KANNAPOLIS—There’s an old saying that states “two out of three ain’t
bad.”So using that
logic, one out of two shouldn’t be too shabby, right?
Wrong, according to Piedmont Boll
Weevil manager Ken Oberkfell, whose team split a doubleheader with the Columbus RedStixx
on Friday night. The Weevils won 5-0 in the opener, but dropped a 3-1 decision in the
nightcap at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
By only taking one game against
Columbus (65-65), Piedmont (62-67) gained only half a game on wildcard leader Hickory,
which lost Friday night. Oberkfell wasn’t too pleased by that fact.
“We picked up half a
game,” groaned Oberkfell. “We should have picked up a game and a half.
Doubleheaders are hard to sweep. For some reason, when a team wins the first game, they
seem to let up in the second one. We didn’t come out with the same intensity in the
second game as we did in the first game.”
The Weevils’ intensity was
noticeably high in the first contest, as they rolled up two runs in the third inning.
With one out in the third,
Ambiorix Reyes hit a bloop into shallow right and quickly stole second. He moved to third
on an Anderson Machado flyout and finally scored on Alex Fajardo’s laser shot down
the left-field line.
Fajardo made it 2-0 after RedStixx
center fielder Eric Thompson misplayed a hit by Wil Polider.
Piedmont racked up three more
insurance runs in the fourth inning.
Weevils starter Derrick Turnbow
(11-7) would need no more runs, as he shut down Columbus in impressive fashion to garner
the complete-game victory.
“Turnbow threw great,”
said Oberkfell. “He threw a super ballgame for us.”
Unfortunately for the Weevils,
Turnbow’s success didn’t carry over into the second game. They started out on
the wrong foot and were unable to find their groove after that point.
“In the second game, right
from the get-go, we misplay a ball in the outfield, make a couple errors and we’re
down,” said Oberkfell.
Down 2-0 after the first frame, to
be exact. And much like Turnbow, that’s all Columbus’ Scott Madison would need.
Madison did get another run for
good measure in the second when Angel Bastardo blasted a homer in the second to give the
RedStixx a 3-0 lead.
Piedmont, after many innings of
fruitless labor, finally tacked a run on the board when Fajardo led off the sixth with a
home run. However, it was a case of too little, too late.
With a golden opportunity to close
on Hickory now wasted, the Boll Weevils must be careful of being caught themselves.
“We’ve got about 11
games left and we’re a game and a half back,” said Oberkfell. “We still
play Hickory three times, but if we worry too much about them, Asheville and Charleston,
S.C., might catch us. We’ll see what happens.”
n
NOTES: A crowd of 2, 296 was on
hand to witness the action. ... Piedmont’s Derrick won the battle of the Turnbows in
the first game, defeating his namesake Mark. ... Reyes went 3-for-6 on the evening. ...
Piedmont Vice President/General Manager Todd Parnell was named South Atlantic League
General Manager of the Year. ... Not to be outdone, Weevil’s pitching coach Carlos
Arroyo was named SAL All-Star Pitching Coach. ... Greg Kubes (11-11, 4.50 ERA) will face
off against Wilson Sido (3-6, 7.19 ERA) Saturday in the third of a four-game set. |
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