sfoggi posted on July 28, 2011 21:43
DELAND, Fla. (July 28, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats lost 6-1 to the DeLand Suns at Conrad Park Thursday night. The loss, in conjunction with the Winter Haven Loggerheads (13-23) splitting their doubleheader against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (22-12), does not affect the Rats’ position in the standings, though; it does move the Loggerheads within half a game of Sanford.
The game was unusual though, in that only one Sanford pitcher had been on the mound for the Rats previously - Robert Stegbauer (Lincoln Memorial) - who started the game and went just two innings. The remaining six innings were spread amongst players usually seen playing the infield.
“We had to get the bullpen a day of rest somehow, some way,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “Brett Allen (Embry-Riddle) wasn’t able to go today, so Stegbauer had to jump in and get us started, and then we had to turn it over to some position players. Those guys finished out the game to make sure our bullpen stays fresh and nobody gets overused.”
Catcher Ryan Woodrey (Nova Southeastern) took over in the third. Despite allowing no hits, he walked five in his one inning of work. Austin Liput (USC Upstate), who started the game playing first base, had a better outing, going three innings, walking one, allowing two hits, no runs, and striking out three. TJ Gavlik (North Florida) moved from third base to the bump in the seventh and threw two no-hit, shutout innings with a strikeout.
“Those guys don’t throw the same as our regular pitchers as far as velocity, so there were able to come in, throw strikes, and get outs,” Piercefield said.
The Suns put up three in the first inning, starting with a Bryan Adametz (Palm Beach State) single that scored Stephen Bellantoni (USC-Aiken). Adametz scored on a wild pitch and Brandon Turner (Bethune Cookman) scored on a Kevin Lindheim (Stetson) single for a 3-0 lead.
DeLand (21-17) added another three runs in the third. JT Warmoth (Embry-Riddle) and Turner scored on two separate wild pitches, and Jairo Acevedo (Bethune Cookman) hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Lindheim for a 6-0 lead.
The position players pitched shutout innings from then on.
“It’s one of those crazy things where sometimes position players, when they come onto the mound, know what hitters are looking for so they’re able to throw the hitters off with timing and different things,” Piercefield said.
Alex Mendez (South Florida) scored the sole Rats run in the eighth. After reaching first on a shortstop error and stealing second, Mendez came home on an Ian MacGeorge (Embry-Riddle) single.
“The position players did a great job to only allow three runs and five hits as a staff. All in all, that’s all you can ever hope for on a night like tonight,” Piercefield said.
The Rats’ (13-22-1) next game is a home contest against the Orlando Freedom (14-23) at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium Friday night. The game will also be “Bark in the Park” night, where fans can bring their dogs to the park for a great night of baseball.
Neil Tredray (Valencia College)