Volcanoes squeak out a win against the Canadians

Two teams tied for first place in the NWL West Division started a three-game series Friday night in Vancouver, and it was a battle between Vancouver's Jose Guzman and Keizer's Ryan McGrath.

How the C's lined up Friday night:

DH Michael 'Rocket' Richard
LF J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt
1B Sean 'Doctor' Doolittle
3B 'Gamblin' Dan Hamblin
CF 'Uptown' Corey Brown
RF Matt 'Authentic' Sulentic
SS 'WAAALT!' Correa
C Julio 'Wrap' Rivera
2B 'Peachy' Carlos Arrieche
SP Jose 'Magician' Guzman

Our magician on loan from Stockton set down the Volcanoes 1, 2, 3 in the first inning, including two strike outs on Matt 'Set' Downs and Garret 'High as' Baker. Vancouver needed a good start to the game, and did just that with J.D. Pruitt singling with one out. A wild pitch with the Doctor at the dish sent Pruitt to 2nd base, and Beaned advanced to third on a healthy ground out by Sean. Another error by Ryan McGrath caused Pruitt to score, on a balk. Not something you see every day, but Pruitt would probably have scored anyways, because the batter at the plate (the Gambler) hit a double to NWL Batting leader Sean Van Elderen in right field. Corey Brown struck out with Hamblin on 2nd base, but the C's managed one run across.

Salem hit two singles, but a ground out by Van Elderen and a lineout by Tyler 'Cheerios' La Tore caused no runs to cross home plate. This proved costly for the visitors, because Vancouver took a huge lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Matt Sulentic attempted to return to last year's form, by hitting a leadoff double to left field, and was in scoring position for WAAALT Correa. Correa laid down a bunt down the first base line, ordinary you might say, but both 1st baseman Chad Rothford and Ryan McGrath went for the ball, diving and missing, putting Correa on first with a bunt single, and Authentic on third with the semi-error by Salem. Julio Rivera was called out on strikes, but there was a Peachy walk to load the bases, a batter later.

Jose 'Hardwood' Flores caused the second mis-play in the inning for Salem when he mis-threw the ball scoring Correa as well as Sulentic, in addition to advancing Carlos Arrieche to 3rd base. Richard stole his fourth base in two games with J.D. Pruitt at the plate, before Beaned grounded out to score Arrieche, and sending the Rocket to 3rd base. The Doctor walked to put runners on the corner, but Dan Hamblin popped out just near the stands to end the inning. Why couldn't the fan who robbed Walter Correa on opening day been standing there for the play??? None-the-less 4-0 Vancouver after two.

Although this may seem ordinary, Shane Jordan singled in the 3rd inning before stealing second base with 'Set' Downs batting. Garret Baker walked with two out, and then he was followed by Michael Ambort being hit-by-a Magic pitch. This loaded the bases with two out, and even the Magician couldn't pull it off, by walking Chad 'Hulk' Rothford to score Jordan. Sean Van Elderen continued his cold streak at the plate, when he struck out to finish off the top of the 3rd. 4-1 Vancouver.

Salem scored FIVE runs against Jose Guzman in the 4th inning, before he was pulled in favour of Bryan Collins who allowed a double to Hulk (that scored two Salem runs, #4 and #5 in the inning) before getting 'Cold' Van Elderen to ground out to finish off three and a half. 6-4 Volcanoes.

J.D. Pruitt walked after Rocket Richard struck out for the second time in the game, and advanced all the way to third base with only the one out, but the duo of Hamblin and Brown couldn't advance him that one extra base to score.

Salem scored two more runs in the 5th inning off of Bryan 'WB' Collins (both of which were scored with two out) but the way the C's were playing it wasn't much of a surprise. 8-4 visitors.

Matt Sulentic and WAAALT! Correa didn't help their team in the bottom of 5 striking out as the 1, 2 batters in the inning, but Julio Rivera wasn't prepared to end the inning. Rivera tripled to right field, but it was no ordinary triple at all. 'Cold' Van Elderen was in right field at the time, and the ball tipped off of his glove at the wall to bounce under the Volcanoes' bullpen bench, allowing 'Wrap' to head to 3rd base. If Van Elderen had waited to let it bounce off the wall, it'd be a double, but if he made a batter attempt to catch it, Rivera wouldn't have scored on the next play when his pitcher 'Ole' Jesse English threw a wild pitch. That shortened the lead, now 8-5 Salem-Keizer.

Earl 'Honey' Oakes pitched the 6th inning, and struck out 'Hulk' in addition to grounding Sean Van Elderen to end the half inning. After a hitless bottom of 6 by Vancouver, 'Honey' returned to the hill in the 7th and allowed a single to Andrew Davis, but he didn't come around to score before the kids ran onto the field for the 7th inning stretch.

