Link Report Thurs. 6/14 - Manatees Join Power In Postseason!

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game Two: Brevard County 4, Daytona (Cubs) 0

 

MiLB.com:

 

McClendon blanks Cubs

 

Mike McClendon hurled his first professional shutout as Brevard County beat visiting Daytona, 4-0, to split Thursday's doubleheader.

 

McClendon (1-0) yielded three singles and two walks while striking out three. The 22-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 0.69 in two starts with the Manatees (39-28). He was 5-2 with a 2.87 ERA in 11 starts with Class A West Virginia before being promoted.

 

McClendon allowed just two runners to reach scoring position. In the top of the second, he surrendered back-to-back singles with two outs before inducing a groundout to shortstop. Three innings later, a one-out walk and a groundout to third provided the Cubs (31-35) with their only other scoring opportunity, but McClendon got another groundout to end the threat.

 

McClendon, drafted in the 10th round last year by the Milwaukee Brewers, made the longest outing of his career on May 18, lasting 8 1/3 innings against Asheville.

 

The Cubs and Manatees were a combined 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

 

Angel Salome, the only player on either team with more than one hit, went 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly. He also singled and scored on a double by Mat Gamel.

 

Gamel delivered an RBI groundout and another run scored when he bounced into a double play.

 

Daytona starter Darin Downs (2-1) pitched just two innings, giving up one run on two hits. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

 

Matt Matulia, Brian Dopirak and Robinson Chirinos collected the hits for the Cubs. -- Zack Hample/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Game Two Box Score:

Gotta love Mike McClendon; youngster Anderson Delarosa was McClendon's catcher for this one, good for him; still not walking - one base on balls in the entire doubleheader for the 'Tees; hang in there, Mat - errors # 30 and 31 at third base on June 14th for Mat Gamel, one in each game...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_2

 

Brevard County Game Two Game Log:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_2

[Mass Haas]

It's too bad the Manatees didn't get a chance to do the jump on the mound thing after clinching with a win, but I'm sure they're still psyched...

 

***

Link for Kevin Roberts photo while active, text follows:

 

www.floridatoday.com/apps...002/SPORTS

 

Manatees make playoffs

Brevard County wins first-half title

BY JIM CAWLEY

FLORIDA TODAY

 

No matter what happens in the second half of the Florida State League season, the Brevard County Manatees will keep their spot in the playoffs.

 

Meanwhile, general manager Buck Rogers will keep his hair.

 

Rogers, who last week said he would let a fan shave his head at Space Coast Stadium's home plate if the Manatees didn't nail down a postseason berth in the first half, can now call his hairdresser for a more conventional cut.

 

"I'd like to thank all the players for allowing me to keep my hair," Rogers joked Thursday, about two hours after his team had clinched the playoffs. "They took care of business. They came through."

 

Brevard County officially clinched the postseason for the first time since 2001 when second-place Palm Beach lost its afternoon game at Jupiter, 4-0.

 

But the Manatees hardly backed into the playoffs. They won five straight heading into Thursday's doubleheader against Daytona, including a three-game sweep at Palm Beach last weekend.

 

"We played consistent all first half and we won a lot of ballgames late," Brevard County manager John Tamargo said.

 

"When we left spring training, I knew we had a pretty good ballclub and had a chance to do it. But the way these guys played the first half, it was incredible. We never gave up. I don't think there was one game we played that we bagged it and just gave up on. It's a tribute to them."

 

The Manatees (39-28) have found success using an ingredient not often found at the minor-league level -- cohesiveness. The team features a core group of players that have been together for three years in the Brewers organization.

 

And it's staring to pay off.

 

"This is the first time I've been on a team that just clicked," said shortstop Alcides Escobar, who played for Brevard County in 2006. "Last season, we had a pretty good team, but we just didn't put a lot of things together. This year, the difference is we're playing as a team right now. We're putting everything together."

 

Top pitching prospect Will Inman heads a Manatees staff that has kept the team in games throughout the season.

