoglou earned the win, giving up the 1 run in the 8th over 3 innings of relief work. Each starter got a no decision - Matt Bishop, who gave up two runs in 6.1, and Ben Thurmond, who yielded 1 run in 6 innings of work.
Bishop pitched quite well in the game overall, but put the Spirit behind the 8-ball by giving up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Will Quintana's RBI groundout scored Taylor to make it 1-0. Atlantic City added one in the 2nd. Clyde Williams led off the inning with a double and was brought home by a Wally Rosa RBI single.
The Spirit halved the lead in the 4th on a sacrifice fly to center by Mike Torres which scored Teilon, but they blew a chance to do more damage. North Shore had runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out but could only bring in the one run as Josue Lopez grounded out to end the inning.
North Shore had baserunners in each of the next three innings, but failed to score in each before ultimately breaking through in the 8th.
When forced to rally in the 9th, however, they fell short, when Vic Davilla grounded out weakly to first to end the ballgame, and perhaps an era.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Game 2
Matt Bishop vs. Ben Thurmond
If you're a Surf fan, you can't be feeling very good about your team's chances in a short series in which Brian Rodaway has already lost. Nonetheless, as we saw in last year's playoffs, it's quite possible to win the first game of a 5-game series and lose, so let's keep the foot on the accelerator, eh?
As good as the Spirit have been on the road this year, I'd feel a lot more comfortable only having to win 1 out of 3 down there.
I don't even want to THINK about the possibility of this being the last game ever at Fraser Field -- gahh -- and a win tonight makes that scary possibility far less likely. So this is a big one.
If you're a Surf fan, you can't be feeling very good about your team's chances in a short series in which Brian Rodaway has already lost. Nonetheless, as we saw in last year's playoffs, it's quite possible to win the first game of a 5-game series and lose, so let's keep the foot on the accelerator, eh?
As good as the Spirit have been on the road this year, I'd feel a lot more comfortable only having to win 1 out of 3 down there.
I don't even want to THINK about the possibility of this being the last game ever at Fraser Field -- gahh -- and a win tonight makes that scary possibility far less likely. So this is a big one.
Spirit hang on for the win in game 1
ATC 0 0 1 / 0 1 0 / 2 0 0 -- 4
NSS 2 1 0 / 1 1 0 / 0 0 X -- 5
Well, it wound up being a nailbiter (of course)! The Spirit hung on to defeat the Atlantic City Surf 5-4 in game 1 of the semifinals in front of a tiny crowd at Fraser Field.
The Spirit held a 5-2 lead in the 7th, but the Surf clawed back with a 2 out rally off of Spirit starter Ryan Bicondoa. David Keesee hit an RBI double to make it 5-3. Then, Lucas Taylor knocked an RBI single in to left field to cut the lead to 5-4. Bicondoa escaped the jam by getting Anthony Granato to strike out looking with the go-ahead run on base.
In the 8th, Bicondoa worked his way into a jam, but Donny Langdon and Derek Drage worked their way out of it ---- barely.
With 2 men on and 1 out, Bicondoa was lifted for Langdon, who came in to face the left hander Clyde Williams. He whiffed Williams for the 2nd out of the inning and was quickly lifted for closer Derek Drage, who was called upon to get four outs.
He got off to a shaky start, giving up an infield single to Rob Fischer to load the bases. Alex Trezza then made what may well have been a game-saving play. After a pitch to Wally Rosa, Trezza caught Fischer sleeping at first and rifled a snap-throw to the 1st baseman. Fischer was tagged out to end the inning and the threat was defused.
There was more drama to come in the 9th for Drage. Wally Rosa popped out to start the inning, but David Keesee walked to give the surf a chance. With Lucas Taylor up, Drage threw a wild pitch to move Keesee into scoring position. Drage then whiffed Taylor for a huge 2nd out.
That brought up Anthony Granato, who flew out to center field to end the ball game and give the Spirit the 1-0 series lead.
Bicondoa got the win, and Surf ace Brian Rodaway got the loss after giving up 3 early runs in the first 2 innings. He ultimately gave up 5 runs in 7 innings of work.
The Spirit struck first in the home half of the first inning with a 2-out rally. Vic Davilla singled and Luis Lopez walked to bring up Nilson Teilon. Teilon singled up the middle to score the first Spirit run. Then, the throw home was wild, allowing Lopez to score and making it 2-0.