David Mixon came into pitch for Salem in the 7th, and the change proved well for the C's. Dan Hamblin gambled and singled to left field as lead off man, before walking to second base on Corey Brown's four balls. Matt Sulentic hit an 'Authentic' ground out, sending 'Uptown' back to the bench, but at the same time he put himself on first base and sent the Gambler to 3rd. 'Stick' Mixon threw a wild pitch that sent Sulentic to 2nd, before Dan Hamblin scored on WAAALT!'s sac fly to Garret Baker. Julio Rivera ended the innning striking out, but by all means the pitch was a ball, and although the umpire said he went around on it, Rivera was anything but swinging. 8-6 SK.

Earl Oakes returned for his 3rd inning as the C's pitcher, and allowed one walk but no worse, with Vancouver having only two more chances to tie the ball game up.

With two out in the bottom of 8, and C's fans thinking the 9th inning was their only hope, J.D. Pruitt came through and hit a single to center field to try and get a rally started. Pruitt advanced to 2nd base on a steal, and scored on Sean Doolittle's single. 8-7 Vancouver with Doolittle on first, but Dan Hamblin grounded out to end the inning.

The top of 9 saw no action from Salem, except an interesting (not in this game) strike out by 'Cold'. He was 0-5 in this game, and dropped his BA almost .100!

Corey Brown, Matt Sulentic and Walter Correa were up in the 9th, but none of them came through, Salem taking Game 1 of the series 8-7.

Canadians finish off Bears with a win

A cross-posted recap from NFTN:

Michael Richard has been playing of late. And stealing of late. In fact, he’s been playing and stealing a lot of late, so tonight he was given the lead-off role for the Vancouver Canadians against NWL East rivals, the Yakima Bears.

And, interestingly, he made great use of that chance to lead, by basically taking the game out of Yakima’s hands before an out was even registered.

The lineup for Vancouver:
Michael ‘Runway’ Richard DH
JD ‘Beanball’ Pruitt LF
Sean ‘Doc’ Doolittle 1B
Amblin’ Danny Hamblin 3B
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF
Shane ‘3-0′ Keough CF
Dante ‘Brother’ Love C
Carlos ‘Peachy’ Arrieche 2B
Matt ‘Manta’ Ray SS
Joe ‘Mighty’ Quine P

Let’s talk you through the details on the flip side.

Richard opened the final game of the Yakima road trip in a way that, essentially, let the Bears know they were not likely to be a factor against his one-man-show. With a single up the middle to bring in the 1st inning, Richard got his thieving shoes on and stole 2nd, then stole 3rd, and then trotted home on Doc Doolittle’s RBI single to left in the best Rickey Henderson-esque fashion to give the C’s a lead before the anthems had even ended.

But one-run innings are for sissies, so Danny Hamblin singled to push Doolittle into scoring position, which Matt Sulentic took advantage of when he duly singled The Doc home, making it 2-0 Vancouver. Thereafter, a wild pitch and a Dante Love RBI single brought in Hamblin to score, with Sulentic getting home on a fielding error by Bears CF Evan Frey.

With Joe ‘Mighty’ Quine on the mound for the C’s, Yakima has looked as likely to score as a 50-year-old accountant turning up to The Roxy wearing neon green Crocs and a Speedo.

Bears starting pitcher, Ian Harrington, hasn’t quite been so clinical, serving up a BP pitch that Authentic Sulentic belted over the right field wall, and after his second baseman booted a ball to let Shane Keough on base, 3-0 went on a stealing spree of his own, taking 2nd and 3rd before coming home on an Arrieche sac fly to center.

6-0 Van City, and by this point, the Bears had just about had enough of being made to look like fools. A pair of doubles to JoJo Batten and Razor Ramon Ramirez brought in a run that the men in black’n'red hoped would would spark some sort of a comeback, and to their credit, they didn’t let the C’s run away with things.

That said, they didn’t make up much ground either. Peachy Arrieche nailed a hard hit triple to right in the top of the 5th, scoring Dante Love to keep the 6-run gap intact, and a wild pitch from reliever Jason Urquidez stretched the gap by another run when Arrieche made it home.

But the Bears wouldn’t die - a ‘Marky’ Mark Hallberg double brought in a run by Joel Melendez to narrow the lead to 8-3, and after Melendez was called out on strikes and then ejected for arguing the call in the 7th, a walk and two singles kept things interesting when Evan Frey scored for the Bears, but 3 walks and an error in the 8th gave the C’s all the chance they needed to walk in another run and make Yakima’s efforts academic.

Aaron Jenkins came out in the 9th to nail the game shut for the Canadians, and did so in quick time.

GAME NOTES:

* Matt Sulentic’s demotion to short-season ball seems to have been just the ticket to get him back into furious form. His home run shot tonight was a welcome sign that his timing is back, and the 3 runs he drove in on the back of a 2-4 performance were most timely.