 

"It's a big accomplishment winning the first half; it really means a lot to us," Inman said. "It's just a good team effort. Everything just worked out really well."

 

The Manatees will play a best-of-three first-round playoff series against an opponent to be determined, starting Sept. 4. Rogers said the 'Tees will play the first game on the road before coming home to play Game 2 and Game 3 -- if necessary -- at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The winner advances to a best-of-five series for the FSL championship.

 

On Saturday, Brevard County will send four players -- Inman, Escobar, reliever Ben Stanczyk and outfielder Cole Gillespie -- to the FSL All-Star Game at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach. The Manatees will wrap up the season's first half by hosting a three-game series against Vero Beach starting Monday.

 

At least for now, the pressure is off.

 

"There are a lot of people who took a big sigh of relief today," Rogers said. "It's great to sit back and watch these players succeed and be a part of this. This is really exciting to watch."

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 10, Lake County (Indians) 1

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROLL

 

Jeremy Jeffress was outstanding through five innings of Thursday night?s game and the Power offense scored ten runs on 16 hits as they took the first game of the series at Appalachian Power Park, defeating the Lake County Captains 10-1.

 

The Power scored four of their runs in the second inning. Kenny Holmberg and Steve Chapman hit back-to-back homers to put the Power on the board. Holmberg?s was a two-run job, his seventh, and Chapman?s was a solo shot, his tenth. John Alonso followed Chapman?s home run with a double and scored later in the inning on Charlie Fermaint?s double.

 

West Virginia added three more in the third. Alonso knocked in two runs on his second double of the game and he scored later in the inning on Martin Maldonado?s RBI single. The Power posted another three run frame in the fifth. Maldonado ripped another RBI single and scored on a wild pitch right after Fermaint?s second run-scoring double.

 

The Captains came up with their lone run in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Matt McBride.

 

Jeremy Jeffress (3-0) was outstanding. He tossed five scoreless innings of one hit ball, walked two, struck out four and got the win while Jeanmar Gomez (5-6) was tagged with the loss. Jeffress hasn?t allowed an earned run since his first outing against Kannapolis on May 29th.

 

The Power improved to 46-18 with the win and the Captains fell to 29-37 with the loss. Charlie Fermaint, Kenny Holmberg and John Alonso each had three hits for the Power.

 

The Power will continue the five game series against the Lake County Captains at Appalachian Power Park on Friday night. Left hander Zach Braddock (3-1, 1.21) will make the start for the Power and Lake County will counter with right hander Hector Rondon (4-3, 3.88). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Six of 16 hits for extra-bases, clean fielding, strong efforts on the mound -- a darn-near perfect box score from a darn-near perfect team, even with recent roster movement...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Lawrence Pierce

Lake County first baseman Matt Whitney stretches to retire the Power?s Charlie Fermaint on a double play Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/PWRCAP.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars lead by 1/2 game in North

Huntsville and Barons will play doubleheader tonight at Joe Davis

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

The Huntsville Stars lost half of their lead in the pennant race and their most effective pitcher, all without taking the field Thursday night.

 

After a rain delay of nearly an hour, two of the light towers lost power. City crews were not able to repair them by 8:35 and the Stars-Birmingham game was postponed. Within 15 minutes, the lights came back on, glowing over a then-empty stadium.

 

That sets up a 6:05 doubleheader tonight, sandwiched by a pregame concert and postgame fireworks.

 

The Stars' lead over Tennessee in the Southern League North shrunk to one-half game when the Smokies knocked off West Tenn 6-3. The Smokies have three games remaining, the Stars four in the first half of the season, which ends Sunday.

 

If the Stars and Smokies finish the half with identical records, Monday's scheduled game between the two at Tennessee would serve as a playoff game for the first half pennant.

 

Manny Parra, who pitched the Stars to their win on Wednesday, was promoted to Triple-A Nashville on Thursday. Parra was 7-3 with a 2.68 ERA in 13 starts.

