Snappers like Loons, win 7-5

Great Lakes 5 at Beloit 7

W: S. Hirschfeld (7-3, 3.25); L: T. Melgarejo (2-5, 4.02); SV: B. Martin (2)
HR: GLL: B. Taylor (5).

The Beloit Snappers found the Great Lakes Loons rather to their liking as they took a 7-5 win over the visitors at Pohlman Field Monday night in game that featured a combined 27 hits by both teams.

Steve Hirschfled took the start for the Snappers, allowing 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks while fanning 3 in 5.2 innings. Beloit would get to Great Lakes' Thomas Melgarejo first however, snagging pair of runs in the first inning off the Dogers' affiliate.

With a pair of outs on the board, Yangervis Solarte singled and was doubled in by Rene Leveret. A wild pitch by Melgarejo moved Leveret to 3rd and a fielding error by Eduardo Perez allowed Mark Dolenc to reach and Leveret to score before Juan Richardson ground into a force out to end the inning.

Perez would single for the Loons in the top of the second, and Jaime Ortiz doubled. Kenley Johnson's ground out served to score Perez. After a fly out to Preston Mattingly, Brandon Taylor went yard to give Great Lakes a 3-2 lead.

The Snappers tie it up in the bottom of the 2nd when Chris Cates singled, moved to second on a Andrew Schmiesing single and came home on Jeanfred Brito's grounder to center.

They would extend their league in the bottom of the 3rd with Leveret and Dolenc both singling. Richardson hit into a force out which, combined with a throwing error Mattingly allowed Leveret to score. Allan de San Miguel doubled in Richardson and Cates singled to drive in Dirty.

The next couple of innings would be quiet. In the top of the sixth, Mattingly singled with a pair of outs on the board. A wild pitch by Hirschfeld put Mattingly on second and Taylor doubled him in. Parker Dalton would walk, and Snappers field manager Nelson Prada took a walk out to the mound, calling Charles Nolte in from the Snappers bullpen.

The top of the 8th saw Kenley Jansen double off Nolte and be replaced by pinch runner Jovanny Rosario. After Mattingly went down on strikes, Taylor singled to score Rosario, helped in part by Dolenc's fielding error. Dalton would go down on strikes and Prada called for another pitching change, putting Blake Martin on the mound.

The Snappers took the run back in the bottom of the eighth, with Dolenc singling, then moving to 3rd on Richardson's ground out. Dirty singled to score Dolenc. He'd try to get to second but would be tagged out at the base.

Melgarejo worked only 3 innings for Great Lakes before giving way to Miguel Sanfler, who finished the contest. Melgarejo still took the loss however, while Hirshfeld improved to 7-3 on the season.

Solarte, Leveret, Dolenc and Dirty were all 2-for-4, Solarte with a run, Leveret with a double, a pair of runs and a run scored, Dolenc and Dirty each with a run and Dirty with a double and a pair of RBIs as well. Cates was 3-for-4 with a run and a RBI. Brito finished up 1-for-4 with a RBI, and Schmiesing was 1-for-3, as the contest's one hit wonder.

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Tuesay:
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LSU: Blake Martin

From MiLB.com:

THE SEASON SO FAR: The Snappers are 17-17 in the second half and in fourth place in the Western Division.

WHO'S HOT: OF Ben Revere tied for sixth among league batting leaders last week, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with three RBIs and two runs scored in five games. In 69 games this season he's batting .399 (113-for-283) with 17 doubles, nine triples, 39 RBIs and 42 runs scored.

WHO'S NOT: LHP Michael Tarsi dropped to 4-11 with a 5.67 ERA after being tagged with a pair of losses last week. In 21 games (including 20 starts) he has allowed 84 runs (71 earned) on 151 hits (including 12 home runs) over 112 2/3 innings.

OLYMPIC GLORY: RHP Loek Van Mil left the team last week to represent his country -- the Netherlands -- in next month's Beijing Olympic Games. Van Mil (2-2, 3.22 ERA) is not expected to return to the Snappers until the last week of the season.

DID YOU KNOW: The 7-foot-1 Van Mil has struck out 42 batters while issuing 25 walks in 28 relief appearances. He was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2005. He and 5-foot-3 teammate Chris Cates are the tallest and shortest players in baseball.