* Runway Richard went 2-5 from the lead-off spot tonight, but his three stolen bases point to him being a genuine baserunning threat.

* Don’t look now, but Dante Love is hitting like an old pro. Fresh from the news that Matt Smith, the highest taken draftee catcher for Oakland this season, will go directly to Kane County, seem to have given the platooning catching crew all the reason they need to play their asses off. Love is hitting .308

* On the mound, the pitching was fairly shaky, at least when compared to the monster firebreathers we’ve had in the pen over the last few seasons. Joe Quine surrendered 2 earned in 4 innings, Scott Hodsdon let one earned run in over 2 innings, and Chuck ‘Kerplunk’ Kerfoot followed suit. Only Aaron Jenkins came out of the game largely clean.

The C’s return to Nat Bailey Stadium for games from Friday night through to Sunday, hopefully with a new boss in place, but definitely with a strong winning percentage and a logjam of talented players who are most certainly going places.

2007 Road Kill Sports CFL Week 1 preview

This year's season preview of the CFL will be short, because with so much focus on the Canadians, I haven't been able to follow the CFL as closely as I have in years' past.

Projected Finishes:

West Division:
1. Calgary Stampeders: With a new OC in George Cortez, the returns of Henry Burris, Jermaine Copeland, Nik Lewis, Ken-Yon Rambo, Sandro DeAngelis and Burke Dales, along with additions of Ryan Thelwell and Marc Boerigter, this team is one to contend with.

2. BC Lions: With leader Carl Kidd, Bobby Singh, Ryan Thelwell and Chris Wilson all gone, guys like Javy Glatt, Tony Simmons and Buck Pierce will have more responsibility but how well can they handle it? Dave Dickenson and Buck Pierce return as quarterbacks, but the only thing that is in the minds of Lions fans is how well can the defence handle the opposition.

3. Saskatchewan Roughriders: The Riders have a new Head Coach (Kent Austin) along with new receiver DJ Flick but with Calgary and B.C. ahead of them in the west, the Regina team will have to have one of their best seasons ever in order to make the playoffs, and especially the Grey Cup.

4. Edmonton Eskimos: They have a new offensive co-ordinator (Grey Cup winning OC Jacques Chapdelaine) but with Ed Hervey and Singor Mobley gone, Edmonton would have to shock the football world in order to make the playoffs. Ricky Ray is their only hope.

East Division:

1. Toronto Argonauts: Gone is Kent Austin, their old OC who is all for passing, and in is Steve Burrato who has more of a mixed approach. Toronto has four capable quarterbacks, and all of them could be starters for different CFL teams. The East is weakening up, and this is perfect for the Argos.

2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Call me crazy, but Winnipeg is learning from a good season last year, and can do nothing but get better. Kevin Glenn is back at quarterback, Kyries Hebert is back for his first full season, Barrin Simpson returns at LB and RB Charles Roberts is ready for another outstanding season. Add WR Milt Stegall who is one TD away from tying the CFL record, and you have yourselves a good team.

3. Hamilton Tigercats: Hamilton has Jason Maas back at QB after a terrible season last year, but with more proven backups, and the release of Rob Hitchcock and Mike Morreale, two players that shouldn't have played last year, Hamilton should have a better season.

4. Montreal Alouettes: The Als have been on the downfall for a couple of years now, and Head Coach/GM/VP/Director of Football Operations/Director of Player Personnel Jim Popp has too many roles to lead this club to any success. Montreal has lost Thyron Anderson to Hamilton, and Ben Cahoon and Anthony Calvillo are getting just a bit too old for this league.

Playoff Predictions:

West semi-final: BC beats Saskatchewan
East semi-final: Winnipeg beats Hamilton

West final: BC beats Calgary (The curse continues)
East final: Winnipeg beats Toronto

Grey Cup: BC beats Winnipeg

West champions: BC Lions
East champions: Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Grey Cup champions: BC Lions

This week's predictions:

BC 36 Toronto 22
Winnipeg 18 Edmonton 6
Saskatchewan 24 Montreal 17
Hamilton 8 Calgary 16

Canadians clinch series win with Wednesday night victory

Leading the series 2-1 against the Yakima Bears heading into Wednesday night's game, the Vancouver Canadians could clinch a series win if SP 'Vote for' Pedro Figueroa could give them strong pitching, in the early innings. (If Dusty Napoleon was fine with the nickname 'Dynamite', we could have him catching for his buddy from the movie, 'Vote for' Pedro!)

