Friday’s News and Notes
Vermont loses but every other affiliate wins on Friday night in the Nats' minors
The Quick Rundown…
| Team | Yesterday’s Result | Today’s Game | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse Chiefs | Won, 4-1 | vs. Rochester, 7:05 p.m. | Andrew Kown (2-4, 3.79) vs. TBD |
| Harrisburg Senators | Won, 9-1; Won, 3-1 | @ Binghamton, 7:05 p.m. | Brad Peacock (2-1, 4.50) vs. Robert Carson (1-6, 8.74) |
| Potomac Nationals | Won, 5-0 | vs. Kinston, 5:00 p.m. (doubleheader) |
Trevor Holder (2-3, 4.48) and Carlos Martinez (0-0, 2.90) vs. Joseph Gardner (12-5, 2.69) and Austin Adams (5-1, 1.51) |
| Hagerstown Suns | Won, 6-5 | @ West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. | Paul Demny (6-9, 4.25) vs. Jason Erickson (7-6, 4.44) |
| Vermont Lake Monsters | Lost, 7-4 | @ Staten Island, 5:00 p.m. (doubleheader) |
Taylor Jordan (2-2, 5.08) and Matt Swynenberg (4-2, 4.84) vs. TBD |
Syracuse Chiefs W, 4-1 @ Rochester Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Mock (W, 1-1) 6IP 4H 1R 1ER 2BB 3K
Pitching Star: Bisenius 1⅓ IP 2H 0R 0BB 2K
Hitting Star #1: Bynum 1-3, 2R, BB, HR, RBI
Hitting Star #2: Davis 1-3, 3B, BB
Notes: Back-to-back RBI doubles by Chase Lambin and Pete Orr broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh as the Syracuse Chiefs won their sixth straight game by a score of 4-1. Garrett Mock started and pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks to go with three K’s, while three Chiefs relievers combined for the final three scoreless innings. The win kept pace with Columbus, as the tragic number is now down to one, meaning Syracuse has to win out and the Clippers to lose out just to force a tie.
Harrisburg Senators W, 9-1; W, 3-1 @ Binghamton Gamer
GAME ONE | Box
Starter/Pitching Star: Milone (W, 12-5) 7IP 7H 1R 1ER 1BB 9K
Hitting Star #1: Marrero 3-4, 2R, HR, 3RBI
Hitting Star #2: Burgess 2-4, 2R, 2HR, 3RBI
Hitting Star #3: Lombardozzi 3-3, 2R, 2BB, HR, RBI
Notes: For the second straight season, Tom Milone has posted a 12-5 won-loss record, as the 23-year-old tossed a complete game in the opening game of the doubleheader. The 12 wins leads the Nats minors by two over teammate Chuck James, and the nine strikeouts is 14 ahead of teammate Brad Peacock. Chris Marrero, Mike Burgess, and Steve Lombardozzi all went deep, combining for eight of the 12 Harrisburg hits.
GAME TWO | Box
Starting Pitcher: Alaniz (W, 1-0) 5IP 2H 0R 2BB 5K
Pitching Star: Spradlin (H, 0) 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K
Hitting Star #1: Johnson 2-3, 2R, 2-2B
Hitting Star #2: Burgess 1-3, R, HR, RBI
Notes: The nightcap was a scoreless pitcher’s duel through five full innings before Mike Burgess went deep for third time on the night, his solo HR giving the Senators a 1-0 lead in the sixth. Harrisburg added two more in the seventh to extend the lead to 3-0. Binghamton would get its lone run in the bottom of the seventh as Brahaim Maldanado greeted closer Cole Kimball with a big fly, which was just the third hit of the night for the B-Mets. Starter Adrian Alaniz went the first five innings, allowing just two his and two walks while setting down five on strikes.
The doubleheader sweep pulls Harrisburg into a tie with Bowie for the E.L. West wildcard. In the event of a tie, Bowie would host Harrisburg for a one-game playoff.