A scorched Jerson Perez homer to left field increased the lead to 3-0 for Bicondoa.
The Spirit put up single runs in the 4th and 5th to cap off their offense for the night. In the 4th, Trezza launched a leadoff double and was brought home by a bloop RBI single by Gary Roche. One inning later, Josue Lopez picked up an RBI to make it 5-2.
Atlantic City would add two to their total, but the Spirit hung on, and are now two wins away from the finals.
Onward...
NSS 2 1 0 / 1 1 0 / 0 0 X -- 5
Well, it wound up being a nailbiter (of course)! The Spirit hung on to defeat the Atlantic City Surf 5-4 in game 1 of the semifinals in front of a tiny crowd at Fraser Field.
The Spirit held a 5-2 lead in the 7th, but the Surf clawed back with a 2 out rally off of Spirit starter Ryan Bicondoa. David Keesee hit an RBI double to make it 5-3. Then, Lucas Taylor knocked an RBI single in to left field to cut the lead to 5-4. Bicondoa escaped the jam by getting Anthony Granato to strike out looking with the go-ahead run on base.
In the 8th, Bicondoa worked his way into a jam, but Donny Langdon and Derek Drage worked their way out of it ---- barely.
With 2 men on and 1 out, Bicondoa was lifted for Langdon, who came in to face the left hander Clyde Williams. He whiffed Williams for the 2nd out of the inning and was quickly lifted for closer Derek Drage, who was called upon to get four outs.
He got off to a shaky start, giving up an infield single to Rob Fischer to load the bases. Alex Trezza then made what may well have been a game-saving play. After a pitch to Wally Rosa, Trezza caught Fischer sleeping at first and rifled a snap-throw to the 1st baseman. Fischer was tagged out to end the inning and the threat was defused.
There was more drama to come in the 9th for Drage. Wally Rosa popped out to start the inning, but David Keesee walked to give the surf a chance. With Lucas Taylor up, Drage threw a wild pitch to move Keesee into scoring position. Drage then whiffed Taylor for a huge 2nd out.
That brought up Anthony Granato, who flew out to center field to end the ball game and give the Spirit the 1-0 series lead.
Bicondoa got the win, and Surf ace Brian Rodaway got the loss after giving up 3 early runs in the first 2 innings. He ultimately gave up 5 runs in 7 innings of work.
The Spirit struck first in the home half of the first inning with a 2-out rally. Vic Davilla singled and Luis Lopez walked to bring up Nilson Teilon. Teilon singled up the middle to score the first Spirit run. Then, the throw home was wild, allowing Lopez to score and making it 2-0.
A scorched Jerson Perez homer to left field increased the lead to 3-0 for Bicondoa.
The Spirit put up single runs in the 4th and 5th to cap off their offense for the night. In the 4th, Trezza launched a leadoff double and was brought home by a bloop RBI single by Gary Roche. One inning later, Josue Lopez picked up an RBI to make it 5-2.
Atlantic City would add two to their total, but the Spirit hung on, and are now two wins away from the finals.
Onward...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Playoff baseball...
I absolutely love the days when you wake up in the morning and already have a knot in your stomach in anticipation of a big game. Those days are rare, but when they come, it's very exciting.
Today's classes can't go by quickly enough! See you all tonight!
Pitching Probables
Wednesday September 5:
New Jersey (John Kelly, 7-3) at Nashua (Hideki Nagasaka, 10-1) 6:35 PM
Atlantic City (Brian Rodaway, 15-3) at North Shore (Ryan Bicondoa, 10-2) 7:05 PM
Thursday September 6:
New Jersey (Joel Bennett, 3-2) at Nashua (Akira Okamoto, 9-2) 6:35 PM
Atlantic City (Ben Thurmond, 10-5) at North Shore (Luis Arroyo, 1-0 or Matt Bishop, 9-5)
7:05 PM
Friday September 7:
Nashua (TBA) at New Jersey (Ryan Pacyna, 6-2) 7:05 PM
North Shore (Gary Galvez, 7-9) at Atlantic City (JC Huguet, 9-5) 7:05 PM
Saturday September 8:
Nashua at New Jersey* 7:05 PM
North Shore at Atlantic City* 7:05 PM
Sunday September 9:
Nashua at New Jersey* 5:05 PM
North Shore at Atlantic City* 7:05 PM
Today's classes can't go by quickly enough! See you all tonight!
