Game 85: Stormers 10-9

Nick Renault

	Nick Renault 3-6, 6.72 ERA		Pat Stanley 9-3, 3.79 ERA

Josh Hall is the quintessential Atlantic League story. The righthander came to the Barnstormers at a low point in his career. His confidence was down. His results with Double-A Harrisburg were terrible. He was in desperate need of a fresh start.

It happened in Lancaster. While many players decide to go home for the summer after being released from affiliated ball, Hall took the Zack Parker route. He signed with the Barnstormers almost immediately after getting cut by the Nationals. He went 6-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 13 starts and is now back in Triple-A with the Rockies.

While this league has its faults, and while the Barnstormers’ player procurement has become a two-year study in frustration, Hall’s progression is one of the things that makes coming to the ballpark every night worthwhile. It’s fun to see talented players get another shot.

“If anybody deserves it in this room, he was at the top of the list,” manager Von Hayes said. “He worked hard and he wanted it.”

Hall’s good fortune is also bad news for the Barnstormers. That’s the flip side of these Atlantic League revival stories. The 10-year veteran had established himself as the staff ace. He led the team in wins and became the stopper. Over his last five starts in Lancaster, Hall had a 2.95 ERA. He’ll be difficult to replace.

The bright side is that, even though the Barnstormers have developed an allergy to signing position players, they’ve been adept at upgrading their pitching staff. Hall was a mid-season addition, of course. So were Shane Youman and Jason Scobie, both of whom have made a positive impact. There’s hope that the team can find another pitcher to at least take Hall’s slot.

In the meantime, the Barnstormers have to count on Nick Renault turning things around and Yamel Guevara excelling as a starter. Renault is 0-4 with a 16.07 ERA in his last four outings. Guevara, who has mostly fared well as a reliever, is 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in a starting capacity.

Although Ricardo Gomez has a 4.44 ERA in his five starts, Hayes said he plans to keep Gomez in the bullpen. The team doesn’t believe his repertoire of pitches translates well to a bigger role. It also worries about his durability over the long term. Barring any additions, it’s Scobie, Youman, Renault, Guevara and Eric Ackerman in the rotation. That’s OK, but it’s not what it could have been if Hall was still here.

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Lineups …

6-8	7-7
Ramon Nivar, 3B	Mike Woods, LF
Ramon Castro, SS	Danny Gonzalez, SS
Keith Reed, CF	Ian Bladergroen, 1B
Jose Herrera, DH	Matt LeCroy, DH
Raul Gonzalez, RF	Manny Mejia, C
Ruben Mateo, LF	Lloyd Turner, 2B
Scott Knazek, C	Ivanon Coffie, 3B
Tim Sweeney, 1B	Jutt Hileman, CF
Mike Just, 2B	Kevin Kotch, RF

Scoring summary …

Bears	010	030	023	9	10	1
Barnstormers	013	001	212	10	15	5

WP: Paul Thorp (1-1)
LP: Frank Rodriguez (0-1)

FINAL: Barnstormers 10, Bears 9

Bears 2nd: Mateo hits solo home run.
Newark leads 1-0.

Stormers 2nd: Coffie hits a solo home run.
Game tied at 1.

Stormers 3rd: Turner’s home run scores Bladergroen and LeCroy.
Lancaster leads 4-1.

Bears 5th: Coffie’s fielding error scores Mateo and Sweeney. Gonzalez’s throwing error scores Just.
Game tied at 4.

Stormers 6th: Coffie’s double scores Turner.
Lancaster leads 5-4.

Stormers 7th: Coffie’s double scores Bladergroen and LeCroy.
Lancaster leads 7-4.

Bears 8th: Mateo’s home run scores Gonzalez.
Lancaster leads 7-6.

Stormers 8th: Bladergroen’s double scores Woods.
Lancaster leads 8-6.

Bears 9th: Castro’s home run scores Nivar and Vic Gutierrez.
Newark leads 9-8.

Stormers 9th: Jordan Herr’s single scores Mejia and Coffie.
Lancaster wins 10-9.

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Pitchers:

Bears: Pat Stanley, Cory Willey (6), Edwin Almonte (7), Shaun Babula (7),
Frank Rodriguez (9).

Barnstormers: Nick Renault, Sendy Rleal (5), Judd Songster (8), Paul Thorp (9).

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Box score:

RECORD: 8-7 (38-47)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ivanon Coffie

The third baseman homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs. Coffie is a real force at the Clip with five homers and eight RBIs in 48 at-bats. He also made a costly error that helped Newark’s three-run rally in the fifth inning. As was wrote in a game thread earlier this week, the Barnstormers need to sacrifice defense for offense. They need Coffie’s bat, especially at home. It paid off big-time in this one.

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NOTES:

*Jordan Herr’s game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the ninth saved the Barnstormers from a gut-wrenching loss. The youngest player on the roster has shown he can handle pressure situations. Herr is 4-for-5 with the bases loaded. This was the biggest hit of his brief pro career.

*Judd Songster is in a funk. The righthander allowed a two-run homer to Ruben Mateo that made it 7-6 in the eighth and a three-run homer to Ramon Castro that put the Bears ahead 9-8 in the ninth. After going nearly 25 innings without allowing an earned run, Songster has been tagged for eight runs in the last 2 1/3 innings.

*Sendy Rleal was an unsung hero:

3 IP

1 H

1 R

1 ER

1 BB

1 K

Rleal pitched very well. He should have escaped Renault’s fifth-inning jam unscathed. He entered with the bases loaded and one out, but two errors led to three runs. The righthander was put in another jam by the defense in the seventh when a botched sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with no outs. He escaped that situation with no runs allowed and held onto a precarious 5-4 lead.

*Lloyd Turner belted a key three-run homer in the third inning. The utility man has taken advantage of the RBI chances that come with being lower in the order. He has driven in eight runs in the past six games.

*Matt LeCroy extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single in the third inning. He and Norm Hutchins stand side-by-side with the team record.

*Kevin Kotch made his first pro start in RF. He was pulled in favor of Herr in the sixth inning.

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BOTTOM LINE:

Hey, it wasn’t a masterpiece. They committed five errors, struck out 14 times and blew a ninth-inning lead. The Barnstormers still found a way to pull it out with a dramatic ninth-inning rally. That’s three wins in a row for just the second time this season. They go for the sweep Sunday.