Beloit, E-Twins both win

Great Lakes 3 at Beloit 4

W: C. Anderson (2-0, 6.06); L: R. Blevins (2-5, 2.45)
HR: BEL: G. Yersich (7).

"Great Lakes" sounds much better than "Midland" for a team location - the Midland Loonies anyone? - but in either case, "Beloit Snappers take a win" sounds the best.

It took them 10 innings, but they did just that, defeating the Loons for a 4-3 victory.

Rene Leveret reached on a throwing error in the bottom of the 2nd and moved to 2nd on a passed ball. Mark Dolenc reached on a fielder's choice that took Leveret down at 3rd, but Juan Richardson then doubled, plating the speedy Dolenc to put the Snappers on the board.

Preston Mattingly singled and Parker Dalton walked off Snappers starter Henry Reyes. A wild pitch advanced the pair and an Erik Kanaby singled drove them both in. Kanaby would be picked off, but Francisco Lizarraga drew a walk. Andrew Lambo ground into a force out, taking Lizarraga out at 2nd. Eduard Perez drew a walk, moving Lambo to 2nd and a throwing error by Greg Yersich on a pick off attempt put the ball into the outfield and allowed Lambo to score. (Good job Greg.)

Yangervis Solarte drew a walk with 2 outs in the bottom of the fifth and moved to 2nd on a Leveret single. After a pitching change saw Rob Zimmermann replace Bryan Morris on the mound, a fielding error by Dalton allowed Dolenc to reach and Solarte to score.

Robert Blevins took over for Zimmermann in the bottom of the 8th. Yersich then made up for his earlier error by launching his 7th home run of the season over the center field wall to tie up the game.

Leveret doubled in the bottom of the 10th and would be replaced by pinch runner Allan de San Miguel. Dolenc would go down on strikes and Richardson would line out before a Yersich single drove in de San Miguel for the game winning run.

Chris Anderson picked up his second win of the season, working one inning in relief. Mike Tarsi and Santos Arias worked a pair each, scattering 3 hits and a pair of walks over four innings.

Yersich was 2-for-5 with a run and pair of RBIs. Leveret was 4-for-5, Dirty had the run for him. Solarte was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and a run, and Richardson as 1-for-5 with a run batted in.

Game three of the series is Thursday night at Pohlman field as the Snappers look for a sweep. First pitch is due out at 7:00 PM Central Time.

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Elizabethton 10 at Greenville 4

W: D. Osterbrock (4-2, 3.23); L: H. Villar (1-4, 4.67)
HR: ELI: E. Bigley (8), D. Rams 2 (5).

Dan Osterbrock, Evan Bigley and Danny Rams were all instrumental in Elizabethton's 10-4 victory over the Greeneville Astros Wednesday night as they opened up a 3-game set at Pioneer Park. The win, coupled with a K-Mets loss, puts the the E-Twins back on top, 2 games ahead of Kingsport.

Osterbrock surrendered the first run in the game with Ebert Rosario reaching on a fielding error by Nathan Hanson. Federico Hernandez then doubled, moving Rosario to third. An Albert Cartwright sac-fly would bring in Rosario, putting Greeneville on the board.

Astro's starter Henry Villar would hold out until the top of the 4th inning. Michael Harrington took a walk before Danny Rams went yard, blasting his 4th of the year, a line drive, over the left field wall. Angel Morales would single, but then be caught stealing and Nat Hanson would fly out. James Beresford took a walk before Dominic De La Osa and Adam Severino hit back-to-back singles to plate Beresford.

Bigley would homer in the top of the 5th, his eighth of the year finding its way over the left center field fence. Villar then found his way back to the dugout, being replaced by David Dinelli.

Jorge De Leon doubled in the bottom of the 5th and Wilton Infante singled him in, to make the score 4-2 Elizabethton.