Vancouver Canadians lineup:

2B Matt 'Sting' Ray
RF Matt 'Authentic' Sulentic
1B Sean 'Doctor' Doolittle
DH 'Gamblin' Danny Hamblin
CF 'Uptown' Corey Brown
SS Walt 'Smelling Salts' Correa
3B Justin 'The Frashmaker' Frash
LF Shane 'Housewife' Keough
C Dusty 'Springfield' Napoleon
SP 'Vote for' Pedro Figueroa

Vancouver was eager to get off to a good start Wednesday evening, and after 'Sting' Ray walked to lead-off the game, it was looking like they would get some quick runs. There was an Authentic ground out, that sent Sting to the bench, but Sulentic managed to make his way to first base. This was good, because Sean Doolittle was up next and was sent to first base on four balls. There was a Gamblin' of a hit by D.H. the DH, and he advanced all the runners up by one base. This set up a bases loaded opportunity for 'Uptown' Brown, who was still looking for his first home-run of his professional career.

What happened next you ask? Bam. Boom. See ya! Brown hit a shot to right field, and it did have enough distance to give the Canadians an early 4-0 lead, thanks to the Grand Salami.

Figueroa didn't get off to as good of a start as he'd hoped, walking Joel Melendez, who stole second base the next batter, to start the inning. Shane Byrne hit a double to left field, scoring Melendez, and putting himself in great position when he came around to score on Ramon Ramirez' single later in the inning. Another run came across, Clayton Connor when Andrew 'Pish Posh' Beshenich grounded out. 4-3 Vancouver after one.

Vancouver wasn't prepared to let up in the 2nd, and picked up where they left off in the 1st. Shane Keough found a lane for a single as lead-off man of the inning, and advanced to second base on a Springfield walk, and third base on Matt Ray's bunt single. Bases were once again loaded for the C's, with Matt Sulentic at the dish, and he did just what Manager Rick Magnante wanted him to do, get on base, with a walk. This brought in Keough, and there was still no outs in the inning with the bases loaded.

Sean Doolittle couldn't have been to happy with himself, when he hit a grounder to Luis Caro (pitcher), who then threw it to Johan Pimentel, who stomped on the plate for the first out of the inning. Dusty Napoleon out at home, but all other runners advanced one base. Dan Hamblin didn't gamble for a base hit, he hit a sac fly to Joel 'Jail' Melendez to score Matt Ray. 6-3 C's was the score after one and a half.

In the bottom of 2, Josephy Ayers came home on a balk by Pedro Figueroa, and two more later came into score, Aaron Henke (on an error by Justin Frash) and Joel Melendez (on a passed ball by Napoleon). Three costly mistakes scored three costly Yakima runs. The game was tied, 6-6.

Brent 'The Desert' Lysander came into pitch the 3rd inning, and got off to a shaky start by walking Pish Posh Beshenich. Lysander picked off Pish Posh at 1st base, and later struck out Johan Pimentel and forced Joseph Ayers to ground out.

A pitching change in the top of 4 went to Vancouver's advantage, with Sean Doolittle doubling with Matt Ray already on base, sending 'Sting' to 3rd base, and setting up a sac fly situation for Dan Hamblin, his second in two at-bats. Hamblin suceeded,
and that brought Ray home and the Doctor to 3rd. Corey Brown walked, as did Walter Correa to load up the bases, but Justin Frash flew out to end the inning. 7-6 Van-city.

Shane Byrne came up with two outs in the 4th inning, and hit a triple to Corey Brown in CF for the first hit off of Desert. Luckily for the C's, Aaron Henke popped out to end the inning.

Vancouver had a bases loaded situation in the 5th inning with two away, and Dan Hamblin at the plate, but Gamblin struck out swinging. The 6th inning saw Vancouver with more scoring opportunities, bases loaded with Matt Ray at the plate (two out) and another strike out for the C's, this time 'Sting' went down looking.

Nick 'ABC' Walters replaced Lysander, and allowed a double to Joseph 'Outside' Ayers and then he advanced to third base on a Walter Correa throwing error that also put Miguel Rodriguez on second base. Ayers was out at home on a fielder's choice by Justin Frash, but Rodriguez ended up scoring on Aaron Henke's single. 7-7 ball game after six.

Vancouver wasted no time with only two innings left, to take the lead, and Corey Brown helped them do that with a lead-off double. Walter Correa hit, what should have been a sac bunt, but he reached second base on a throwing error, that also brought in 'Uptown' Brown to score. 8-7 Vancouver. The inning wasn't over, Justin Frash hit a sac bunt that advanced Correa to third, and the Walterian one scored on another Yakima error with two out in the inning. 9-7 Vancouver was the score after 8. Matt Sulentic hit a double, and followed up by reaching 3rd base after the Doctor grounded out, but with one out in the inning Dan Hamblin and Corey Brown each were sent to the dugout with the score still 9-7 heading into the home half of the 9th.

Leonardo Espinal, the C's closer, came into pitch, and despite another error by Walter Correa, he got out of the innign without allowing any runs, for his fourth save of the campaign.

