Link Report for Sun. 6/17 -- Congrats to Huntsville!

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER EXPLODE IN THE EIGHTH

 

Charleston, WV ? Charlie Fermaint?s grand slam highlighted an incredible six-run explosion in the eighth inning for the Power as they erased a five run deficit and defeated the Lake County Captains 11-7 in the first half finale on Sunday evening, becoming the first team in franchise history to win 48 games in a half.

 

The Captains took a 4-0 lead, scoring four times with two outs in the third. Matt McBride ripped an RBI single and two batters later Nick Weglarz hit a three-run bomb. West Virginia chipped away at the lead in the sixth inning on Andrew Lefave?s first of two home runs, a two-run shot, his eighth of the year.

 

The Captains answered quickly in the top of the seventh on a three-run homer from McBride. In the bottom of the inning Fermaint drove in two runs with a base hit and scored later in the inning on a base hit from Lefave. The Power offense caught fire in the eighth inning. Kenny Holmberg walked with the bases loaded to plate the first of six runs and during the next at bat, Fermaint hit his second home run with the Power, a grand slam to give the Power the lead. Lefave capped off the inning with his second homer of the game, a solo shot, his ninth of the season.

 

Omar Aguilar (5-1) pitched a pair of scoreless frames and got the victory while Cody Bunkleman (1-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering all six runs in the eighth inning.

 

The Power finished the first half with a 48-20 record, and the Captains fell to 31-39 with the loss. The victory sets a new franchise record for wins in a half. The 1990 Charleston Wheelers won 47 games in the second half before winning the South Atlantic League Championship. Andrew Lefave and Charlie Fermaint stole the show offensively. Fermaint had two hits and drove in six while Lefave hit safely three times and knocked in four.

 

The Power are off until Thursday night when they open up a four game series against the Kannapolis Intimidators at Appalachian Power Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Lawrence Pierce

Andrew Lefave of the Power breaks up a double play attempt by Lake County?s Dave Uribes.

 

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[Mass Haas]

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On top of ol' Smokies

Stars' 3-2 win over Barons earns them title over West Tenn

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

It was a pennant clinched via the Internet. Ah, the times they have changed.

 

Late Sunday afternoon, in the frat-house ambiance of their clubhouse, with the Ping-Pong table and cushy sofas and empty pizza boxes, the Huntsville Stars hunkered down around an HP laptop, wirelessly connected to the streaming audio of the Tennessee Smokies-West Tenn Diamond Jaxx game. This was a pennant race of the new millennium.

 

However, within seconds after the Smokies made their final out, thus assuring the Southern League North first-half title for Huntsville, the Stars went old school. Champagne spewed. Beer flowed. Grown men got goofy. Manager Don Money got drenched, scalp to skivvies, in champagne, courtesy of infielder Guilder Rodriguez.

 

The Stars and Smokies entered Sunday's final day of the half tied atop the standings. The Stars took care of their business, knocking off Birmingham 3-2 when Barons pitcher Fernando Hernandez slung a slider into the dirt and past catcher and former Brewer farmhand Jeremy Frost for a bases-loaded, two-out, game-deciding wild pitch.

 

Brendan Katin was the hitter at the time. As the pitch skittered away, he had one thought: "Thank God. Thank God it's over."

 

But it wasn't over until the Smokies dropped their 4-2 decision to West Tenn.

 

This assures the Stars their third postseason appearance in five years and the fourth since Huntsville became a Milwaukee affiliate in 1999 and the second straight for Money and his coaches, Sandy Guerrero and Rich Sauveur.

 

The Stars reached the championship series in 2001, 2003 and 2006 and were declared co-champs in 2001 when the 9/11 attacks cancelled the playoffs.

 

Starter Lindsay Gulin allowed only four hits in 8 1/3 innings on Sunday, striking out 11. After each inning, he'd come to the dugout and plop down in the same seat, on the end of the bench, near the water cooler, the same spot on which he perched on May 11 when he pitched the first five innings of Huntsville's near-miss no-hitter against Mobile.

 

"There was something riding on this game. The other game was my first game, I was just trying to get a feel for the guys and the team," Gulin said.

 

He noted extra adrenaline and energy for this one. "That's why we play, to win games, win championships," he said. "You want to put your team on your back and give yourself a chance to win. I thought we all came together well today."

 

Gulin's one hiccup of an inning came in the fourth, when he loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batsman, and Chris Kelly drove in a run with a sac fly.

