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Eagles Soar Over Hornets in E.K. Mens's Baseball
Action
May 8th, 1984: Twins' rookie Kirby Puckett hits four singles
in his first major league game helping Minnesota beat the
Angels, 5-0.
May 8th, 1968: Jim Catfish Hunter hurls the first American
League perfect game in forty-six years as the A's defeat the
usually heavy hitting Twins, 4-0.
May 8th, 2007: The Cranbrook Eagles offense exploded and
took advantage of every break and opening that the baseball
gods presented to defeat the Kimberly Vespa Hornets by a score
of 21 to 2.
Spenser Hornoi started for the Vespa Hornets and just couldn't
seem to get loose. Every ground ball found a hole in the infield
and a number of well-placed pitches ended up flaring to the
outfield. Even a checked swing dropped into shallow right
for a single. It was destined to be one of those nights -
a pitcher's nightmare!
Hornoi managed to strike out 4 Eagles' batters in 3 innings
of work but gave up a number of hard hit balls – notably
to Bryce Johnson who went 2 for 3 with a walk for the game
and Roger Rusnell who's bat was sizzling as he went 5 for
5 on the night.
Brad Scott relieved Hornoi in the 4th but couldn't stop the
bleeding as the Eagles' bats continued to be red hot.
Eagles' starter, Jordon Torgerson, used an effective combination
of lively fastballs and off-speed breaking pitches to limit
the Hornets to one run in the top of the 1st on a fielder's
choice.
Travis Holmes relieved Torgerson in the 3rd and pitched shut-out
ball for 2 innings.
Roger Rusnell came in for Holmes in the 5th and gave up a
2-out run on a hard-hit shot to center off the bat of Spenser
Hornoi. The Hornets threatened again on a sharp single by
Jeff Chlopan but couldn't convert, leaving 2 runners stranded
Gene Zachowski closed for the Eagles allowing no runs on
one hit.
The game featured a number of defensive hi-lites. Troy Self
was particularly noteworthy for the Eagles at second base.
Self corralled a hard grounder and started a 4-6-3 double
play in the second inning to retire Jeff Chlopan and the speedy
John Brace. The double play is known as the pitcher's best
friend for very good reasons. In the fourth, Self fielded
a sharp grounder and tagged the Hornet's runner going to second
and then flipped the ball to Rusnell at first to complete
the 4-3 double killing to get Holmes out of the inning and
squash a serious Hornet threat.
Spenser Hornoi at shortstop for the Vespa Hornets, made a
diving stab, knocked the ball down and, from his seat, fired
a strike to Steve Norton at second base to end the inning.
Mike Reid at one-bag for the Hornets made a number of great
plays digging throws out of the dirt on close calls to minimize
the damage. Shawn Jensen caught for the Eagles and did an
outstanding job calling the game and getting the most out
of his assortment of Eagles' pitchers.
The Eagles are now 1 and 1. Vespa Hornets are 0 and 2 and
the team to beat is still the 2 and 0 Finnegan's Wake squad.
Next action sees the Eagles host the Wakes at Confederation
Park in Cranbrook. That will be a game to see as both teams
have something to prove! First pitch is at 6:30.
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For more information contact:
Jeff Young
Men's League Baseball Spokesperson
info@kootenaybaseball.com
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