Game 5 of the series is tonight, before the C's return home to face the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in a three-game set.

Canadians take two of three from Bears; look to continue tonight in game 4

Everyone, I'm sorry I havn't been able to post game recaps for the Yakima series, but I have been involved in my school graduation, and school for the past three days. It is all over, and for the next two and a half months I am all yours. In my absence, Vancouver has climbed the Northwest League standings with two wins against the Yakima Bears heading into the third game of their series last night. After a tight game all night, Yakima pulled away against Earl Oakes and the C's, but Vancouver is still in first place. Unfortunately, they are in first place with all the other West Division teams. That's right 6-2 is the record held by all West teams right now, compared to the East where it is almost a re-encarnation of last year, when the West dominated the terrible east.

Sunday's lineup for the C's was the following:
JD ‘Beaned’ Pruitt LF
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF
Sean ‘Doc’ Doolittle 1B
Gamblin’ Danny Hamblin 3B
‘Uptown’ Corey Brown CF
‘WAAALT!’ Correa SS
Shane ‘Housewive Fame′ Keough DH
Dusty ‘Springfield’ Napoleon C
Carlos ‘Peachy’ Arrieche 2B
Jose ‘Magician’ Guzman P

In what was Vancouver's best game of the season (in my opinion), J.D. Pruitt walked once and was hit by a pitch twice versus the Bears and was accompanied by 'Authentic' Sulentic who walked three times in the game. 'Peachy' Arrieche walked twice, and Dusty Napoleon was 2-3 in his second pro game. Our favourite housewive Shane Keough was 0-4 as the DH, with all four at-bats being strikeouts.

Jose Guzman was dynamite on the mound, striking out four and walking a quadruple of batters as well in seven innings of work. Yes, he had a no-hitter when Earl Oakes entered the game. Oakes allowed a hit to the first batter he faced, and later allowed another hit, a walk and a run.

On the offensive side of things, J.D. Pruitt walked in a run in the 4th with the bases loaded (he was hit by a pitch) to give the C's an early lead, and then Dusty Napoleon brought home Corey Brown in the 7th for the eventual game-winning run.

Oakes picked up his first save in his first apperance of 2007 and Guzman improved to 1-0 on the season.

Monday's lineup had Justin Frash back in the lineup after leaving Saturday's game with an injury.

LF J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt
RF Matt 'Authentic' Sulentic
1B Sean 'Doc' Doolittle
DH 'Gamblin' Dan Hamblin
CF 'Uptown' Corey Brown
SS 'Waaalt' Correa
3B Justin 'The Frashmaker' Frash
C Dante 'True' Love
2B Matt 'Sting' Ray
SP Leonardo 'Magnifico' Martinez

On the hill, Leonardo Martinez allowed only one run in six innings, as well as striking out six Bears. The run came off of Konrad Schmidt's first of his career in the 6th and that isn't bad for the lefty out of Venezuela. Bryan Collins shut down the Bears in the 7th and 8th, allowing just two hits and a walk in his multiple innings. Leonardo Espinal pitched the 9th inning, and picked up his third save of the season.

Vancouver's runs were courtesy of a Sean Doolittle ground-out that scored 'Sting' (who reached on an error) and a 'Doc' double that brought in J.D. Pruitt who first came on base when he was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch in the 9th also brought in the Gambler.

Stats wise, Matt Sulentic proved he's authentic, going 2-3 in his fourth game back with Vancouver. J.D. Pruitt hit once in three at-bats and was also hit by Dan Fournier.

This brought Vancouver's record to 6-1, putting them on a six game win streak.

Tuesday's Road Kill Sports lineup:

LF J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt
SS 'Waalt' Correa
1B Sean 'Doc' Doolittle
3B Dan 'Gamblin' Hamblin
RF Matt 'Authentic' Sulentic
CF 'Uptown' Corey Brown
C Julio 'Real' Rivera
2B Michael 'King' Richard (Making his pro debut)
DH Angel 'Cake' Sierra
SP Fabian 'Fabioso' Gomez

After trading runs in the 3rd inning, Vancouver took a three run lead in the 4th, only to be answered by the Bears' 2-run-inning in the 6th. Yakima managed a run against 'My name is' Earl Oakes in the 9th to finish the game with a win.

Fabian Gomez went four innings allowing three hits and two runs, both of which came on Mark Hallberg's first dinger of the season, during Fabioso's first start of the season. Aaron 'Don't call me Fergie' Jenkins allowed two un-earned runs in his 1.2 innings of work, as well as striking out three Bears.

Carlos 'Deadly' Hernandez allowed another Yakima run in his time on the mound, which was just over an inning to tie the game up at five. Earl Oakes pitched the ninth, and allowed the game winning run off of Aaron Henke's two-out single that brought in Shane Byrne to end the game.

