Link Report for Games of Sunday, April 10th

[Mass Haas]

Different quotes here, link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=40588

 

Krynzel?s triple lifts Sounds to win

By Mark McGee, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

When it is all said and done, Nashville Sounds lead-off hitter Dave Krynzel is more worried about perfecting his bunting mechanics than driving in runs.

 

?I really need to get my bunts down,? said Krynzel. ?Bunts are something that I really focus on.?

 

But his triple to deep center gave the Sounds a 5-3 victory against the New Orleans Zephyrs on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at Greer Stadium.

 

?I hit the ball solid, and that?s all I?m looking for, especially in the lead-off spot? said Krynzel who has hits in all four Sounds games this season, including a lead-off single on the first pitch of the game. ?I just want to get on base and let the big boys hit. This game it was kind of in reverse and it worked out.?

 

With one out in the seventh, and the Sounds trailing 3-2, Trent Durrington reached base on a single to up the middle with one out. Pat Borders grounded out for the second out of the inning moving Durrington to second. New Orleans reliever Dan Smith threw a wild pitch to move Durrington to third. Steve Scarborough singled to third base to score Durrington. Matt Erickson pinch-hits for pitcher Chad Paronto, and singles through the hole at second base. Both runners scored on Krynzel?s triple.

 

?Since he has played for me he has gotten big hits like that,? said Nashville manager Frank Kremblas. ?He?s a not a slap hitter. He can fly, but he?s not a little scrawny guy.?

 

Kremblas credited the pitching for keeping the Sounds in the game. Starter Rick Helling, who threw a perfect game against the Sounds as a member of the old Oklaoma City 89ers in 1996, pitched 5.2 innings. Helling allowed six hits, struck out four and allowed all three runs.

 

Chad Paronto pitched 1.1 innings to go to 2-0 on the season. Jeff Bennett pitched the final two innings to pick up his first save on the Class AAA level.

 

?We needed Rick to go at least five, and he did a good job,? Kremblas said. ?Chad came in and did a good job and Mr. Bennett shut the door. We?re going to be in games more with our pitching than our offense.?

 

Nashville closed out the series with New Orleans with a 3-1 advantage. Tonight at 7 Oklahoma City opens a four-game series with former Sounds pitcher John Wasdin (0-1), who pitched a perfect game at Greer two years ago on April 7 facing Andy Pratt in his first start of the season.

 

?We?re a great team,? Krynzel said. ?We?re going to win games. You never know what is going to happen in our lineup from one through nine. There are no weak spots. Everyone of us knows what we need to work on individually to get to the next level. It was a good first series for us.?

 

Quick hits: With 3,577 fans Sunday, the Sounds averaged 6,113 fans during the four-game series. ?Five of the eight runs, including the final five, were scored with two outs. ? Scarborough also has a four-game hitting streak. ..The Sounds failed to hit a home run in a game for the first time this season.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Game Summary (Daytona Beach Site):

 

For the third straight game, the Daytona Cubs received a stellar performance from their pitching staff. The Cubs beat the Brevard County Manatees 6-1 Sunday night behind six scoreless innings from starter JR Mathes.

 

Mathes (1-0) scattered three hits over six innings, striking out six Manatee batters and walking only one. Adalberto Mendez notched his second save of the season striking out the side in the ninth.

 

The Cubs got on the board early as Kevin Collins and Scott Moore collaborated with back-to-back doubles in the second inning for the first run of the game. Collins and Moore drew consecutive walks to begin the fourth and were knocked in by a double by Drew Larsen and a sacrifice fly Tony Richie respectively. Richie drove in four of Daytona's six runs. He cemented the win with a three-run shot off Pine Ridge graduate Nick Slack in the eighth.

 

"He left me a curveball up; I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit," said Richie, whose fellow catcher, Jake Fox, made a heroic defensive play to spark the Cubs' win Saturday night. "It seemed like their guys were trying to throw curveballs to get ahead, so I was kind of looking for it."

 

Moore reached base four times in Sunday night?s contest. After doubling in the second, he walked twice and singled. Drew Larson also had a good night at the plate with a double and a triple in three at-bats while spelling regular left-fielder Kyle Boyer.

 

The lone Manatees run came on a solo home run by catcher Lou Palmisano. Palmisano was 3-for-9 in the series, but notched his first extra-base hit of the season with the homer in the seventh.