Pitching Probables
Wednesday September 5:
New Jersey (John Kelly, 7-3) at Nashua (Hideki Nagasaka, 10-1) 6:35 PM
Atlantic City (Brian Rodaway, 15-3) at North Shore (Ryan Bicondoa, 10-2) 7:05 PM
Thursday September 6:
New Jersey (Joel Bennett, 3-2) at Nashua (Akira Okamoto, 9-2) 6:35 PM
Atlantic City (Ben Thurmond, 10-5) at North Shore (Luis Arroyo, 1-0 or Matt Bishop, 9-5)
7:05 PM
Friday September 7:
Nashua (TBA) at New Jersey (Ryan Pacyna, 6-2) 7:05 PM
North Shore (Gary Galvez, 7-9) at Atlantic City (JC Huguet, 9-5) 7:05 PM
Saturday September 8:
Nashua at New Jersey* 7:05 PM
North Shore at Atlantic City* 7:05 PM
Sunday September 9:
Nashua at New Jersey* 5:05 PM
North Shore at Atlantic City* 7:05 PM
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Playoff preview: Spirit vs. Surf
It's playoff time, ladies and gents. Batten down the hatches and get ready for what we hope will be a fun and exciting two-week ride.
Team Comparisons -
Batting
Spirit .276 (3rd in league), 463 runs, 67 HR, 90 SB, 38 CS
Surf .272 (5th in league), 500 runs, 46 HR, 122 SB, 38 CS
Pitching
Spirit 57-36, 3.39 ERA (1st in league), 224 BB, 568 K
Surf 51-41, 4.76 ERA (8th in league), 308 BB, 589 K
The Starting Pitchers (no particular order - that should be announced soon)
Atlantic City:
Brian Rodaway 15-3, 3.23 ERA, .244 opp avg, 45 BB, 90 K
J.C. Huguet 9-5, 4.15 ERA, .249 opp avg, 35 BB, 74 K
Monte Mansfield 6-10, 5.81, .280, 35, 88
Ben Thurmond 10-5, 5.33, .316, 34, 78
Coogie Freedman 4-4, 5.14, .300, 43, 60
North Shore:
Ryan Bicondoa 10-2, 2.82, .224, 27, 105
Matt Bishop 9-5, 3.42, .307, 23, 55
Gary Galvez 7-9, 3.67, .246, 42, 84
Luis Arroyo 1-0, 1.38, .255, 2, 5
Joey Siak 6-4, 5.30, .319, 16, 49
I would line them up like that, with Siak coming out of the bullpen.
Know thy enemy: Key players on the Surf
Joe Burke, 1B - .333 average, .419 OBP, .448 SLG, but only 2 HR
Anthony Granato, 3B - .329/.458/.500, 7 HR, 29 SB
Ed Montague, OF - .302/.361/.454, 6 HR
Lucas Taylor, OF - .267, 39 SB
Clyde Williams, 1B - .303/.359/.503, 14 HR
Past Meetings this season
June 1 - Spirit 14 @ Surf 8
Joey Siak pitched 6 shaky innings to get the win, Mike Torres homered, and Jerson Perez had a 5-rbi day.
June 2 - Spirit 11 @ Surf 1
Chris Farley pitched 6 shutout innings, the Spirit lit up Monte Mansfield, and Rob Fischer -- then with the Spirit, now with the Surf --- had 4 RBI.
June 19 Game 1 - Spirit 9 vs. Surf 1
A complete game victory for Chris Farley. Alex Trezza homers in the rout off of Mitsimori, who took the loss for ATC.
June 19 Game 2 - Spirit 3 vs. Surf 0
Bicondoa throws a complete game 2-hit shutout. Mike Torres picks up 3 hits off of Monte Mansfield, who fell to 0-2 against the Spirit.
June 20 - Surf 4 @ Spirit 3
Shawn McNamara gave up 4 runs to lose to Brian Rodaway, who improved to 5-1 with his 7-inning effort. Blakely homered to give the Spirit hope, but they fell short.
July 23 - Spirit 5 vs. Surf 1 - can't find info
July 24 - Surf 6 @ Spirit 4
D-Rob gave up 5 runs in a losing effort. Coogie Freedman survived 5 innings giving up 8 hits to get the win. Weed, Roche, and Perez each had 2 hits.
July 25- Spirit 3 vs. Surf 2
Ryan Bicondoa pitches another 8-inning masterpiece. Josue Lopez drives in two runs off of JC Huguet.