Offensively, Vancouver did pretty well. Julio Rivera was 2-4 with a double, Corey Brown was 1-3 with two walks and a triple, and Matt Sulentic and Gamblin' Hamblin continued to hit well, with both of them hitting once, in addition to Hamblin's two walks. J.D. Pruitt walked twice and came around to score multiple times, and yes folks he was hit by another pitch.

Vancouver scored their runs on a couple of base hits, the first being Matt Sulentic's 3rd inning single that brought in Pruitt and Walter Correa and then that set-up a three-run fourth. Julio Rivera lead things off with a double, and then Michael Richard hit a sac-bunt that was bobbled by Clayton Conner, bringing Rivera home and putting Richard on first base. Richard proceeded to steal second base with 'Cake' at the plate, and this was good because Sierra grounded out but Richard got to advance to third.

J.D. Pruitt was hit by a pitch, and he advanced to second on Waalt's fielders choice, that got Michael Richard out at the plate. Pruitt and Correa each moved up a base when Sean Doolittle singled to the infield, and this was followed by Gamblin' Hamblin's double that scored Correa and Pruitt. Matt Sulentic had Hamblin on 2 and Doolittle on 3, but he couldn't muster up enough power to get the ball out of the infield to end the inning.

Vancouver returns to action tonight against the Bears when 'Vote for' Pedro Figueroa is expected to go against the Bears in game 4 of this five game set.

Canadians at Yakima: Going for 5-1 June 24th

Starting lineup:

LF J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt
RF Matt 'Authentic' Sulentic
1B Sean 'Doc' Doolittle
3B 'Amblin' Dan Hamblin
CF 'Uptown' Corey Brown
SS Walt 'South' Correa
DH Shane 'Lane' Keough
C Dusty 'Springfield' Napoleon
2B Carlos 'Peachy' Arrieche
SP Jose 'Magic' Guzman

C's weekly June 24th: Interview with 'Uptown' Corey Brown

The Vancouver Canadians are right now on a bus to Yakima, where starting tonight they'll battle the Bears in a 5 game set. This series is important for both clubs, because each are close to first place in their respective divisions. Yakima is currently tied with Spokane in the East Division for the top spot, each with a record of 2-3, while Vancouver is one game behind the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, who lead the division by one game.

The next five days (June 24th through 28th):

Vancouver (4-1) at Yakima (2-3): All game times are 7:05 except Monday the 25th's game at 5:35.

Boise (0-5) at Eugene (3-2): All game times are 7:05 except tonight's game at 4:05.

Spokane (2-3) at Salem-Keizer (5-0): All game times are 6:35 except tonight's game at 5:05.

Everett (3-2) at Tri-City (1-4): All game times are 7:15.

Yakima Bears; The stats you need to know:

Top 3 hitters:
Michael Mee: .333 BA, 4-12, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB
Ramon Ramirez: .278 BA, 5-18, 2 RBI, BB
Aaron Hanke: .250 BA, 5-20, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB

Top 3 pitchers:
Chase Christianson: 0-0, 2.70 ERA in 6.2 innings, SV, 2 ER, HR, 10 SO
Daniel Fournier: 1-0, 3.00 ERA in 6 innings, 2 ER, 4 SO
Luis Caro: 1-0, 3.00 ERA in 6 innings, 2 ER, 6 SO

Vancouver Canadians:

Top 3 hitters:
Walter Correa: .438 BA, 7-16, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 2 BB
J.D. Pruitt: .375 BA, 3-8, HR, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 1.472 OPS
Dan Hamblin: .375 BA, 6-16, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, BB, 7 SO

Top 3 pitchers:
Pedro Figueroa: 1-0, 0.00 ERA in 6 innings, 0 ER, SO
Leonardo Martinez: 1-0, 1.50 ERA in 6 innings, ER, 6 SO
Fabio Gomez: 1-0, 0.00 ERA in 3 innings, 0 ER, SO

Interview with 'Uptown' Corey Brown:
Jeremy: What do you think of the dimensions of Nat Bailey?

Corey Brown: It's a pretty big outfield, but it's definetly a pitchers' park. You know I don't really think too much about it, I just try to go out there and get base hits. If I happen to get a hold of one, which pretty much to get a hold of one it has to be just like Danny [Hamblin]'s home-run. I actually like it, it's a real park and for other teams it's kinda good because someone thinks they get good contact on one and it gets up in the air but it gets you.

J: When you go on the road, do you think you'll have a better chance of hitting one out?

CB: I don't know. We'll see what the parks are like, and it's our first road trip but it definetly will be good and the parks are a little smaller so it works to my advantage to get one out.

J: What did you think of being drafted in the Compensation Round? Was that good for you or do you think you could've gone higher?