 

Will Inman, 4-3 with a 1.72 ERA at Single-A Brevard County, will replace Parra on the roster tonight. Brevard County has clinched its division title in the Florida State League.

 

Parra's promotion was prompted by the move of former Stars pitcher Yovani Gallardo to Milwaukee from Nashville after an injury to Chris Capuano.

 

Capuano, a left-hander, was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained groin.

 

Capuano was injured while warming up for his scheduled start Wednesday and his move to the disabled list is retroactive to Saturday.

 

The 21-year-old Gallardo was 8-2 with a 2.98 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings for Nashville.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/story/S...arts+fast/

 

New team addition starts fast

Christopher Wade

For the Charleston Daily Mail

 

West Virginia Power fans might not know the face of center fielder Charlie Fermaint yet, but they are certainly starting to get to know his name.

 

Unlike all of the other Power position players who have their face to accompany their statistics on the giant outfield scoreboard, only Fermaint's stats can be seen.

 

However, Fermaint, a 21-year-old fourth-round draft pick in 2003, is quickly making a name for himself. He was instrumental in the Power earning a 10-1 victory over the Lake County Captains Thursday night at Power Park in front of a buck night crowd of 6,321.

 

With the win, the Power, which has already clinched the first half South Atlantic League Northern Division Championship, improves to 46-18 overall. Lake County fell to 29-37.

 

Fermaint has been on a roll at the plate since joining the Power on Friday and after being demoted from High Class A ball in Brevard County.

 

Coming into the Power's easy victory over the Legends Thursday evening, Fermaint was batting .462 in three games played and improved on those numbers, collecting three hits in five at-bats to help pace the offense.

 

"It all has to do with confidence with Charlie because he knew he could do something special here and, so far, he has," Power hitting coach Corey Hart said.

 

"Charlie is a great player and is working on some things," Manager Mike Guerrero said. "He is adjusting real well and he's going to do great."

 

Fermaint is no stranger to Charleston and the Power. He finished the 2005 season here and hit .248 in 27 games, including five home runs and 17 runs batted in.

 

Fermaint was struggling a bit at Brevard County this season, hitting .210 with 17 RBI in 167 at-bats. But he has found his form since joining the Power after SAL All-Star selection Michael Brantley was promoted to Class AA Huntsville.

 

Besides Fermaint, Power fans are getting very familiar with the name of another very highly touted standout in pitcher Jeremy Jeffress. They got their first glimpse of the Brewers' first-round draft pick in 2006 on Thursday night.

 

After making his first three starts on the road, Jeffress made his home debut Thursday and pitched five shutout innings against Lake County. He allowed one hit, struck out four and walked two batters to improve to 3-0. He also lowered his earned run average to 1.45.

 

"That's all you can ask for," Guerrero said. "He did an outstanding job, mixed up his breaking pitches and pitched in and out of the strike zone. He had a very good performance."

 

Power pitching coach John Curtis was equally impressed with Jeffress' performance and also the way he is handling his fame.

 

"With it being his first start at home, he was well aware of the high expectations, but he certainly responded," Curtis said. "He commanded his fastball and his curve and changeup was fantastic.

 

"He threw five beautiful innings and has come so far already. He's doing an outstanding job, is a confident kid, and is in possession of his talents."

 

Jeffress had plenty of offensive firepower.

 

Five different Power players had multiple hits. Besides Fermaint, second baseman Kenny Holmberg and designated hitter John Alonso both had three hits as well. Steve Chapman and Martin Maldonado had two hits each.

 

The Power scored four runs in the second inning, added three more in the third inning and poured it on with three more runs in the fifth.

 

"Our bottom of the lineup is really producing and we really feel there isn't a spot in our lineup where a pitcher can rest," Hart said.

 

"The guys are doing a great job, working really hard, and I would hate to be an opposing pitcher right now."

 

If the Power continues its torrid play at the plate, Fermaint might just get his face up on the scoreboard after all.