SEASON SERIES -
SPIRIT 6
SURF 2
FULL HEAD TO HEAD, SPIRIT vs. SURF STATS
The Skinny
The Spirit handled the Surf quite well head-to-head this year and overall, I don't think they're that great. Despite their record, they scare me the least of all potential playoff opponents.
To be fair, they really went on a run after the Spirit were done playing them for the season. However, on paper, at least, the Spirit should win this series.
The key for Atlantic City is to get on base and wreak havoc [see Taylor, Lucas; Fischer, Rob; Granato, Anthony]. Their pitching is iffy at best (I think Rodaway is the only starter who would crack the Spirit's rotation), with an ERA that sat 8th in the league at 4.76. On the offensive side, they were 5th in batting and they only hit 46 home runs all season (9th, just ahead of Sussex).
The Surf have some scary hitters in Granato, Burke, Montague, and Williams, but the Spirit's pitching should be enough to handle them.
The biggest question mark for the Spirit will be in the bullpen, I think --- Derek Drage has been a heart-attack closer recently, and we'll really need him to be reliable here in the playoffs. Moving Siak to the 'pen should also help out.
I'll make no excuses for my blatant homerism here - I predict a Spirit sweep.
Team Comparisons -
Batting
Spirit .276 (3rd in league), 463 runs, 67 HR, 90 SB, 38 CS
Surf .272 (5th in league), 500 runs, 46 HR, 122 SB, 38 CS
Pitching
Spirit 57-36, 3.39 ERA (1st in league), 224 BB, 568 K
Surf 51-41, 4.76 ERA (8th in league), 308 BB, 589 K
The Starting Pitchers (no particular order - that should be announced soon)
Atlantic City:
Brian Rodaway 15-3, 3.23 ERA, .244 opp avg, 45 BB, 90 K
J.C. Huguet 9-5, 4.15 ERA, .249 opp avg, 35 BB, 74 K
Monte Mansfield 6-10, 5.81, .280, 35, 88
Ben Thurmond 10-5, 5.33, .316, 34, 78
Coogie Freedman 4-4, 5.14, .300, 43, 60
North Shore:
Ryan Bicondoa 10-2, 2.82, .224, 27, 105
Matt Bishop 9-5, 3.42, .307, 23, 55
Gary Galvez 7-9, 3.67, .246, 42, 84
Luis Arroyo 1-0, 1.38, .255, 2, 5
Joey Siak 6-4, 5.30, .319, 16, 49
I would line them up like that, with Siak coming out of the bullpen.
Know thy enemy: Key players on the Surf
Joe Burke, 1B - .333 average, .419 OBP, .448 SLG, but only 2 HR
Anthony Granato, 3B - .329/.458/.500, 7 HR, 29 SB
Ed Montague, OF - .302/.361/.454, 6 HR
Lucas Taylor, OF - .267, 39 SB
Clyde Williams, 1B - .303/.359/.503, 14 HR
Past Meetings this season
June 1 - Spirit 14 @ Surf 8
Joey Siak pitched 6 shaky innings to get the win, Mike Torres homered, and Jerson Perez had a 5-rbi day.
June 2 - Spirit 11 @ Surf 1
Chris Farley pitched 6 shutout innings, the Spirit lit up Monte Mansfield, and Rob Fischer -- then with the Spirit, now with the Surf --- had 4 RBI.
June 19 Game 1 - Spirit 9 vs. Surf 1
A complete game victory for Chris Farley. Alex Trezza homers in the rout off of Mitsimori, who took the loss for ATC.
June 19 Game 2 - Spirit 3 vs. Surf 0
Bicondoa throws a complete game 2-hit shutout. Mike Torres picks up 3 hits off of Monte Mansfield, who fell to 0-2 against the Spirit.
June 20 - Surf 4 @ Spirit 3
Shawn McNamara gave up 4 runs to lose to Brian Rodaway, who improved to 5-1 with his 7-inning effort. Blakely homered to give the Spirit hope, but they fell short.
July 23 - Spirit 5 vs. Surf 1 - can't find info
July 24 - Surf 6 @ Spirit 4
D-Rob gave up 5 runs in a losing effort. Coogie Freedman survived 5 innings giving up 8 hits to get the win. Weed, Roche, and Perez each had 2 hits.
July 25- Spirit 3 vs. Surf 2
Ryan Bicondoa pitches another 8-inning masterpiece. Josue Lopez drives in two runs off of JC Huguet.