CB: It was good for me, my agent told me there were teams that liked me at the end of the first round who I possibly could've gone to but I guess I slipped or that was where I was going to go anyways. I was really excited to be drafted in that spot and I was excited to be drafted by the A's.

J: Was there any thought in your mind that you'd go back for your senior year [At Oklahoma State]?

CB: No not really. I had three good years at Oklahoma State and I was ready to play pro ball and I felt like I had a good spot in the draft and it was a good opportunity for me to take.

J: What do you think of the team so far this year?

CB: The team, they're good. The first day was a little hard not knowing anybody, because I'm a shy laid back person but to be out here at the park is fun, the guys are cool and everyone's good.

J: What do you think of the fans?

CB: They seem pretty good to you, they seem like good fans and they're behind us. There are a few hecklers but it's a great environment.

Hamblin homers the C's against Tri-City

Vancouver took to the field Saturday night in an attempt to all-but sweep their first home series against Tri-City, before hitting the road Sunday morning for Yakima, where they’ll play a five game-set with the Bears. The C’s sent new recruit Scott Hodsdon to the mound to battle Bruce Billings of the Dust Devils, but the Oakland A’s 6th rounder had a rough time in his first pro outing.

Vancouver Canadians:
LF Angel ‘Cake’ Sierra
RF Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic
1B Sean ‘Doc’ Doolittle
DH ‘Amblin’ Danny Hamblin
CF ‘Uptown’ Corey Brown
SS Walter ‘WAAALT!’ Correa
3B Justin ‘The Frashmaker’ Frash
2B Carlos ‘Peachy’ Arrieche
C Julio ‘Wraparound’ Rivera
SP ‘Great’ Scott Hodsdon

Vancouver got off to a bad start in the first inning tonight, when Everth Cabrera dropped a catchable shot in front of Matt Sulentic, who misjudged the ball off the bat, to start off the game. Luckily for the C’s, Cabrera was out the next play when Helder Velazquez grounded into a 6-4-3 double-play, but it all went south for Scott Hodsdon on the mound, as he hit Darin Holcomb, walked Kevin Clark and then thanks to some miscommunication by Walter Correa and Justin Frash, Lars Davis managed a single to score one run. Logan ‘Heckle-Bait’ Wiens doubled the next play, and while Clark scored, Davis was thrown attempting to score from first base.

Everth Cabrera would come around to score, allbeit in the third inning on Holcomb’s double, but that would be the last time in the 2007 regular season that a Tri-City Dust Devil would score a run at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Cabrera got on base when Scott Hodsdon threw the ball away on a routine grounder, sailing almost through the visiting dugout, which was basically the end of his night. Hodsdon lasted three innings allowing three runs on four hits.

Pascuel Manzueta came into the game in the 4th, and he hoped to do better than his only other appearance of the season Tuesday, when he allowed six runs on six hits in two innings on the mound. After walking Wiens, ‘El Gigante’ settled down and struck out two Tri-City players while one other lined out to a leaping Justin Frash at third, leaving it 3-0 Tri-City after three and a half.

But then the game came back to the C’s, as Vancouver would manage their first run of the game in the 4th when Corey Brown knocked a two-out double to left-center, before WAAALT! Correa brought him home on a single to right. 3-1 Vancouver, and the crowd was sensing something building.

The 5th inning saw some great plays by Vancouver, at least after the first two batters of the inning had respectively struck out and flied out. ‘Authentic’ Sulentic walked, shortly followed by Doc Doolittle. The next batter was Danny Hamblin, who had three RBI heading into Saturday’s game, but was clearly still looking for that first home-run.

And boy howdy, did he get one.

Hamblin cracked a hard hit 3-run shot that cleared the towering left field fence, giving the 3,213 in attendance something to cheer about as Vancouver took a 4-3 lead, their first (and last) of the ballgame.

Walt Correa looked to add to that lead in the 6th when he doubled to left field, and the chances of him scoring looked respectable after the Frashmaker’s sac bunt moved home to third base. Unfortunately, Carlos Arrieche and the king of the wraparound shades, Julio Rivera, each struck-out, ending Vancouver’s chances in the 6th.

Pascuel Manzueta found himself in a bit of a jam in the 7th, but John Quine, Medicine Woman, came into the game to finish out the half inning with no damage done.

In the bottom of 8, still leading 4-3, The Ambler, Danny Hamblin, led the inning off with a single, before Corey Brown followed in his teammate’s footsteps, hitting a single of his own to keep the drive alive. Correa grounded into the infield, and while Hamblin scored, Tri-City tried to get out with a double-play, but Helder Velazquez dropped the ball after tagging out Brown. 5-3 Vancouver.