ROSTER MOVES: RHP Shooter Hunt, the Twins' supplemental first-round pick and the 31st overall selection in the June Draft, joined the Snappers last week after going 0-0 with a 0.47 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 19 innings for the Rookie-level Elizabethton Twins. He struck out nine batters in his debut against Wisconsin on Saturday.

IF Yangervis Solarte was received from Class A Advanced Fort Myers to fill Van Mil's roster spot. In 42 games with the Miracle, he hit .259 with three home runs and 16 RBIs.

The Elizabethton Twins had Tuesday off. They return to work on Wednesday as they travel to Greeneville to face the Astros.

Kingsport Times News
E-Star

Snappers fall in 10, ETwins win

Beloit 3 at South Bend 4

W: W. Spottiswood (3-3, 2.27); L: S. Arias (5-5, 3.50)
HR: SOU: J. Batten (1).

It's almost to the point where if they can get through a game without anyone getting hurt, you have to consider it a victory. However, despite a tied game in the 7th, the Beloit Snappers lost in 10 innings Thursday to the South Bend Silverhawks.

Santos Arias took the loss, working out of the bullpen, perhaps to make room for Shooter Hunt in the rotation. Steve Hirschfield took the start working 6.1 innings.

Mark Dolnec singled off South Bend's Tom Layne in the top of the 2nd, followed Allan de San Miguel's line drive to left. Andrew Schmiesing reached on a force attempt, but a throwing error by shortstop Matthew Oxendine allowed Dolenc to score for the first Snappers run.

Joseph Batten homered in the bottom of the third to put the Silverhawks on the board.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jimmy Principe walked and Oxendine doubled to plate him, putting the Silverhawks on top.

Jeff Dietz replaced Layne in the 7th and after Dolenc lined out, hit de San Miguel with a pitch. Schmiesing reached on a fielding error. Jeanfred Brito came in as a pinch runner for Dirty, and Estarlin De Los Santos ground into a force out that moved Brito to 3rd and took out Schmiesing at second. De Lo then stole 2nd and a Ben Revere single plated the pair.

Oxendine would single off Hirschfeld in the bottom of the 7th and Batten followed suite. That would finish it for Hirschfeld, as Charles Nolte came in, looking for the final two outs in the inning. Collin Cowgill singled off the newcomer however, plating Oxendine to tie up the contest.

Martin would take over for Nolte and work the 8th, giving way to Arias with one out in the ninth. In the tenth, Arias would walk Chance Wheeless, and a bunt single by Elijah Rumle moved him to 3nd. A sac-bunt saw Wheeless to 3rd, and one out later, Oxendine singled to bring him in for the game winning run.

Revere was 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Dolence was 2-for-4 with a run. Dirty was 1-for-2 at the plate, having the only other hit in the game for the Snappers.

The final game of the series is Friday at 7:30 pm as Silverbend looks for a sweep at Coveleski Stadium.

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Greeneville 1 at Elizabethton 6

W: D. Osterbrock (3-2, 3.12); L: H. Villar (1-3, 4.24)
HR: None.

A strong outing by Dan Osterbrock and a five-run sixth inning put the Elizabethton Twins back in the win column Thursday night as they downed the Greeneville Astros 6-1.

Osterbrock worked 7 innings, giving up only 1 hit and a pair of walks during that time, while fanning a dozen.

Nick Romero would get plunked by a pitch to start out the bottom of the sixth, then found himself crossing the plate after Jon Waltenbury tripled him in. Mike Harrington doubled to plate Waltenbury before Evan Bigley went down on strikes. The Astros would gring in Arcenio Leon to replace Henry Villar on the mound, and Leon gave up a single to Jeff Lanning to drive in Harrington. A balk by Leon and a pair of wild pitches moved Lanning around the diamond and saw him score before Danny Rams drew a walk. Adam Severino singled, and Rams advanced to 3rd on a fielding error by Devon Torrence. James Beresford would go down on strikes before a wild pitch plated Rams for the fifth run.