 

Katin's 11th homer of the season, so monstrous that left fielder Ricardo Nanita never moved as it orbited over his head, tied the game at 1-all, then Huntsville took a 2-1 lead in the eighth when Carlos Corporan doubled home Hernan Iribarren.

 

Nanita singled off Gulin to open the ninth, then Marino Salas gave up two hits and a walk, blowing a save for the first time in 14 opportunities. But newcomer David Johnson got out of a bases-loaded jam with a groundout and a strikeout.

 

That set the stage for the dramatics in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Brantley led off with a walk, Steve Sollmann singled, then Adam Heether walked to load the bases with one out, bringing up Katin.

 

You can't put Sunday's events in proper perspective without some retrospection.

 

First, the almost eerie tango that Huntsville and Tennessee danced since May 30, when the Stars nudged into first place. For ten straight days and for 14 of the next 16 days, the teams had the same result. If the Stars won, the Smokies won. If the Smokies lost, the Stars lost.

 

Second, there was Friday's doubleheader loss by Huntsville, Thursday's game having been postponed because of an electrical failure that was remedied less than 15 minutes after the game was called.

 

Finally, there was Saturday's epic 16-inning win, the Stars' longest game of the season. Corporan singled home Lou Palmisano with two out for the 3-2 victory. Bo Hall picked up the win with three innings of solid relief. With the Smokies having won 2 1/2 hours earlier, it enabled Huntsville to keep pace - and keep the trend alive.

 

Then came Sunday's thriller, and the Stars' celebration at home plate like jubilant Little Leaguers, a more free-flowing celebration to follow at 6:40 p.m. in the privacy of their clubhouse.

 

Said Money, "We make it interesting, don't we?"

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

NORTHERN STARS!

D'JAXX EDGE SMOKIES, HANDING HUNTSVILLE PLAYOFF BERTH

This is what makes baseball so great....... After 67 games, the Stars' 1st half success was decided by a wild pitch and a ground out.

 

At Smokies Park, where the Tennessee Smokies were still alive on the last day of the 1st half, West Tennessee's Travis Chick held the Smokies for 7 2/3 innings on one hit, leaving a 4-1 lead to the protection of the bullpen, but with the Stars just one out away from a 1st half title, Jake Fox drives Craig James' 2nd pitch to the alley in left for a double, which brought Jemel Spearman to the plate....... Spearman sent a little blooper just out of the reach of Charlton Jimerson, who came oh so close to making a spectacular diving catch to end the ball game, but it scored Fox to make it a one-run game....... With a runner on first in what was now a one-run game, the suspense was building. with a runner on first, but with one pitch to Chris Robinson, trying to extend his five-game hitting streak, it was all over....... A grounder to Chris Minaker and a throw to first gave the 1st half title to the Huntsville Stars and for the 2nd straight season, a Pat Listach-managed team had lost a playoff berth on the last day of the season........For the Stars, it's the first time since the 1997-98 season that the Stars have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

 

Stars fans, themselves, were sweating it out, without the help of a 94° afternoon........ Kris Honel and old nemesis Corwin Malone held the Stars to just three hits over seven innings, one of the three hits -- a home run deep to left by Brendan Katin, a ball that not only cleared the trees to the right of the flagpole in left, but hopped, skipped, and jumped its way off the asphalt to the grassy area across Don Mincher Drive, which is the Parkway entrance to the ballpark. A friend of mine came back and told me that out of all the years he spent chasing home run balls behind the fence in left, it's the first time he had to cross Don Mincher Drive to retrieve a ball........ Katin's home run made it a 1-1 game.

 

While Honel and Malone were silencing the Stars, Lindsay Gulin was doing some of his own, holding the Barons to three hits over eight innings, with a season-high 11 strikeouts, mostly from his off-speed stuff, and curves....... Finally in the bottom of the 8th, with two out, after Hernan Iribarren drew a one-out walk, Carlos Corporan stepped up........ The hero of Saturday night's game, with a 16th inning single up the middle to score Lou Palmisano for the 3-2 win, jumped on Malone's first pitch and drove it to right-center where Sean Smith and Thomas Collaro chased it down. With good speed, Iribarren raced all the way home to put the Stars in the lead, 2-1.

