Von Hayes and Lloyd Turner
 |
Chris Steinborn 8-14, 6.13 ERA* |
| Joe Gannon 6-3, 3.87 ERA |
|---|
The success or failure of an offense is often tied to how well a team hits with runners in scoring position. The Barnstormers, as you probably expect, are terrible in these situations. The team is batting .246 with RISP, which his 24 points lower than anyone else in the league. 
This, in a nutshell, is the problem with this year’s offense. While the Barnstormers’ rivals usually improve their stats with men on base, Lancaster’s stats get worse.
Let’s compare Lancaster and Southern Maryland — which are the two lowest batting average lineups in the league. Although they’re separated by six points in overall average, the Blue Crabs hit 36 points higher with runners in scoring position. That’s the primary reason they’ve scored 56 more runs.
Clutch hitting is a volatile skill. Some players may excel at it one season and then fail the following year. For whatever reason, whether its approach or talent or psychology, the Barnstormers have a collection of hitters who generally struggle to drive in runs. It has haunted them most of the summer.
“It’s just an approach,” manager Von Hayes said. “You need to have an aggressive approach up the middle. Some guys have it. Some guys don’t. That’s just the way it is.”
This year’s Barnstormers — at least so far — don’t have it.
STEINBORN DEBUTS:
Chris Steinborn will make his debut for the Barnstormers tonight. The 6-4, 210-pound lefty was out of professional baseball when Lancaster came calling earlier this week. He was pitching in a local men’s league.
Steinborn should be in decent shape, although he hasn’t been tested by a professional lineup since September. The Barnstormers will look to squeeze five innings out of him to prop up their depleted rotation.
What can we expect from Steinborn?
Well, his overall numbers in this league aren’t good. He went a combined 9-22 with a 6.12 ERA in 40 games with the Road Warriors and York in 2006 and 2007. The lefty walked more than he struck out and opponents are hitting .312 against him.
The Barnstormers are hoping Steinborn can string together a few decent starts until Eric Ackerman and Shane Youman return. Both are out with injuries.
Box score:
Scoring summary:
Blue Crabs 3rd: Pride’s double scores Shanks. Osborn’s home run scores Pride.
SoMd leads 3-0.
Stormers 6th: Coffie scores on Osborn’s fielding error.
SoMd leads 3-1.
Blue Crabs 6th: Maples hits solo home run. Shanks’ single scores Polanco.
SoMd leads 5-1.
Stormers 7th: Woods’ triple scores Munhall. Woods scores on Owens’ throwing error.
SoMd leads 5-3.
Blue Crabs 7th: Osborn scores on wild pitch. Owens scores on Castillo’s throwing error.
SoMd leads 7-3.
Stormers 9th: Turner’s single scores Hileman.
SoMd leads 7-4.
RECORD: 13-14 (43-54)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Patrick Osborn
Southern Maryland’s third baseman, and MVP candidate, went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He has an amazing 84 RBIs in 91 games.
BOTTOM LINE: If you have a new way to write that the Barnstormers lack the offensive firepower needed to win games consistently in this league, let me know. After two months, I’ve run out. The Barnstormers are now 1.5 games behind Somerset. They’re tied with York for second place.
I don’t know if anyone else saw this yet, but the team website is showing that Shane Youman is officially on the DL and we signed RHP Trevor Marcotte today.
And now it is showing on the Atlantic League transactions list that both Shane and Eric are on the DL.
Which I’m sure we all knew was coming.
Good luck tonight guys!
Good luck guys I will see you on Sunday.
3 to zippo already??? geezzzz, doesn’t look like a good road trip
Not to worry….. Our high powered offense is about to kick in.
Sorry to all web listeners. The phones are out in SoMd.
Thanks Dave, for keeping us updated on the website though! That’s helpful!
Marcotte will help the staff. I believe he was a starter for the Road Warriors last year. Not overpowering but great off speed stuff.
#6. Deuce, you kill me. I am still laughing
How long did Steinborn go?
Rad:
Left you a message on blog for Game #96
Jason,
enjoyed your last line of the Barnstrmer article today………. ( paraphrased) will we ever see first place again……
Go Barnstrmers!!!!!!!!
Ultimate..don’t the cows up your way wear little footballs around their necks instead of the traditional cowbell? LOL
If everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, the Barnstormers’ watch was running fast…
agreed…this 15 minutes of fame is kaput
Pack- I’m glad I can provide some comic relief. We need to start producing runs (I know that’s not a well kept secret)or we will be out of the second half race real quick. The pitching has been solid lately. Everyone keeps pointing the finger at bottom third of the lineup, which obviously has struggled as of late, but the fact is the lineup as a whole has not been producing. If you have to rely on the bottom third of the order, you are going to have long year.
The Barnstormers haven’t really had a bottom third of the order in the last few games. Everyone bats everywhere. It’s like picking out of a hat.
I think it’s time to go with: Woods, Gonzalez, Bladergroen, LeCroy, Coffie, Castillo, Turner, Munhall and Hileman and hope for the best. Don’t adjust to every single pitcher or every single ballpark. Pick your best nine and stick with it for a while.
By the way, batting Woods — a .390 on-base guy who leads the league in steals — eighth, doesn’t make much sense to me. Sure, he strikes out a ton. You know what else he does? Score runs. He hasn’t been scoring them batting at the bottom of the order.
Jason- I agree that Von has to get a set lineup and stick with it. I’m not sure I’dhave the same lineup, but at least there would be somme consistency. These guys don’t go to the park knowing whether they are in the lineup, and if there are, where they’re going to be in the lineup. I know you’re supposed to go the park redy to play every night, but that is simply not reality.