Last Night in Fredericksburg
A ten-pitch first inning from Rodney Theophile was good. But a scoreless one was better, if for no other reason than they’re not very common.
In 57 games prior, Fredericksburg pitchers had given up 72 first-inning runs, which puts even more pressure on an offense that struggles to score runs (3.81/G in a league where the average is 5.06).
Unfortunately, Kannapolis’s Andrew Dalquist was just as good, setting the side down in order to match goose eggs with Theophile through two.
The big Nicaraguan ran into trouble in the middle innings (in a 7-inning game, the third innings counts as such). He walked the leadoff man, then saw a sacrifice bunt turn into two runners in scoring position with an error by Gerardi Diaz, the eighth in 25 games behind the dish.
Theophile then dug himself into trouble with a wild-pitch-whiff that allowed the runner from the third to score and the batter to reach first base. (For those keeping score while reading their morning coffee… what the hell is wrong with you? Also, that’s two extra outs).
A groundout to short that the F-Nats couldn’t turn into two outs plated the second run. After a stolen base, Theophile gave up his first hit to put runners on the corners but the defense converted a second grounder for an inning-ending twin-killing.
Dalquist couldn’t stand the prosperity and did all that he could to give back those two runs – hitting a batter, committing a balk, but ultimately four walks did the trick for a 2-2 tie after three.
The gamewinner came in the 5th on a two-out knock by Viandel Peña that the Cannon Baller left fielder handled like a grenade to turn a single into a Little League double. Ricardo Méndez capitalized on the error with another two-out hit for the 3-2 lead that Davis Moore, who came in with one out and one on in the 6th, was able to hold for his second save and preserve the first “W” of 2021 for Theophile.
In the nightcap, Carlos Romero was able to match Theophile’s feat and go one better, putting up three goose eggs before the Cannon Ballers got to him on the second turn through the lineup with a run on three hits in the 4th and a homer in the 5th. He was lifted with two outs and only 67 pitches thrown.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch Jake Randa justmissed a HR that hit about 2′ short of the top of the RF wall for a double that gave the F-Nats an early 1-0 lead. And, just like Game 1, the Kannapolis decided to give back its lead with three walks and a single in the 5th, inexplicably lifting starter Chase Solesky after four innings and 60 pitches.
And also like Game One, Fredericksburg got sloppy on defense in the 6th, giving the lead away with two singles and two error to tie it at 3-3.
In the bottom of the 6th, Jake Randa launched a shot that landed beyond the OF fence but bounced back in, which was obvious to everyone by the two folks that mattered as Kannapolis successfully fooled them into believing it had justmissed again. José Sánchez singled to push Randa to third and Jackson Coutts lifted a sac fly to send in Randa for a 4-3 lead.
Kannapolis made two quick outs before Tyler Yankosky, who had relieved Romero with one out in the 5th, hit a batter and gave up a single to put the tying run into scoring position. Mario Lisson summoned Gilberto Shu to get the last out, which he got the credit for when Junior Martina chased down a foul pop for the final to cinch the doubleheader sweep.
The two teams meet for the sixth and final time in 2021 tonight. Seth Romero (0-0, 5.40) gets the start against Martín Carrasco (1-3, 5.67).
When I was reading earlier about the sweep, was thinking that would be a fun nite to have watched. Congratulations Luke, I’m jealous.
FYI – Rodney Theophile is indeed big at 6’5″ and 230 but he’s from Nicaragua.
Um, he defected? It’s now fixed.
You have to remember it’s a markedly different experience working from the press box vs. going as a fan. The past two “LNIFs” I’ve been fortunate enough to have been allowed to use the visitor’s broadcasting booth.
As you can see it’s pretty tight quarters. I don’t think the home booth is much bigger. The monitor shows the live feed from MiLB.tv — what you see at home is about 7 seconds behind (insert George Carlin reference here). I usually have the game on anyway so I can see “replays.” In that sense, it is better though you could probably have a similar experience if you have a large/powerful mobile phone.
And, as you might imagine, I’m often multitasking — keeping an eye on the other games, writing what I can so that the next morning isn’t twice the work. For example, I wrote the first half of this story in between games, the second half when I got home (and every trip is an adventure on how many ways there are to get around traffic).
This is actually the norm nowadays for beat writers. Back in the day, you’d write between innings (halves, periods) to ensure you’d make the deadline. Now, you gotta do it just to keep up with the demand for tweets, posts, etc. I even joked to the guys that I was rooting for two 1-0 games. Well, I probably got the next-best thing — especially with the first game being less than two hours.
Wow, your own press box? Now I’m even more jealous.
As long as there’s no visiting broadcast team, sure. Unfortunately, when they do come, the seat and view won’t be so good. But I’ve been there, too. Most notably, covering HS football when the crow’s nest was full of assistant coaches. TBH, that didn’t bother me so much, since that group was the kind that if they got on an elevator ahead of you, you’d do the math in your head and decide the stairs were safer…iykwim.
Theo has been deserving this good fortune
Randa has been due too
In a few days we will know the 20 new kids added on the amateur draft .