SEASON SERIES -
SPIRIT 6
SURF 2
FULL HEAD TO HEAD, SPIRIT vs. SURF STATS
The Skinny
The Spirit handled the Surf quite well head-to-head this year and overall, I don't think they're that great. Despite their record, they scare me the least of all potential playoff opponents.
To be fair, they really went on a run after the Spirit were done playing them for the season. However, on paper, at least, the Spirit should win this series.
The key for Atlantic City is to get on base and wreak havoc [see Taylor, Lucas; Fischer, Rob; Granato, Anthony]. Their pitching is iffy at best (I think Rodaway is the only starter who would crack the Spirit's rotation), with an ERA that sat 8th in the league at 4.76. On the offensive side, they were 5th in batting and they only hit 46 home runs all season (9th, just ahead of Sussex).
The Surf have some scary hitters in Granato, Burke, Montague, and Williams, but the Spirit's pitching should be enough to handle them.
The biggest question mark for the Spirit will be in the bullpen, I think --- Derek Drage has been a heart-attack closer recently, and we'll really need him to be reliable here in the playoffs. Moving Siak to the 'pen should also help out.
I'll make no excuses for my blatant homerism here - I predict a Spirit sweep.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
LynnCAM Spirit Ad
All of the bad thoughts and complaining aside......here's the ad I made for LynnCAM for the playoffs on Wednesday & Thursday.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
I've been slipping, I know...
Due to work and sleep and other crazy stuff like that, I've missed the last two games and posting has been scarce.
Looks like we had an exciting walk-off win today, 3-2, over the Surf - see the game story on the Spirit site.
Last night looks to have been 'one of those games' - we hadn't had one in a while, so I'm not too worried about it.
2 out of 3 against a resurgent Atlantic City team is a pretty good way to kick off the homestand.
Now it's time for a day off after a whilrwind 8-2 start to the 2nd half before a series against the Nashua Pride.
Then, we are off to New Haven, and I will be taking a few days off from work to take the trek down to CT and watch that series. I can't wait!
See you all at the park on Friday night.
-Joe
Looks like we had an exciting walk-off win today, 3-2, over the Surf - see the game story on the Spirit site.
Last night looks to have been 'one of those games' - we hadn't had one in a while, so I'm not too worried about it.
2 out of 3 against a resurgent Atlantic City team is a pretty good way to kick off the homestand.
Now it's time for a day off after a whilrwind 8-2 start to the 2nd half before a series against the Nashua Pride.
Then, we are off to New Haven, and I will be taking a few days off from work to take the trek down to CT and watch that series. I can't wait!
See you all at the park on Friday night.
-Joe
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Surf down Spirit
With the score 4-1 Atlantic City in the 7th inning, Darren Blakely hit a 2-run blast over the left field fence to bring the Spirit to within 1 at 4-3, but they couldn't make the last step and tie the game as the Surf went on to win 4-3.
Shawn McNamara lasted 5 innings, giving up all 4 Surf runs on 5 hits. Derek Drage, Donny Langdon and Jamie Baker pitched 4 dominant innings of relief to keep the game winnable. Surf lefty Brian Radway tossed 7 innings and gave up 3 runs to earn his 5th win of the year.
Ed Montague was the star for Atlantic City, going 3-for-4 and driving in 3 runs including one on an RBI double in the first inning. Ex-Spirit Rob Fischer's sac fly in the 3rd inning plated the only Surf run that wasn't driven in by the Capitales' 2006 playoff hero.
Big Josue Lopez had a less-than-stellar debut for the Spirit, failing to collect a hit and bouncing into a critical double play in the 8th inning.
Gary Roche's infield RBI single was the only run-scoring play for the Spirit outside of Blakely's blast. So once again, offense was the issue for the Spirit as even their "#6" starter Shawn McNamara pitched well enough to win.
At this point I'm going to go ahead and say that our chances of a first half title are over. That's not to say I'm giving up on the season as a whole - this league is way too watered down to say that, and with the pitching staff this team has we are plenty capable of going on an 11-2 tear over a two week span. With the playoff format as it is, there's less emphasis on winning a half, so we still certainly have a chance to make the postseason. But making up 6 games on the Jackals at this point while the offense is still very much stagnant seems very unrealistic, I'm afraid. Time to widen the focus.
