Link Report for Games of Friday, April 7th

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section.../200604081

 

10th-inning home run lifts Delmarva past Power 3-1

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

On a night filled with rain delays but scant scoring opportunities, Delmarva?s Rob Marconi decided to simplify matters.

 

Just when it seemed the Shorebirds and Power would play all night, Marconi stroked a two-out, opposite-field shot onto the right-center field concourse for a two-run homer in the 10th inning and a 3-1 Delmarva victory Friday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

The game, which was scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m., ended at 11:52 p.m.

 

The evening started with a 40-minute rain delay that followed a forecast of severe thunderstorms. Flashes of lightning accompanied by more showers forced a 58-minute stoppage in the top of the eighth and another shower interrupted play with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied 1-1. The game ended in a sprinkle.

 

The Power?s second game of the season drew a paid crowd of 2,561, which included about 1,000 no-shows. By game?s end, fewer than 50 remained.

 

The Power, who defeated the Shorebirds 4-1 in Thursday?s season opener, posed a modest threat in the ninth. Kenny Holmberg singled with one out and took second on an infield out, but Ryan Crew?s infield out ended the inning.

 

Some daring base-running by Holmberg produced the Power?s only run. After singling and eventually reaching third base with one out in the seventh, Holmberg saw a chance to score, albeit a risky one, when Ned Yost lofted a high pop toward the Delmarva bullpen 50 feet behind third.

 

When Shorebird shortstop Stuart Musslewhite made the catch running toward the grandstand, Holmberg darted toward the plate, catching Musslewhite unaware. He scored easily, beating the throw that arrived five on the first-base side.

 

Delmarva?s other run came on Ryan Finan?s second-inning homer that cleared Morris Street in right center.

 

The Power and Shorebirds will play Saturday night and close out the series with an afternoon game Sunday.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

TWICE AS NICE

Last year, our Huntsville Stars didn't win their 2nd game until the 9th game of the season. This year, they're off to a 2-0 start, thanks to a two-run 1st inning homer by Drew Anderson and some very impressive pitching in Tim Dillard's debut........ The back-to-back victories by the same score to open the season is an anomaly that has never happened before in the first two games of a season, otherwise it's not so uncommon. Last year, the Stars beat Mobile, 14-3 on back-to-back days, June 23-24........ Also for the first time since 2000, the Stars have put up home runs in their first two games of the season.

 

Dillard retired the first nine hitters he faced before Gregor Blanco, who hit three triples against the Stars last year, doubled to right. With one out, he walked his only batter, Yunel Escobar and for the only time in the game, Dillard had two runners on base to worry about. But he got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to fly out to right and Matt Esquivel to force out Escobar. Dillard then proceeded to retire the M'Braves in order in the 5th and 6th innings. After allowing Escobar to line a single to center field in the 7th, he struck out Saltalamacchia and was gone, leaving it to Stephen Bray........ After getting the 2nd out of the inning, Bray served up a home run that went into the Stars bullpen, shaving the Stars' lead in half. Bray was never in serious trouble after that and Joe Winkelsas got Dax Norris to ground out with runners on first and second to end the game........ Pitching against the Stars in the 9th was former Mobile Bay Bear closer and SL All-Star Brad Baker, who saved 30 games in 2004 and logged a 1.57 ERA.

 

Corey Thurman is scheduled to start tomorrow night against Brady Endl, who was supposed to face Dillard tonight, but fell ill instead.

 

***

New Atlanta Brave Ken Ray pitched two scoreless innings Thursday night in his return to the big leagues, throwing 18 pitches, 12 for strikes. He struck out the first batter he faced -- Barry Bonds.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1

 

A Star-filled night for Dillard family

Huntsville pitcher makes mother proud in 4-2 win

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

PEARL, Miss. - Mary Jane Dillard, baseball wife and baseball mom, had scorebook in hand and cell phone close by in the first-base box seats. Habitually, she keeps track of the game in the intricate hieroglyphics of baseball scorekeeping.

 

"It's the way I stay focused,'' she explained.

 

Friday's scorecard was a keeper. Huntsville Stars 4, Mississippi Braves 2.

 

More importantly to her, 6 1/3 innings, two hits, one run, one walk, three strikeouts - the pitching line for her son, Tim Dillard, the 22-year-old Huntsville right-hander.

 

It was a blueprint for efficient, put-the-ball-in-play pitching. Said manager Don Money, "He goes right after the hitters.''

 

Mary Jane's cell phone rang late in the game, a call from her husband Steve, a former major leaguer and now coach with the Cardinals' Quad Cities farm club.

 

Except for Steve's prior commitment, it was a nice Dillard family homecoming. They live in Saltillo, a suburb of Tupelo, a couple of hours to the north, and Tim played at Itawamba Junior College (as a pitcher and catcher) and at Ole Miss. Mary Jane works at a hospital in Tupelo and saves up off days for her baseball trips, to be divided this summer between the short hauls to nearby stops and some visits to the Midwest League.

 

"I was a little nervous,'' Dillard said. Asked when he finally got over the jitters, he admitted, refreshingly, "I don't know if I did. I couldn't sit down (in the dugout). Especially hitting. You're scared and the adrenaline is pumping at the same time.''

 

As for his performance, "I know some stuff I need to work on, but for the most part I felt comfortable out there.''