The top of the seventh would not go well for Patrick Urckfitz, who took over for Dinelli in the bottom of the sixth. He'd give up a home run to Rams, the second of the game for the Twins slugger and his fifth of the season, which went over the right center field wall. Morales would go down on strikes before Hanson singled and Bereford reached on Rosario's throwing error. De La Osa then walked to load the bases. Sevarino singled to plate Hanson and Breseford, while Urckfitz unleashed a wild pitch to advance De La Osa and Sevarino. Jon Waltenbury sacrificed in De La Osa and a Bigley line drive single scored Severino before Harrington lined out to give the Astros a turn at the plate.

Hernandez walked and Cartwright tripled him in. A wild pitch by Osterbrock brought in Cartwright but De Leon when down on strikes while Infante would ground out. Austin singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by De La Osa, but Renzo Tello struck out to end the inning, with the Twins leading 9-4.

Joel Romero pitched the 9th for Greeneville and Andrea Lucati replaced him for the top of the 9th. De La Osa drew a walk to lead off, then one out later, stole 2nd base. Waltenbury doubled him in to give the E-Twins an even 10.

Osterbrock finished off allowing 4 runs, 3 earned on six hits and one walk while striking out 12 over seven innings. Danny Rondon worked the last two scoreless innings for Elizabethton, scattering 3 hits and a walk while fanning 2.

Game two of the three game series is Thursday night starting at 7:00 PM. It s a Thirsy Thursday for the 'Stros as well as the Andrew Johnson bobble head give away.

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Snappers fall to Silverhawks, E-Twin blast Astros

Beloit 4 at South Bend 5

W: J. Parker (9-5, 4.04); L: M. Tarsi (4-11, 5.67); SV: C. Zavada (2)
HR: SOU: T. Harbin (9).

The Beloit Snappers took an early lead against the South Bend Silverhawks on Friday, but could not hold off the home team's comeback, falling 5-4 at Coveleski Stadium.

With two outs on the board in the top of the second, Mark Dolenc singled, then stole 2nd. Greg Yersich followed that up with a line drive to right that plated Dolenc to open the scoring. Allan de San Miguel would get hit by a pitch and Jeanfred Brito tripled to bring the pair of catchers in. A missed catching error by second baseman Taylor Harbin got Brito over the plate as well. Ben Revere would walk, then be caught stealing 2nd to send Beloit out to field.

Snappers starter Henry Reyes would keep South Bend quiet until the bottom of the fourth inning. After getting Harbin out on strikes, Sean Coughlin doubled out to left. Chance Wheeless would go down on strikes, but Eli Rumler took a walk. Ramon Ramirez singled to score the pair, helped in part by Revere's fielding error. Ramirez would end up at second base and Jimmy Principe doubled him in before Reyes would get Matthew Oxendine out on strikes.

Harbin would tie up the game in the bottom of the 5th, sending a fly ball over the center field fence for this ninth home run of the season.

Mike Tarsi would replace Reyes in the bottom of the sixth, and after getting Wheeless out on strikes, allowed a single to Rumler. The runner would be advanced by Juan Richardson's throwing error. Ramirez singled to send Rumler to 3rd and Principe sacrificed him into put the Silverhawks on top.

Beloit would only manage five hits the game with only one coming after the sixth inning.

Yersich was 2-for-3 with a run and a run scored, Yangervis Solarte and Dolenc were 1-for-4 each, Dolenc with a run and Brito was 1-for-3 with a run, a triple and a pair of RBIs.

Reyes would work five innings allowing 4 runs, 3 earned on 5 hits and a walk while fanning five. Tarsi took the loss on 2 innings worth of work, allowing an unearned run on 3 hits while fanning 2.

The win the was the eighth straight for South Bend.

Having hawked enough silver, the Snappers now visit the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The first pitch is set for 6:35 PM at Fox Cities Stadium.

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Greeneville 7 at Elizabethton 10

W: B. Tippett (6-2, 2.92); L: J. Lyles (1-2, 4.40); SV: M. Hamburger (4)
HR: ELI: A. Soto 2 (9), A. Severino (1).

The Elizabethton Twins bats were back and booming as they downed the Greeneville Astros in a slug fest Friday night. The teams knocked out a combined 20 hits for 17 runs.