Shawn McNamara lasted 5 innings, giving up all 4 Surf runs on 5 hits. Derek Drage, Donny Langdon and Jamie Baker pitched 4 dominant innings of relief to keep the game winnable. Surf lefty Brian Radway tossed 7 innings and gave up 3 runs to earn his 5th win of the year.
Ed Montague was the star for Atlantic City, going 3-for-4 and driving in 3 runs including one on an RBI double in the first inning. Ex-Spirit Rob Fischer's sac fly in the 3rd inning plated the only Surf run that wasn't driven in by the Capitales' 2006 playoff hero.
Big Josue Lopez had a less-than-stellar debut for the Spirit, failing to collect a hit and bouncing into a critical double play in the 8th inning.
Gary Roche's infield RBI single was the only run-scoring play for the Spirit outside of Blakely's blast. So once again, offense was the issue for the Spirit as even their "#6" starter Shawn McNamara pitched well enough to win.
At this point I'm going to go ahead and say that our chances of a first half title are over. That's not to say I'm giving up on the season as a whole - this league is way too watered down to say that, and with the pitching staff this team has we are plenty capable of going on an 11-2 tear over a two week span. With the playoff format as it is, there's less emphasis on winning a half, so we still certainly have a chance to make the postseason. But making up 6 games on the Jackals at this point while the offense is still very much stagnant seems very unrealistic, I'm afraid. Time to widen the focus.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sweep --- Spirit shut out Surf in game 2
The Spirit followed up their 9-1 beating of the Surf in game 1 with a 3-0 victory to earn a sweep of tonight's doubleheader.
Ryan Bicondoa was dominant for the Spirit, pitching a complete game shutout.
Monte Mansfield also pitched well for Atlantic City, giving up just 3 runs in a complete game effort. Unfortunately for him, North Shore's 3 runs were more than enough to win.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Mike Torres laced an RBI double to score Alex Trezza and plate the first Spirit run. Two innings later, Torres came around to score on a Wally Rosa RBI groundout. Gilbert Gil also drove in a run in the 4th to make the score 3-0.
Also, it's not really nice to say because the actual PA announcer is out sick, but it was really refreshing to be able to listen to the broadcast without cringing at the work of the PA announcer in the background -- great job by Brent Connolly filling in in the booth.
Game 3 tomorrow night... the enigmatic 2007 Spirit roll on
Ryan Bicondoa was dominant for the Spirit, pitching a complete game shutout.
Monte Mansfield also pitched well for Atlantic City, giving up just 3 runs in a complete game effort. Unfortunately for him, North Shore's 3 runs were more than enough to win.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Mike Torres laced an RBI double to score Alex Trezza and plate the first Spirit run. Two innings later, Torres came around to score on a Wally Rosa RBI groundout. Gilbert Gil also drove in a run in the 4th to make the score 3-0.
Also, it's not really nice to say because the actual PA announcer is out sick, but it was really refreshing to be able to listen to the broadcast without cringing at the work of the PA announcer in the background -- great job by Brent Connolly filling in in the booth.
Game 3 tomorrow night... the enigmatic 2007 Spirit roll on
Vic returns & Spirit win game 1
Note: If anyone out there is listening to the game right now, feel free to enter the chat room here.
With veteran player Bryan Morse on the disabled list, the North Shore Spirit had an empty veteran slot on the roster. Manager Vic Davilla called his own number and stepped in as the Spirit defeated the Atlantic City Surf 9-1 in game 1 of tonight's doubleheader. Davilla didn't miss a beat, going 2-3 with an RBI.
Chris Farley pitched a complete game for the Spirit and gave up only one run. Alex Trezza powered the offense, hitting a single, a double, and a home run.
Game 2 is underway and Ryan Bicondoa is on the hill. Davilla is in the lineup batting 3rd and playing first base. Adam Balkan is leading off and playing in the outfield for North Shore. There's been no sign of newcomer 1B Josue Lopez yet, acquired in a trade for Kevin Fitzgerald. I'm guessing he'll appear when Vic goes back to the bench.
I really like the Fitzgerald trade. We have a lot of bullpen arms and we were carrying 11 pitchers when the norm is 10. We also desperately need more pop in the lineup and stability in the infield. Hopefully this move can address those concerns.
So... Bicondoa's pitching, Davilla and Trezza are back in the lineup..... everything old is new again at Fraser Field. Maybe that's what the Spirit need to turn the season around!
Full game 2 update coming later...