 

With three outs to go, it looked easy from here....... Gulin was still in the game, and Marino Salas was throwing in the bullpen. But in baseball, anything can happen........Ricardo Nanita swung at a 0-1 pitch and lined it to center for a hit. Chris Kelly sacrificed him to second and now, Salas, who had pitched cleanly in Friday and Saturday's game, was called in with Nanita on 2nd and one out........ But Salas, who had never blown a save in 13 situations, picked the wrong day to screw the pooch, to paraphrase from "The Right Stuff"........ Michael Myers swung at his first pitch and lined it in by the outstretched gloves of Adam Heether going one way and Yohannis Perez going the other. The ball hopped off the outer edge of the infield into left, and Nanita beat Michael Brantley's throw to tie the game. After giving up a two-hop single to right by pinch-hitter Cory Aldridge and walking Jeremy Frost to load the bases, Salas was given the hook.

 

With David Johnson now on the mound, Robert Valido lines a high-hopper to Adam Heether. Needing a double play, Heether glances to his left, then makes a strong throw to the plate. It was high, but all Carlos Corporan needed to do was step on the plate for the force out Myers. With that out of the way, and the bases loaded, Johnson fanned Victor Mercedes on a called strike three 89 mph fastball.

 

In the bottom of the 9th, Malone struck out Mel Stocker, then walked Brantley. It was hit 6th walk, so manager Rafael Santana turned to Fernando Hernandez, Jr., who picked up his 5th save in Friday's first game of a double-header with 1 2/3 no-hit innings....... Hernandez, in 25 innings, owns an 0.72 ERA with the bases empty, but all the Stars had to do is manage to get someone on, then play the percentages....... His ERA jumps to 7.16 with runners on base.

 

Steve Sollmann did just that, punching a base hit to right, pushing Brantley to third. Hernandez then walked the slumping Heether (2-for-21) to load the bases........ With the bases loaded, and Brendan Katin behind on the count 1-and-2, Hernandez delivered the one pitch that had meaning above all the countless of others in a 68-game half --- he threw it wide to the first base side, beyond the reach of catcher Jeremy Frost, bouncing all the way to the backstop....... Brantley crossed the plate with the winning run and the Stars dugout emptied in celebration....... The Stars had won, 3-2 -- the exact score of both of the Stars' previous victories in this series.

 

Of course, the WT-Tennessee game was still going on at this time, but the duplicitous role of 2nd half opener and playoff game, Monday at Smokies Park, was obviated by the Diamond Jaxx' 4-3 win an hour later.

 

The Stars now wait for a playoff opponent........ They finish the 1st half with a 37-31 record -- their best 1st half since 2003, when they went to the Championship Series against Carolina, and the last year they had a winning 1st half...... The Stars also finished the 1st half with a 9-1 record on Sundays and 17-4 in daylight....... It was also the 47th time in 68 games that they have allowed their opponent to score first. The Stars are 20-27 under those circumstances....... It was only the 4th time they went into the 8th inning tied and they are now 2-2 in those circumstances.

 

While he didn't win the game, Lindsay Gulin struck out a season-high 11 hitters, the most since Corey Thurman struck out 11 vs. the Diamond Jaxx on May 28 last year. He also lowered his ERA this month to 3.04 in 26 2/3 innings. It was his longest outing of the year........

 

The Stars didn't so much win as the Barons beating themselves. The truth of the matter is, they haven't been playing well at all recently........ They're hitting just .200 in their last ten games and their ERA is 3.90 -- 3.50 from the pen, which is not bad, but far from the 2.67 ERA in April and 2.61 in May........ Hernan Iribarren is 1-for-11 after his four-hit day in the opening game of this series....... Adam Heether made a rare error in the 5th inning when he let Eric Hollis' ground ball go right through his legs. It was a harmless inning, fortunately, as Gulin struck out Robert Valido and Victor Mercedes to end the inning....... Steve Moss, who hit .240 in May, is hitting .212 this month....... Lou Palmisano was 3-for-17 in this series, and in Wednesday's opener, he went 0-for-5, dropping his average under .300 for the first time since his 2-for-8 start to the season. He's hitting .237 this month after finishing a .250 May........ Yohannis Perez is in an 0-for-25 tailspin and 1-for-his-last 33........ In his last 10 games, he's left 20 runners on base.......Yohannis could wind up at Class A-Brevard County (Fla. St.) soon. Now that the Manatees have secured a playoff berth, Alcides Escobar is joining the Stars when the 2nd half begins. Escobar is 4th among Florida State League batting leaders with a .325 average and has 18 stolen bases. If we lose Perez, we'll be losing some defense at the cost of a better hitter at that position. Escobar has made 16 errors at short for the Manatees and carries a .944 fielding pct., while Perez made only nine errors and has a .962 fielding mark....... Steve Sollmann is hitting .291 in June after hitting .362 in April and .309 in May, but he has still avoided going hitless in consecutive games -- quite a feat!