 

This five-game series continues tonight at 7:05, with Corey Thurman, a former big-leaguer with Toronto, pitching for the Stars against Chris Waters.

 

After finishing up in Mississippi, the Stars return to Huntsville for the home opener Tuesday against Birmingham.

 

The Stars gave Dillard a 2-0 lead in the first after a Callix Crabbe single and a Drew Anderson homer to right into a 30-mph crosswind.

 

Jeff Eure, Thursday's hero with a two-run homer, was the catalyst for the next two Huntsville runs, doubling in the fourth and scoring on a 35-foot topped grounder by Dillard, then singling with two out in the sixth and scoring on an Ozzie Chavez double.

 

The Braves ended their 12-inning scoreless streak when Stars' reliever Stephen Bray yielded a wind-aided two-run homer to former Ole Miss player Mike Rosamond in the seventh.

 

It was a nice night for the Ole Miss Alumni Association. Steve Dillard also played for the Rebels before his big-league career with the Red Sox, Tigers, Cubs and White Sox.

 

His father, Tim said, has had an impact on him "my whole life. Most kids were watching cartoons. We were playing baseball. I loved baseball. We had a Little League field in the backyard.

 

"It was one thing every day, ground balls, pop-ups, catching, hitting.''

 

Dillard's versatility as a hitter and pitcher came from his dad, too. "He always said, the fastest way to get to the big leagues was as a switch-hitting catcher.''

 

The night's irony: the last batter Dillard faced was Braves' catching uber-prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia, a switch-hitter. Dillard struck him out.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.clarionledger.com/app...5/0/SPORTS

 

Saltillo's Dillard stifles M-Braves

Former catcher allows two hits and one run in AA debut

By Rod Walker

rwalker@clarionledger.com

 

PEARL ? Much has changed since Tim Dillard was a 6-year-old kid growing up in Saltillo.

 

Back then, Dillard's father (ex-major leaguer Steve Dillard) advised his son that the quickest way to the majors was to become a switch-hitting catcher.

 

But Dillard's path to the majors may be delivering pitches instead of catching them.

 

Dillard, making his Double-A debut Friday night, allowed one run on just two hits in 6 1/3 innings to lead the Huntsville Stars to a 4-2 victory over the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park before an announced crowd of 3,191.

 

Dillard, who platooned at catcher and pitcher while starring at Itawamba CC, retired the first nine batters he faced before M-Braves leadoff batter Gregor Blanco doubled in the fourth.

 

"He was impressive," said M-Braves manager Jeff Blauser, seeking his first victory after also dropping Thursday's season opener by an identical score. "Even when Blanco got that hit, he still managed to keep us in check. I don't know much about him, but from the looks of it, he has a good future ahead of him."

 

Dillard, described by Baseball America as "the best control pitcher" in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league organization, used his control Friday, allowing just three baserunners and striking out three batters.

 

"I don't strike out a lot of people," said Dillard, a 2001 Saltillo graduate who grew up with a Little League field practically in his backyard. "... I had family and friends here who had never seen me play pro ball, so I was a little nervous.

 

"I couldn't sit down, especially hitting because you're scared and your adrenaline is pumping at the same time."

 

Dillard's teammates helped him relax a bit early on. Huntsville's Drew Anderson blasted a two-run homer over the right-center field fence to give the Stars (2-0) an early lead. Dillard helped his own cause in the fourth with an infield single that plated another run.

 

Huntsville's Jeff Eure continued his torrid season-opening pace at the plate. A night after going 2-for-4 with a home run, Eure reached base his first three times Friday and scored twice. His second run gave the Stars a 4-0 lead, which proved to be plenty of cushion for the Huntsville pitching staff, which allowed just four M-Braves' hits after giving up six in the opener.

 

"I am not worried about our hitting," said Blauser. "We're going to be fine. We've got some guys that swing the bat up and down the lineup. It's just one of those things where we really haven't got going yet. We have had some opportunities, but just haven't come through yet but that's just part of the game. It's obviously a little more glaring when you start the season that way."

 

Dillard wasn't the only Mississippian who had an impact Friday. First baseman Mike Rosamond of Madison blasted a two-run homer in the seventh to get the M-Braves' offense going. It was the first home run of the young season for the Braves, who finished 2005 with 26 round-trippers at Trustmark Park.

 

"That was a big hit," said Blauser. "I don't ever think we're out of the game, but that put us just one shot away, especially with the way the wind was blowing out there tonight."

 

Trailing 4-2 in the ninth, the M-Braves threatened as Matt Esquivel and Rosamond both reached on two-out singles, but Onil Joseph grounded out to end the game.

 

Right-hander Dave Coggin took the loss for the M-Braves after replacing expected starter Brady Endl, who missed the game due to allergies. Coggin (0-1) allowed three hits and walked two batters in the first before retiring seven straight.

[Never Outhustled]

Corey Thurman takes the mound for the Stars Saturday night and will be opposed by Braves? left-hander Brady Endl.

 

Thats the Brady Endl from UW-W. He's a big lefty who throws fairly hard, and was just drafted a couple years ago, around the 10th round. He's really moving up quickly, I wish the Crew would have drafted

 

EDIT: Cleaned up the EZCodes - bscr