Potomac Nationals W, 5-0 @ Salem Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Rosenbaum (W, 3-2) 6IP 4H 0R 0BB 4K
Pitching Star: Dials (H, 4) 2IP 2H 0R 0BB 1K
Hitting Star #1: Jacobsen 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
Hitting Star #2: Moore 1-3, R, HR (30), RBI (109)
Notes: With Wilmington idle, the Potomac Nationals shut out the Salem Red Sox 5-0, reducing their magic number to reach the playoffs to just one. Tyler Moore and Robbie Jacobsen both went deep in a three-run eighth that put the game out of reach. Starter Danny Rosenbaum went six scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and striking out four. Zach Dials pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th and A.J. Morris closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth. The win also clinched a playoff berth for this weekend’s opponent, the Kinston Indians.
Hagerstown Suns W, 6-5 @ West Virginia Box
Starting Pitcher: McCatty (W, 1-1) 5IP 4H 1R 0ER 0BB 8K
Pitching Star: Morrison (SV, 2) 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K
Hitting Star #1: Newsome 2-5, R, 2-2B
Hitting Star #2: Leon 2-5, 2R, 3B, RBI
Notes: The Hagerstown Suns built a 6-1 lead and survived two late rallies to edge past the West Virginia Power, 6-5. Shane McCatty started and allowed just one unearned run on four hits over five innings while striking out eight to get the win. Kyle Morrison stopped the bullpen giveaways with 1-2-3 ninth on three strikeouts. Hitters of the game Brett Newsome and Sandy Leon both went 2-for-5 to pace the 10-hit Suns attack.
Vermont Lake Monsters L, 7-4 @ Staten Island Box | Gamer
Starting Pitcher: Hansen 4IP 11H 4R 4ER 1BB 4K
Pitching Star: Ray 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K
Pitching Un-Star: Jenkins (L, 2-7) 3IP 3H 3R 3ER 2BB 1K
Hitting Star #1: Rowe 2-4, 2B; Two OF assists at HP
Hitting Star #2: Kelso 2-4, SB
Notes: Vermont completed its collapse with a 7-4 loss to Staten Island, which coupled with a Connecticut win, eliminated the Lake Monsters from the playoffs. Pitching and clutch hitting were both AWOL as Bobby Hansen started and threw for four innings, giving up four runs on 11 hits and a walk and the Vermont offense went just 3-for-15 with RISP, stranding 10 runners. Connor Rowe doubled in a 2-for-4 night and gunned down two runners at the plate to earn hitting star honors along with Blake Kelso, who stole a base while also going 2-for-4.
The complete collapse of Vermont over the 2nd half of this season has been horrific to read about; I can’t imagine how it must feel to Freda & all the folks up there who support the team by housing and assisting the players. Those kids went from looking like runaway winners in late July to finishing out of the playoffs – That’s got to be hard to swallow.
BinM, I’m with you, feel real bad for Freda, She’s housing 3 players this year.
Everything else is great news, the Potomac surge just keeps on going and even Harrisburg’s hanging in. Hagerstown even got some hitting from the catching position, something that’s been missing all year.
@BinM
Certainly frustrating for the Vermont players. It’s got to be harder to build a stretch run at that level for our organization. With all of the college guys we draft and our need to get talent to the higher minors, there’s going to be real pressure to have GCL success stories like Hague skip Vermont and to promote guys who show success in Vermont to Hagerstown. What do you think is the reason for Vermont’s fall? A couple of guys got off to really hot starts. Seems to me that we tend to concentrate the best talent at Potomac when possible and it’s always going to be tough for Hagerstown and Vermont to have sustained success.
@Mark L
Who is Freda? Wonder if she’d be interesting in contributing here to share her experiences as a host parent for those wanting to learn more about life in the minors. Do you know which players she’s hosting?
Simple… Pitching. Early on, they were getting it, but after mid-July, the starters were routinely getting pounded and the bats just couldn’t keep up. No starter was below league-average ERA.
Souldrummer — As long as I read NFA, Freda was the occasional contributor. She hosts 2-3 players every year, and really takes an emotional stake in her players and the team. While we may watch from afar, she’s really in the trenches and BinM and I were both lamenting her sadness. She did mention which 3 players, but I forgot, although at the time she mentioned it all 3 were doing great.
Like you, I would love to find a way to make sure people like her migrate over here. It was pretty obvious for the last 2 months that Brian was checking out, just didn’t know when.