With veteran player Bryan Morse on the disabled list, the North Shore Spirit had an empty veteran slot on the roster. Manager Vic Davilla called his own number and stepped in as the Spirit defeated the Atlantic City Surf 9-1 in game 1 of tonight's doubleheader. Davilla didn't miss a beat, going 2-3 with an RBI.
Chris Farley pitched a complete game for the Spirit and gave up only one run. Alex Trezza powered the offense, hitting a single, a double, and a home run.
Game 2 is underway and Ryan Bicondoa is on the hill. Davilla is in the lineup batting 3rd and playing first base. Adam Balkan is leading off and playing in the outfield for North Shore. There's been no sign of newcomer 1B Josue Lopez yet, acquired in a trade for Kevin Fitzgerald. I'm guessing he'll appear when Vic goes back to the bench.
I really like the Fitzgerald trade. We have a lot of bullpen arms and we were carrying 11 pitchers when the norm is 10. We also desperately need more pop in the lineup and stability in the infield. Hopefully this move can address those concerns.
So... Bicondoa's pitching, Davilla and Trezza are back in the lineup..... everything old is new again at Fraser Field. Maybe that's what the Spirit need to turn the season around!
Full game 2 update coming later...
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Much more like it!
I only caught bits and pieces of this game, so I don't know all the details, but tonight's 11-1 thrashing over the Atlantic City Surf was just perfect.
Chris Farley was very impressive in his second start of the season, earning the victory (2-0). Derek Drage also tossed yet another shutout inning. Robinson came in to pitch the 9th and gave up a leadoff homer before retiring the next three in order.
Rob Fischer smashed a 3 run homer in the first inning to give the Spirit an early lead that they would never relinquish.
In the 4th inning, Wally Rosa and Jerson Perez continued their hot starts, picking up an RBI each and making it 5-0.
The Spirit scored 4 runs in the 9th inning to really rub salt in the Surf's wound as BJ Weed and Gil Gil picked up RBI knocks. On one somewhat negative note, Mike Torres blasted one off the wall and dogged it, going into the 'home run trot,' and was chastised for that on the air by Nick Lopardo.
Overall, a perfect performance. The Spirit go for the sweep tomorrow at 7 PM!
Chris Farley was very impressive in his second start of the season, earning the victory (2-0). Derek Drage also tossed yet another shutout inning. Robinson came in to pitch the 9th and gave up a leadoff homer before retiring the next three in order.
Rob Fischer smashed a 3 run homer in the first inning to give the Spirit an early lead that they would never relinquish.
In the 4th inning, Wally Rosa and Jerson Perez continued their hot starts, picking up an RBI each and making it 5-0.
The Spirit scored 4 runs in the 9th inning to really rub salt in the Surf's wound as BJ Weed and Gil Gil picked up RBI knocks. On one somewhat negative note, Mike Torres blasted one off the wall and dogged it, going into the 'home run trot,' and was chastised for that on the air by Nick Lopardo.
Overall, a perfect performance. The Spirit go for the sweep tomorrow at 7 PM!
Game 2...
Pregame
The Spirit hope to build on last night's encouraging peformance tonight in Atlantic City. Chris Farley (1-0) will be on the hill, making his 2nd start of the season. He's facing the Surf's Monte Mansfield (0-0).
Interestingly enough, even Nick Lopardo has acknowledged Bicondoa's presence with the team on the radio, and yet there's no news about when he'll actually be taking the hill. Hopefully soon.
By the way, I got a horrible thought in the back of my head today that Vic was thinking about using Bic as a closer. You don't think he'd do that... do you? Right????
Chat
The Spirit hope to build on last night's encouraging peformance tonight in Atlantic City. Chris Farley (1-0) will be on the hill, making his 2nd start of the season. He's facing the Surf's Monte Mansfield (0-0).
Interestingly enough, even Nick Lopardo has acknowledged Bicondoa's presence with the team on the radio, and yet there's no news about when he'll actually be taking the hill. Hopefully soon.
By the way, I got a horrible thought in the back of my head today that Vic was thinking about using Bic as a closer. You don't think he'd do that... do you? Right????
Chat
Friday, June 01, 2007
Must win? Well, OK, maybe not...
Game post: Spirit @ Surf, 6/1, 7 PM
The Spirit look to turn it around tonight as they start a 3 game series in Atlantic City. Will Bicondoa be on the hill? Discuss the game here..........