 

Slack pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief for Brevard County. He allowed a hit -- Richie's three-run homer -- walked one and hit a batter.

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Game Summary (Hagerstown Site):

 

The Hagerstown Suns pulled the plug on the West Virginia Power Sunday 6-0, earning an opening weekend sweep. The Suns used three pitchers to shutout the Power and remain in first place in the SAL North Division.

 

The Suns starting pitching has been spectacular all series long, hurling over 19 innings and not allowing a single run. Today was no exception as starter Jose Sanchez picked up the win striking out four in five innings and giving up just one hit.

 

Hagerstown's offense hasn't exactly been a weak link and today they used a solo homerun by Mike Carp in the second inning to jump out in front and piled on five more runs.

 

Grant Psomas continued his hot streak, and extended his hit streak to four games, with a single in the fourth inning. Hernan Iribarren, one of the few bright spots for the Power kept his four-game streak alive as well.

 

Perhaps the biggest reaction from the crowd of over 3,400 came when centerfielder Ambiorix Concepcion showed off his throwing skills, gunning down West Virginia's William Lewis at the plate in the sixth inning to preserve the shutout.

[burniebrewer]

Was that a Jeffrey Hammonds sighting in RF for New Orleans?

[Mass Haas]

Suns use jump start to jolt Power

by BOB PARASILITI

bobp@herald-mail.com

Hagerstown Herald Mail

 

Ryan Coultas will never be confused with the Dalai Lama, Ghandi or even Phil Jackson.

 

His methods weren't products of meditation, yoga or even Zen thinking. It was something much simpler.

 

Coultas brought the stress and pressure of a fourth-inning bases-loaded situation down to the level of returning a movie rental before its deadline. Hagerstown's second baseman won the battle and the war by stroking a clutch, two-run single to ignite a three-run rally Sunday and lift the Suns to a 6-0 win over the West Virginia Power before 3,404 at Municipal Stadium.

 

"It was just a case that you have to go up there and concentrate and focus more," Coultas said. "You have to realize that when the bases are loaded, it's pitcher is the one that is in trouble."

 

It's been a situation that the Power has been accustomed to for the entire season-opening weekend of the Suns' 25th anniversary season. The Suns swept West Virginia out of town with four straight wins by a combined score of 20-5, giving Hagerstown sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division.

 

Hagerstown jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second off West Virginia starter Forrest Martin with Mike Carp's leadoff home run to left.

 

The Suns settled in behind the starting pitching of Jose Sanchez (1-0), who threw five innings of one-hit pitching with a walk and four strikeouts. Sanchez combined with Tim Worthington and Kevin Mannix for a three-hit shutout of the Power, who hit .127 in the series against Suns pitching.

 

Hagerstown batted around in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs. That brought Coultas up in the situation that hurt the Suns during their 2-1 win on Saturday. Hagerstown loaded the bases with no outs and a 2-0 lead in the eighth and failed to score a run, giving manger Gene Richards one of the few things to be concerned about this season.

 

Coultas showed patience to get his count and singled home Grant Psomas and Tyler Davidson.

 

"It was just a fastball with a 2-0 count," Coultas said. "It was the only pitch I was looking for."

 

Rafael Arroyo and Wilson Batista drew consecutive walks off reliever Brian Montalbo to bring home Jesus Gamero to give the Suns at 4-0 lead.

 

"These guys are making adjustments," Richards said. "It's only the fourth day of the season, but hopefully we are seeing positive things. Coultas gave us a good at-bat. This time we executed. If we execute (in bases-loaded situations) at least one-third of the time, I'll be happy."

 

Ambiorix Conception and Carp led off the fifth with back-to-back doubles off Montalbo to produce a run in the fifth. The Suns closed the scoring with a double by Arroyo and a two-out single by Carlos Gomez in the sixth to complete the six-run cushion.

 

"Our pitching has been phenomenal," Coultas said. "We are not just throwing guys out there just to throw. It's so easy to stay focused. They aren't walking guys and we are able to play uptempo."

 

West Virgina's only threat was thwarted in spectacular fashion in the sixth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Hernan Iribarren grounded a single to short center. Concepcion charged the ball and fired home, where Arroyo decoyed base runner William Lewis at the plate by not moving until the ball arrived to make a snap tag for the out.

 

"(Being 4-0) is a big deal," Richards said. "You want to start out as positively as you can before you make your first road trip. We have (Lakewood) coming in here tomorrow and each new team is a new adventure."