Greeneville took and early lead with Jose Altuve singling and stealing second. Wilton Infante went down on strikes before Jay Austin singled to drive in Altuve. Austin then stole second and come home on Renzo Tello's double out to left.

The E-Twins answered back with Adam Severino sending his first home run of the season over the right field wall.

Jon Waltenbury and Alex Soto hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom the fourth. Michael Harrington's double plated the pair to give the E-Twins the lead. After Evan Bigley went down on strikes during which time Harrington advanced to 3rd, Jeff Lanning sacrificed in the Twins left fielder.

The top of the sixth saw Altuve take a walk, then move to 2nd on a wild pitch by E-Twins starter Brad Tippett. Infante's ground out advanced him to 3rd and he'd score on Jay Austin's fly ball single to center to cut the Twins lead to one.

James Beresford singled in the bottom half of the stanza however and advanced to 2nd on Austin's fielding error. Dominic De La Osa's ground out saw him to 3rd and Nick Romero singled to plate the Aussie. This would signal a pitching change for the Astros, who brought in David Dinelli to replace Jordan Lyles. Waltenbury singled out center before Alex Soto went yard, his 8th of the year over the center field wall to bring in the pair of runners with him.

An 8-3 lead seemed to do little to dent the Astro's enthusiasm. Ricardo Bonfante doubled in the top of the 7th and moved to 3rd on a Altuve fly out. The Twins would take the opportunity to replace Brad Tippett with Kyle Carr. Carr would unleash a wild pitch however, allowing Bonfante to score.

Tippett would leave the contest, having allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out 5 in 6.2 innings.

Waltenbury took a walk in the bottom of the 7th, and Soto took advantage of the thin mountain air to homered him in with his second yard ball of the contest, his 9th of the season.

Tello tripled off Carr in the top of the 8th, and would come home, one out later on Kody Hinze line drive single.

Lee Martin replaced Carr in the top of the 9th. He'd walk Fredrico Hernandez and Bonfante. A single by Altuve brought in the first runner before Mark Hamburger was brought in from the bullpen. He'd get Infante to ground out, but Bonfante scored on the play. Then took Austin out on strikes and got Tello to ground out to end the inning, and the game.

Soto was 3-for-4 in the slug fest with 3 runs and 5 RBIs. Waltenburh was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs. Romero and Severino were both 1-for-4 with a run and a run scored, Severino with a triple. Harrington was 1-for-3 with a double, a run and 2 RBIs, while Beresford was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run.

The E-Twins host the Kingport Mets for a pair of game on Saturday, making out a previous rain out. First pitch for the first game is due out at 6:00 PM Eastern time.

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Miracle down Vero Beach for 3rd straight

Vero Beach 1 at Fort Myers 3

W: H. Reyes (1-0, 1.93); L: C. Kelly (5-2, 5.23); SV: A. Slama (12)
HR: FTM: A. De San Miguel (1).

The Fort Myers Miracle broke open a scoreless game in the sixth inning Wednesday night, and went on to top the Vero Beach Devil Rays, 3-1.

Matt Fox worked 4 innings, allowing 3 hits while striking out 4 for his first start of the 2008 season. Henry Reyes would work the next 2.1 innings, picking up the win when the Miracle got onto the board.

Chris Kelly would replace Ryan Morse on the mound for the bottom of the 6th, and allowed a walk to Danny Valencia. Whit Robbins singled his way onto base. Wilson Ramos' ground ball to center sent Valencia scampering for the plate to give the Miracle one. A wild pitch by Kelly moved Robbins to 3rd, and a a sac-fly by Juan Portes brought in Robbins for the second run.

The Rays took one back in the top of the 7th, with J.T. Hall getting hit by a pitch. Following a strike out to Ryan Roystar, Nevin Ashley singled to put a pair of runners on. Manager Jeff Smith would get All-star closer Anthony Slama out of the bullpen. He would allowed a since to Garrett Groce which scored Hall before inducing Neil Walton to ground into a double play.

Allan de San Miguel would go yard in the bottom half of the stanza, a fly ball out to left field. It was the light-hitting Aussie's first of the year.

