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KANNAPOLIS - Ken Oberkfell jokes that Snickers should sign him up as a spokesman for its
candy bar.
After all, how many times has he stood at third base, asking his Piedmont Boll Weevils,
"Not going anywhere?"
Oberkfell's joke dripped with sarcasm. He is sure the Boll Weevils lead the South Atlantic
League in stranded runners on the corner - and he's getting a little tired trying to
explain it.
Last night was more of the same in a 5-4 loss to the Hickory Crawdads. Three times,
Weevils were left standing on the bag and in the end, they were left holding it.
In the fourth inning of Tuesday night's loss, Alex Fajardo slammed a three-run triple to
tie the game at 4 with no outs. He might as well have been standing in caramel and nougat.
He ended up stuck there as the following three hitters never got the ball out of the
infield.
Thus, the game remained tied until the ninth when Rolando Segura belted the game-wining
homer.
"I don't know what it is,'' said Oberkfell. "We're allergic to getting runners
in from third with less than two outs. I don't know what to say. We've seen it happen
since April."
There is something else he can compare to April: the team's record. The loss left Piedmont
even (58-58), right where it was when it started.
Amazingly, the lethargic play hasn't kept the Weevils out of the playoff hunt. The Central
Division gets three teams and if Greensboro wins the second half, Piedmont is in, as long
as it has a better record than Charleston or Asheville.
"I don't know if that's a sign of a well-balanced division or just a bad division,''
said Oberkfell. "In our division, anything can happen. That's obvious. We can have a
team under .500 make the playoffs and that's kind of scary."
Oberkfell didn't even coach third base last night, giving the duties to hitting instructor
Jerry Martin.
"He coached there yesterday and we won so I figured I'd let him do it again,"
said the third-year manager. "I haven't been getting anybody in from third.''
Fajardo did his best in the fourth. The second baseman laced a Jeff Bennett pitch to the
right-field wall, scoring Wil Polidor, Carlos Acevedo and Brian Bush.
But Fajardo was left on third after Bennett was replaced by reliever Franklin Bravo. Uriel
Casillas struck out, Alejandro Giron lined out to shortstop and Shayne Carnes struck out.
"You know the ol' saying, `We can't hit for 'em,'" Oberkfell said.
Hickory used power to take a quick 4-1 lead. Jay Hobbs made like Roy in belting a
three-run shot off Francisco Montero in the first and Jovanny Sosa made like Sammy with a
solo shot in the top of the fourth.
"That happens," said Oberkfell. "You get behind in the count and make a bad
pitch here and there. That three-run homer was a killer. But you have to give them credit.
They hit good pitches''
Piedmont's other run came in the second when Jerry Valdez doubled and scored on Acevedo's
single.
Fajardo made sure the score stayed tied until the ninth with some sterling defense. He
made several good stops, including one spectacular diving grab.
"When Alex started feeling comfortable defensively, he started swinging the
bat," Oberkfell said. "It happens a lot at this level. Lots of times, if a kid
isn't hitting, he takes it to the field with him. We try to drill it through their heads
that if you're not hitting, you can still win the game with your glove."
Fajardo's glove wasn't enough. Segura sent a 2-0 pitch from Fernando Ramos over the
right-field wall for the game-winner and Piedmont went down meekly in the bottom of the
ninth.
When Segura hit his homer, it was a chance for Oberkfell to give another lesson on hitting
to his players."The first thing out of
my mouth was, 'See what happens when you stay on the ball? The homer went to right field.'
I'm trying to get my players to see that.''
And Oberkfell wasn't snickering when he said it.
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NOTES: All five Hickory runs were
earned. ... Hickory is 52-62. ... Hobbs hit his 18th homer, Sosa his 20th. ... Fajardo
stole his 36th base. ... Three Crawdad pitchers struck out 12 Weevils. ... Ramos took the
loss and fell to 1-4. ... After going 4-for-4 on Monday, Carnes was 0-for-4 last night.
... Ambiorix Reyes, the third Weevil to contract chicken pox, is expected back tomorrow.
... The three-game set ends tonight at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium. Greg Kubes (10-10) goes
for the Weevils. |
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