West Michigan WhiteCaps at South Bend SilverHawks
April 15th, 2004
| West Michigan |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
4 |
1 |
| South Bend |
|
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
X |
|
|
2 |
7 |
1 |
E-Francia, Murillo, LOB WM-6, SB-5, 2B-Sanchez, Goss, Bonifacio, SB-Reynolds, Bonifacio, CS-Hunt, SACF-Reynolds
HBP-Sanchez (Chico)
HP-Clinton Mahan, BS-Mark Ripperger
T-2:05, A-1,924
South Bend Tribune
by Forrest Miller
Off to the best start in franchise history, the South Bend SilverHawks now hope for similar success on the road.
A 2-0 victory over West Michigan Thursday night at Coveleski Stadium capped a 6-1 home stand, the best start since the Midwest League moved to South Bend in 1988.
Some of the numbers the Hawks put up during those seven games are fantastic.
"You have to give credit ot the kids." said South Bend manager Tony Perezchica. "During the latter part of spring training we warned them about the cold weather they would see, although it's been nice the last couple of nights."
Not only are the Hawks 6-1, they are leading the league with a .280 team batting average and a team earned run average of 1.00. The staff has allowed seven earned runs in 63 innings. The Hawks have been guilty of only 10 errors in the seven games.
An eight game road trip begins tonight in Lansing, and Perezchica knows it's not going to be easy.
"We know we'll have out hands full." he said.
The Hawks got the job done quickly on Thursday, needing only two houts and five minutes fo rthe win as left hander Matt Chico struck out nine, walked one and allowed three hits in six innings.
Ruben Vicente followed with two perfect innings of relief and Alex Cremidan allowed only an infield hit in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the young season.
"Alex had 15 saves last year at Missoula, so he knows that role well," said Perezchica.
Chico, a third round draft pick, said he worked a lot in the offseason on hitting his spots better than he did last year at Yakima. He had 59 strikes in 79 pitches.
"I'm trying to locate my fast ball and keep the curve down." said Chico, "Catcher, Brian Rose knows my stuff real well, and he knew what I should throw. We were on the same page all night. This season is off to a great start, both for the team and for me personally. Our hitting has really been good and our relief pitchers are getting the job done."
Mike Goss and Rose had two hits each for the Silver Hawks.
Goss doubled in the first inning, moved to third on a grounder by Tila Reynolds, and scored on a grounder by Jeff Cook.
Rose and Goss each singled in the third, Rose scoring on a fly ball from Reynolds.
The White Caps had only one runner reach second base. Danilo Sanchez doubled in the sixth inning.
Right hander Jordan Tata took the loss, allowing five hits in six innings.
South Bend infielder Andrew McCreery needed five stitches to repair a gash over his left eye suffered when he was struck by a thrown ball during pre game practice.