 

Sam Narron (2-5, 5.27) will start the 2nd half opener against the Smokies, the best hitting team in the Southern League at .279, Monday. He faces Smokies right-hander Justin Berg (3-4, 5.77). Berg is 2-2 with a 7.39 ERA at home.

 

Former Stars pitcher Matt Childers (Stars 2001-03), pitching this year for the Class AAA-Ottawa Lynx (Int.), the Phillies top farm club, has been suspended for 50 days for violation of the major league drug prevention and treatment program. His last appearance for Ottawa was a two-inning appearance against Indianapolis, in which he gave up five runs on eight hits....... Where are they now? Kurt Abbott, who played shortstop for the Stars from 1991-92, hitting .253 and .254, is a deputy sheriff in Florida...... Another Stars shortstop, Walt Weiss, who hit .285 for the Stars in 1987, lives in Colorado with his wife and three kids and is active in charities........ Josue Espada, who played for the 1999 Stars, their first year under the Milwaukee banner, is hitting coach for the Class A-Greensboro Grasshoppers (Sally)........

 

Anthony Wycklendt, who spent three inactive days with the Stars (June 5-7) after Ruben Mateo went on the DL, has been demoted from West Virginia to Helena (Pioneer)....... The Brewers have signed 26 of their 46 draft picks from June 7, including #3 pick catcher Jonathan Lucroy and #4 pick 2nd baseman Eric Farris....... Hatton, Alabama native Donovan Hand, the Brewers' #14 pick, has also signed. The right-hander has been assigned to Helena.

[TheCrew07]

Brantley has walked 7 times already in AA. He's only 20, gotta love that eye...

[Mass Haas]

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Power comeback sparks record-breaking victory

Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail Sportswriter

 

It was appropriate that the first half of the South Atlantic League baseball season ended on Father's Day.

 

That's because West Virginia Power Manager Mike Guerrero was one proud papa, so to speak.

 

His players capped the most successful half in franchise history Sunday with an 11-7 victory in which they rallied from a 7-2 deficit, scoring all of their runs in their final three at-bats.

 

An Appalachian Power Park crowd of 3,054 watched the Power's record-breaking win on a hotter-than-normal East End evening.

 

Center fielder Charlie Fermaint (2-for-5) and left fielder Andrew LeFave (3-for-4) were the difference-makers in West Virginia's first-half finale.

 

Fermaint delivered a grand slam during the Power's six-run eighth inning and a two-run single in its three-run seventh.

 

LeFave hit two homers -- a two-run shot in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth.

 

"I don't know how many times we have done this," LeFave said of the comeback. "We don't get down on ourselves, and we never give up until the last out is made."

 

Northern Division champion West Virginia finished the first half with a 48-20 record and a .706 winning percentage, both franchise records during Charleston's 20-year membership in the low Class A SAL.

 

"This is special," Guerrero said. "You don't see this everyday."

 

The previous marks were 47 wins and a .657 winning percentage, set by the 1990 and 1991 Charleston Wheelers, respectively.

 

"I would hate to have to make a choice between the 2007 team and the 1990 team," said Don Cook, who has spent 17 of the past 20 years as the club's play-by-play broadcaster or public address announcer.

 

"The 1990 team had Dan Wilson, Bobby Ayala, Jerry Spradlin, Tim Pugh, Scott Pose, John Roper, Chris Hook (and Trevor Hoffman) ... those are all guys who played in the Major Leagues. This team has that potential. Whether or not they have that many Major Leaguers someday remains to be seen."

 

West Virginia also set a franchise record for consecutive victories with 14, a streak that started April 12 with a 6-5 win over Lakewood and ended April 28 with a 9-1 loss to Lexington.

 

The Power led the 16-club circuit with a .305 team batting average. Eight of the 16 position players who appeared in games for West Virginia hit .300 or higher.

 

"These guys have a lot of heart and want-to," Power hitting coach Corey Hart said. "When you get everybody believing that they can do something, they're pretty much unstoppable."

 

West Virginia had five players ranked in the top 10 in the league in batting average -- LeFave (second, .343); third baseman Taylor Green (third, .339); outfielder and first baseman Michael Brantley (tied for fourth, .335); center fielder Darren Ford (tied for fourth, .335); and outfielder Chuckie Caufield (eighth, .323).

 

Caufield ranked first in hits with 90 and third in RBI with 54. Ford led the league in stolen bases with 31. LeFave ranked second in on-base percentage at .445. Green finished third in slugging percentage at .574. Shortstop Brent Brewer was second in runs with 52.

