Link Report for Tue. 6/24 - 19-Year-Old Arcia Entering "Phenom" Status After Epic Performance

[Eye Black]

Brewers finish off Osprey with big inning

By AJ Mazzolini / Missoulian

 

A string of five spotless innings Tuesday from Osprey pitcher Markus Solbach stretched Missoula’s shutout streak to 18 innings.

 

It was inning No. 19 that doomed the O’s.

 

The Helena Brewers finally caught up to the big righty, scoring all their runs in one rally in a 4-3 victory at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

“Especially this early in the season, when you see your starters driving for more than five innings, they’re ready to pitch and ready to compete,” Osprey manager Audo Vicente praised his pitching staff that had put up a full two games' worth of zeros dating back to Sunday night’s loss to Helena.

 

The 6-toot-5 Solbach came out to start the sixth but found trouble early. Luis Aviles led off with a slicing double to right field. Gregory Munoz bunted him to third and ended up safe at first when the Osprey pitcher’s throw to third was too slow to get Aviles trying to advance.

 

Brandon Diaz and Tucker Neuhaus followed with back-to-back doubles – Diaz’s drive on the 10th pitch of his at-bat scoring two and Neuhaus bringing him around moments later – to break the Osprey shutout. Dustin DeMuth added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to extend the Brewers’ newfound lead to 4-1.

 

After five sterling innings, Solbach left without recording an out in the sixth and was charged with three runs. He struck out seven and faced the minimum 12 batters through four frames with help from his defense.

 

“Felt a lot more comfortable; all my pitches were working,” said Solbach, who allowed five runs in five innings in his first start this season last week. “From the first inning on, I felt like it was gonna be my day.”

 

The Brewers (4-4) had four runners erased on the base paths after hits with Solbach in the game. The Osprey (3-6) infield turned double plays in the first and fifth innings and then Helena hustlers were caught stealing in the second and fourth.

 

Solbach did his part on the second attempted swipe. His subtle move left Diaz stranded between second and third without a pitch to steal on.

 

“We had a runner on second base and the (pick-off) call came out of the dugout, the coaches called it,” Solbach described the setup that resulted in the third out of the fourth inning. “It was a little inside move and they read it right. Guy wanted to run and we picked him off (at third base).”

 

Missoula took the first lead of the game on a sac fly from Fernery Ozuna in the fifth and the latest Osprey slugger, Kevin Cron, tacked on two more in the sixth inning. After Trevor Mitsui led off with a double there, Cron crushed a 1-1 pitch from Helena starter Jorge Ortega for a two-run home run that gave the O’s life following the Brewers’ romp.

 

Cron, a 14th-round draft pick this spring from TCU, arrived in town Monday in time to catch the second half of the Osprey’s win over Helena from the stands. Tuesday was his first action in pro ball, slotted into the lineup as designated hitter.

 

“It was definitely a memorable (debut) for sure,” said Cron, whose father, Chris, managed Great Falls’ Pioneer League team in 2003. “It would have been nicer if we could have pulled out the win. … It wasn’t as sweet as it could have been.”

 

The Osprey struggled to get runners that last leg of the way home. Missoula left eight on base. Four times an Osprey reached third base with less than two outs and only during Ozuna’s sacrifice did the home team score.

 

“You can see the board; we got 10, 11 hits today,” said Vicente, shorting his club a tad as the O’s managed 12 hits. “We didn’t come with the clutch hit today except from Croney’s homer. We had a lot of chances we missed.”

 

Missoula batted 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

 

Jorge Ortega (1-0) threw five innings to earn the win while Brandon Moore (three innings) and Luke Curtis (one) held the Osprey scoreless to close out the game. Curtis earned the save by pitching the ninth.

 

Solbach (0-2) took the hard-luck loss.

 

Cron and Mitsui each finished with two hits and Ozuna was 3 for 4 for the struggling O’s offense.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/missoulian.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/06/a06caede-fc15-11e3-8f06-001a4bcf887a/53aa3c957f8da.preview-620.jpg

Missoula Osprey shortstop Fernery Ozuna eludes Luis Aviles of the Brewers as he got caught between second and third during the first inning Tuesday night at Ogren-Allegiance Park. Ozuna put on a good chase but was finally tagged out.

[igor67]

It is not typically their M.O. but I wonder if the Brewers have given any thought to bumping Demuth up to Wisconsin?

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County --

 

AUDIO: Andrew Luftglass sits down with 'Tees Head Athletic Trainer Tommy Craig on the Manatees Pregame Show

 

AUDIO, Game Highlights: Orlando Arcia went 5-for-5 with 5 RBI in a 10-4 Manatees victory

 

AUDIO: RHP Jorge Lopez joins Andrew Luftglass on the Manatees Pregame Show to talk about Lopez playing in the Futures Game

[Mass Haas]

Noontime Timber Rattlers game today, Wed. Link Report available by mid-morning...

[fondybrewfan]

Demuth, Diaz, Harrison have all been raking at the lower levels so far.

 

Really starting to get excited about Arcia; I will admit I didn't really see the light at the end of the tunnel for the kid. He has never really been all that impressive with the bat but you really forget how young he is. He will probably be at AA in his age 20 season and if things go right in Milwaukee in his age 21 season.

[JohnBriggs12]

It is not typically their M.O. but I wonder if the Brewers have given any thought to bumping Demuth up to Wisconsin?

 

I think the Brewers would do that if a guy showed he's clearly not being challenged at a level, especially a guy who was a 4 year college player who turns 23 in a month. Helena doesn't seem the right place for him. The Brewers M.O. more often would be for Demuth to bypass Wisconsin all together and start next year in Brevard or just give him a month at Wisconsin next April and then move him up. Interestingly, DeMuth's Indiana teammate Schwarber, spent about 5 days in Northwest League at Boise and he's now up at Kane County. DeMuth did have higher BA than Schwarber at Indiana...will be interesting to compare one who was 4th overall pick to the other who was a 5th rounder.

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America --

 

HITTER OF THE DAY: Orlando Arcia, ss — high Class A Brevard County (Brewers)

 

"Arcia didn't show much disappoint over being left off the World roster for the Futures Game. The Brewers' prospect went 5-for-5, falling a homer short of the cycle, and drove in five runs in the Manatees' 10-4 win over Lakeland. The big night helped boost the 19-year-old's slash line to .278/.338/.381."

[TheCrew07]

Minor League Roundup: Bryant Bashes His Way To The Top

 

Florida State League (Hi A)

Orlando Arcia, ss, Brevard County (Brewers):

Evaluators surveyed about Arcia believe he will be a major league-caliber defender at shortstop, if he isn’t already. The questions are whether he’ll hit enough to be a regular at the position. On Tuesday night, Arcia showed the, ahem, 691 people on hand that his bat is plenty good, thank you. He went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, two runs, five RBIs and stole his 12th and 13th bases of the season.