NSS 0 2 2 4 1 1 4 0 0--- 14
ATC 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4--- 8
Spirit Pitchers:
SP: Joey Siak : 6 IP 4 ER
RP: Derek Drage: 1 IP 0 ER
RP: Donny Langdon: 1 IP 0 ER
RP: Kevin Fitzgerald: 0.1 IP 4 ER
RP: Dennis Robinson: 0.2 IP 0 ER
Game Notes:
Bot 4: Crazy game so far. Jerson Perez has 3 RBI and Darren Blakely hit his 2nd HR of the season in the top of the 4th to make it 8-4. Siak has been very sloppy to this point.
Farley is pitching tomorrow, Morse on Sunday, so no Bic --- yet.
Siak escapes a jam in the bottom of the 4th inning -- maybe he'll settle down now that he has a nice lead to work with?
Top 5: Wally Rosa's sac fly scores Fischer and it's 9-4. In other news, Brad Rea actually got a hit.
Top 6: Blakely RBI triple but he's down injured, holding his ankle (?)... he's having a really big game to this point, let's hope he's OK
Top 7: Mike Torres has gone yahhhd off of Surf rookie pitcher Mario Martinez and the Spirit have extended the lead to 11-4. Every Spirit player has at least one hit.
Gil Gil comes in to pinch hit for Cordova and HE gets a hit, too--- he's now 3-for-7 on the season. Jerson Perez followed with a 2RBI double to rub more salt in Atlantic City's wound---5 RBI now for Perez.
Blakely adds a SacFly for the 14th North Shore run - Blakely's 4th RBI of the night
"They are releasing all of their pent up offensive frustration" - Leahy
Bot 7: Drage in to pitch for the Spirit. Siak wound up doing pretty well after his shaky start.
Bot 9: After Langdon tosses a shutout inning, Fitzy comes in to close it out.
He's struggling - 2 runs are in for the Surf so far.
ATC's PA announcer is even more over-the-top-terrible than ours.
Bot 9, Part 2: WTF!!!! 4 runs in for Atlantic City... 14-8 now and Mark Burke up. What is going on, Fitz?
Fitz pulled in favor of Robinson...
...and he gets two outs. Spirit win.
The Spirit look to turn it around tonight as they start a 3 game series in Atlantic City. Will Bicondoa be on the hill? Discuss the game here..........
NSS 0 2 2 4 1 1 4 0 0--- 14
ATC 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4--- 8
Spirit Pitchers:
SP: Joey Siak : 6 IP 4 ER
RP: Derek Drage: 1 IP 0 ER
RP: Donny Langdon: 1 IP 0 ER
RP: Kevin Fitzgerald: 0.1 IP 4 ER
RP: Dennis Robinson: 0.2 IP 0 ER
Game Notes:
Bot 4: Crazy game so far. Jerson Perez has 3 RBI and Darren Blakely hit his 2nd HR of the season in the top of the 4th to make it 8-4. Siak has been very sloppy to this point.
Farley is pitching tomorrow, Morse on Sunday, so no Bic --- yet.
Siak escapes a jam in the bottom of the 4th inning -- maybe he'll settle down now that he has a nice lead to work with?
Top 5: Wally Rosa's sac fly scores Fischer and it's 9-4. In other news, Brad Rea actually got a hit.
Top 6: Blakely RBI triple but he's down injured, holding his ankle (?)... he's having a really big game to this point, let's hope he's OK
Top 7: Mike Torres has gone yahhhd off of Surf rookie pitcher Mario Martinez and the Spirit have extended the lead to 11-4. Every Spirit player has at least one hit.
Gil Gil comes in to pinch hit for Cordova and HE gets a hit, too--- he's now 3-for-7 on the season. Jerson Perez followed with a 2RBI double to rub more salt in Atlantic City's wound---5 RBI now for Perez.
Blakely adds a SacFly for the 14th North Shore run - Blakely's 4th RBI of the night
"They are releasing all of their pent up offensive frustration" - Leahy
Bot 7: Drage in to pitch for the Spirit. Siak wound up doing pretty well after his shaky start.
Bot 9: After Langdon tosses a shutout inning, Fitzy comes in to close it out.
He's struggling - 2 runs are in for the Surf so far.
ATC's PA announcer is even more over-the-top-terrible than ours.
Bot 9, Part 2: WTF!!!! 4 runs in for Atlantic City... 14-8 now and Mark Burke up. What is going on, Fitz?
Fitz pulled in favor of Robinson...
...and he gets two outs. Spirit win.
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