 

"Every guy cared about the next guy," second baseman Kenny Holmberg said. "When you lose sight or lose track of your own achievements and goals and you care more about the other guys than you do yourself, you start to pile up results of your own. That was what made this team so special."

 

West Virginia ranked eighth in pitching with a 4.37 team earned run average.

 

"I expected the pitching to be a little better, a little stronger and a little more consistent than it was," Power pitching coach John Curtis said. "Some guys are going to have to step it up in the second half."

 

West Virginia will begin the second half at 7:05 Thursday night (6:05 Central) in the first of a four-game home stand against Kannapolis.

 

POWER PLUGS: Right-handed pitcher Alex Periard said he will make his return Saturday when he makes his fifth start. An ear infection has sidelined Periard since his last outing May 22 ... the Power sent outfielder Anthony Wycklendt down to Helena of the rookie Pioneer League and brought up infielder Brad Miller from extended spring training.

 

Charleston Daily Mail Photos: Tom Hindman

West Virginia Power?s Charlie Fermaint gets congratulated by teammates after hitting a grand slam during the Power?s six-run eighth inning, which sparked their comeback from five runs down to win 11-7 and take a South Atlantic League-leading 48-20 record into the season?s halfway point.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/061807wvpower.jpg

 

The West Virginia Power?s Steve Chapman clutches his right leg after fouling a ball off it during Sunday?s home game against Lake County at Appalachian Power Park.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/061807leg.jpg

 

NOTE: Chapman, the DH Sunday, lined out to right in the 2nd, but was pinch-hit for by Brad Miller in the 5th.

[Mass Haas]

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Gulin, Stars see Southern League North title

By Michael Echan / Special to MLB.com

 

Huntsville rode Lindsay Gulin's arm and Jeff Housman's prediction to a Southern League North title with a 3-2 victory over visiting Birmingham, 3-2, on Sunday.

 

In his first year back in affiliated baseball, Gulin racked up a career-best 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings while giving up two runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batsman. Gulin struck out six batters in the first three innings and fanned at least one Baron in six of the nine innings he started.

 

"From the get-go, I felt real good coming out of the bullpen," the 30-year-old left-hander said. "I was spotting my fastball real well on both sides of the plate while keeping the hitters off-balance with my changeup. [Catcher Carlos] Corporan and I were both thinking the same things and he was putting down the right signs."

 

Gulin pitched for Lincoln of the Independent American Association last season after spending 2004 and 2005 in Japan.

 

After the Stars (37-31) took the lead in the eighth, Gulin started the ninth looking for his first complete game since tossing one for Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League in 2003. Ricardo Nanita led off with a single and went to second on Christopher Kelly's sacrifice bunt and Gulin was summarily pulled for reliever Marino Salas.

 

Salas was unable to hold the lead, giving up back-to-back singles to Michael Myers and Cory Aldridge to tie the game, 2-2.

 

"You always want to be able to get that first guy out," Gulin said. "Whenever you let that first guy on, it gets under your skin, especially if he comes around to score. But both hits were ground balls through the infield and Dave [Johnson] sat the last two guys down, so it wasn't really their fault. That's just baseball for you."

 

After Corwin Malone and Fernando Martinez loaded the bases with two walks and a single in the bottom of the frame, Brendan Katin came up to the plate with a chance to drive in the winning run.

 

"I was sitting in the top step of the dugout and [reliever] Jeff Housman came up behind me and said 'This guy is going to throw a wild pitch and we're going to win. Watch it,'" Gulin said.

 

As if on cue, Hernandez uncorked a wild pitch that rolled to the backstop and allowed Michael Brantley to score the winning run.

 

Gulin said that he's probably never seen a game, let alone one with playoff implications, end in such a fashion in his 13 years of professionall ball.

 

Huntsville reliever Dave Johnson (1-0) picked up the win after getting the last two outs in the ninth.

 

Katin led off the fourth with a home run, his 11th, and Corporan was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The Stars only managed five hits, but drew 11 walks. Brantley collected a game-high four bases on balls.

 

Gulin walked two batters and hit a third before Kelly lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Jeremy West for the first run of the game. Ricardo Nanita and Sean Smith each had two hits for the Barons (32-38).

 

Malone (0-5) gave up two runs on two hits and six walks while striking out five in 3 1/3 innings.

 

Huntsville starter Lindsay Gulin dominated Birmingham hitters. (Chris Ponder/Ponderphoto.com)

 

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