Romero lead off the bottom of the 7th with a line drive double, and Waltenbury advanced him with a single. After Harrington went down on strikes a wild pitch by Leon scored Romero. Bigley would be hit by a pitch and Lanning walk before Rams ground into a double play to end the inning.

Scott Blevins would work a scoreless eighth, giving way to Mark Hamburger in the ninth. Torrence would take a walk to start out the inning and after a fly out to Albert Cartwright, Almonte walked as well. Heinze would go down on strikes before Ebert Rosario singled to scored Torrence, ending the E-Twins shut out bid.

Jeff Lanning was 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and a RBI, while Romero was 2-for-3 with a walk and a pair of runs. Sevarino went 2-for-4 while Waltenbury was 2-for-5 with a triple a run and a RBI. Harrington and Beresford were both 1-for-4 with doubles, Harrington with a run and a RBI as well, while Dominic De La Osa finished up 1-for-5, good for the one hit wonder of the game title.

The rubber match is Friday at 7:00 at Joe O'Brien Stadium. The E-Twins then host the Kingsport Mets for a three game series starting on Saturday.

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E-Star

Hirschfeld, Revere lead Snappers against T-Rattlers

Wisconsin 2 at Beloit 7

W: S. Hirschfeld (6-2, 2.64); L: K. Meyer (0-3, 4.79)
HR: None.

Steve Hirschfeld scattered four hits and a walk over 7 innings and struck out 8, holding the visiting Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to only one run, to lead the Beloit Snappers to a 7-2 win.

Daniel Carroll singled of Hirschfeld and stole 2nd to open up the game. Edilio Colina moved him on a sac-bunt and one out later Ronald Garth singled to plate him. A fielding error by Ben Revere put Garth to on 2nd, and Joseph Dunigan took a walk, but Hirschfeld got Juan Diaz to fly out to center to retire the T-Rattlers.

The bottom of the third saw Andrew Schmiesing single, then move to 2nd on Estarlin De Los Santos sac bunt. Chris Cates would be called out on strikes, but a Ben Revere single saw Schmiesing score to tie up the game.

Keith Meyer would replace Brett Lorin in the bottom of the sixth for Wisconsin and the Snappers took advantage of the pitching change. Ben Revere and Juan Richardson lead off with back-to-back singles. Mark Dolenc would then get plunked by a pitch to load up the bags. A Jeanfred Brito single scored Revere before Greg Yersich went down on strikes. Allan de San Miguel got hit by a pitch to load up the bags again. The Timber Rattlers got Natividad Dilone out of the bullpen to get the out of the jam, but he'd walk Schmiesing to force in a run before getting De Lo to ground into a double play.

In the bottom of the 7th, Chris Cates would single, moved to second on Revere's sac bunt and to 3rd on balk. Juan Richardson then sacrificed him in to add another run to the Snappers total, for a 5-1 advantage.

Brito and Yersch opened up the bottom of the 8th with back-to-back walks while Dilone walked back to the dugout and Jeff Dunbar took his place on the mound. Dirty's sac-bunt advanced the runners and a sac-fly by Schmiesing brought in Brito. De Lo then singled to plate Yersich to end Beloit's offense for the game.

Danny Hernandez worked one inning of relief, walking 2 and striking out 2. He'd be replaced by Charles Nolte at the top of the 9th. Notle would hit Garth with a pitch, and Alex Meneses came into run for the T-Rattlers designated hitter. A Dunigan single and a Diaz ground out plated Meneses for a brief T-Rattlers rally. Notle then got Alex Liddi and Isreal Nunez to ground out, ending the contest.

Revere and Brito finished up 2-for-3 with a run and run scored each. Richardson, Dolence and Yersich were all 1-for-3 with a run, Richardson with a RBI and Dolenc with a walk. Schmiesing was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run and 2 RBIs, and De Lo finished up 1-for-4 with a run scored. Cates was 1-for-5 with a run.

Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM. Mike Tarsi (4-9, 5.50) will throw out the first pitch while the T-Rattlers will throw Jake Wild (3-6, 4.45) at the Snappers.

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Beloit remains in the hunt for a second half playoff berth. They have a 17-11 record and are 1.5 games behind division leading Peoria and 2 games ahead of Cedar Rapids. Revere continues to lead the team batting wise, followed by Rene Leveret.