That would be it however. Slama allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4 over the next 2.2 innings for his 12th save of the season. Reyes pitched well during his short stint on the mound.

Robbins hit 3-for-4 with a triple and a run in the contest.

The two teams conclude the series Thursday night with the long awaited match up of Cole Devries (5-5, 3.11) vs. David Price (2-0, 1.16) on the mound.

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· The Win allowed the Miracle to tie the 2003 record for most wins in a half-season. There are still 4 more games to go in the first half of the FSL 2008 season. The prior record was 44-26.

· The game was delayed by one hour due to a late afternoon thunderstorm.

· Milt Cuyler reported that pitcher Mike Allen was suspended, which more or less coincides with what Cole told me, which was "something happened". I do not know if this was substance related or not, but if so, there won't be many games left in Elizabethton's season when he returns.

· The Twins may have picked up a player from try out camp, but have not signed him to a contract yet. He played with current GCL catcher Andres Diaz in West Palm Beach last year. His contract will depend on whether there is a need for him at the GCL level or not.

· Lots of autograph opportunities at the game tonight, including several GCL players (Andres, Lara) and E-Town bound players (Rams, Waltenbury) in the stands. I think I gave Diaz and Lara a kick by asking for their autographs.

Dismantling begins as Miracle fall in 12th inning

Fort Myers 1 at Brevard County 2

W: T. Wendte (3-0, 4.91); L: M. Allen (0-1, 6.75)
HR: None.

It was old friends day at Spacecoast Stadium as Henry Reyes took the start against the Brevard County Manatee and Mike Allen took the loss. It also appears that the Twins have started to move players as Heath Totten was given his release today from AAA Rochester.

On the whole though, it was a pitcher's duel. It just involved a lot of different pitchers. Reyes worked 2.1 innings, allowing 1 hit and walking 4. Frank Mata took over for the next 3.2, allowing 3 hits and fanning 3. Jose Lugo worked 2, allowing 1 hit and striking out 4. Blair Erickson worked the next inning, striking out 2.

Meanwhile Brevard's Jeremy Jeffress pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8.

Rob Delaney would be on the mound for the Miracle, and Casey Baron for the Milwaukee farm with the game still scoreless when the 10th inning rolled around.

Juan Portes and Danny Santiesteban hit back-to-back singles that got Portes all the way to 3rd. Yangervis Solarte then hit a sac-bunt, scoring Portes to give the Miracle a run.

Darren Ford would single off of Delaney and steal 2nd. With 2 outs on the board, Delaney intentionally walked Tyler Green. Charlie Fermaint's line drive scored Ford to tie up the game.

Edward Ovalle would reach on a fielding error in the 11th but the Miracle left him stranded.

Mike Allen would allow a single to Martin Muldanado and hit Brent Brewer with a pitch. A wild pitch put a runner on 3rd, but Darren Ford would fly out to end the inning.

Whit Robbins singled in the top of the 12th, but Wilson Ramos ground into a double play. In the bottom of the stanza, Lorenzo Cain would single, then steal 2nd. Following a fly out ot Jimmy Mojica, Charles Fermaint doubled off Allen to drive in Cain, ending the game.

Yancarlos Ortiz was 2-for-4 at the plate while Robbins was 2-for-5. Valencia was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and Ovalle was a one hit wonder through 5 at bats, with a pair of strike outs.

The two teams rematch Saturday with Cole Devries (4-5, 3.50) on the mount for the Miracle. Brevard County will send Alexandre Periard (5-4, 4.55) to throw out first pitch at 7:00 P.M.

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"Big Henry" Reyes pitched a total of 13 games last year, 11 in Elizabethton, 2 in Beloit before being injured. Allen, a native of Orange Park, Florida, pitched 13 games for E-Town last season.

Tyler Robertson was placed on the 7-day DL with tendinitis, which freed up the roster spot for Allen. The Miracle already had one free roster spot following the retirement of Danny Vais ealier this week.

Lakeland's Ryan Strieby and Jeff Kunkel were added to the Florida State League West All-star team. More at Florida State League Log.