But wait! The inning wasn’t over just yet…

Justin Frash knows his way around a base on balls, and that was proved as he took a strong walk, and then, with two outs on the board, Julio Rivera singled to center field, bringing home Correa. As Frash turned back to 2nd base to try and avoid getting tagged out, Brian Lapin nailed him, ending the inning, and ending the game for Frash who was injured on the play.

Matt ‘Manta’ Ray duly came into the game for Frash, and after he and Carlos Arrieche swapped positions, Leonardo Espinal finished off the game for his second save of the season. 6-3 Vancouver was your score, and 3000 slightly damp fans went home with cheers ringing in their ears.

Game Notes:

* Travis Banwart and Justin Friend were added to Vancouver’s roster before the game. Both are right-handed pitchers who should make their pro debuts in Yakima. Friend was a teammate of Corey Brown at Oklahoma State.

* Danny Hamblin’s home-run in the fifth was the 2nd dinger by a Canadian this season, and the third by any player at the Nat. Not bad for five games! [Ed: It’s typical that a day after I said Hamblin needs to focus on line drives, he drives one out of the ballpark. The NFTN reverse curse lives on!]

* No update yet on Frash, but he did walk off the field looking okay, so we shall see whether his knock was serious or not.

Asleep at the switch as C's take their first series

I'm sorry I havn't posted this already, but I missed the game (last day of school) and am just following up on it now. Here is the recap from Oz, and be sure to check in tonight, as I will not only have a recap of the final game against Tri-City, but an interview with a Canadian will be posted! Stay tuned!

VANCOUVER CANADIANS:
JD ‘Beanball’ Pruitt LF
Matt ‘Manta’ Ray 2B
Sean ‘Doc’ Doolittle 1B [seen left]
Amblin’ Danny Hamblin DH
‘Uptown’ Corey Brown CF
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF
Walter ‘WAAALT!‘ Correa SS
Dante ‘True’ Love C
Carlos ‘Peachy’ Arrieche 3B
Pedro ‘Figure Four’ Figueroa LHP

TRI-CITY DUST BUNNIES:
‘Muppet’ Mike Mitchell CF
Radames ‘No Glove’ Nazario SS
Darin ‘Dagwood’ Holcomb 3B
Josh ‘Pygmy’ Banda LF
‘King Kong’ Kevin Clark DH
‘Bunny’ Brian Lapin RF
‘Stand-In’ Brandon Reichert 1B
‘Giant’ Johnny Bowden C
Walter ‘Paul’ Schaeffer 2B
Drew ‘Cuppa’ Coffey LHP

Here’s how it went down.

For four innings, nothing happened.

Oh sure, there was the occasional base hit (Pruitt, Doolittle, Holcomb), and some double plays, and a 2nd inning double that became a triple when the newly demoted Matt Sulentic took what’s known by some folks at The Nat as a ‘Sulentic Route’ in right field after a liner that was tailing away from him, missing with a dive and having to sprint off to the corner to keep the runner from scoring. But other than that, nothing much happened.

By which I mean, the hitters couldn’t touch the pitching. Tri-city’s Drew Coffey was throwing decent ball, inducing grounders and getting the occasional K, while the good guys were kept in the game by the handywork of Pedro Figueroa, who doesn’t look like he has overpowering stuff, and doesn’t get many K’s, and gets way deep in a lot of counts, yet he manages to bamboozle hitters to the point where they can’t get on the bags to save their lives.

It was in the 5th inning, with ‘No Glove’ Nazario being pulled in favor of the hot-hitting Everth Cabrera, that the C’s started to click into gear, starting with a 1-out walk by WAAALT! [seen right], and followed by a deft single by Dante Love.
Peachy Arrieche duly smacked a 1-run single into left field to open the scoring for the C’s by bringing Correa home comfortably. Before the umpire could call time, however, Bunny Brian Lapin decided to demonstrate what an awesome arm he has in right field… by throwing the ball needlessly to 3rd base (where nobody was running to), and in the process, overshooting his mark by about 50 feet to give up a ground rule double, which scored another run.

2-0 Vancouver, and with Figueroa still dealing the ‘death by a thousand pitches’ performance on the mound, Lapin continued his Three Stooges routine in the 6th by getting caught in a rundown following a solid pickoff attempt.

Tri-City, it must be said, looked like they had somehwere else to be, all day long. If it wasn’t bobbled and booted balls in the middle infield, it was throwing errors and impatient at bats. In fact, in the 7th, Tri-Focals lead-off man, Muppet Mitchell, decided to go against the signs from his manager and just steal a base for the hell of it.
And now he knows that Dante Love can throw a damn ball. And that when you disobey the signs, you’re gonna take a boot up the backside after the game.

The 7th inning for Vancouver wasn’t so much a case of being too good for Tri-City, as it was a case of "these guys suck so much, you’d almost have to fall over rounding third not to score on them."

And score on them they did, with Authentic Sulentic finding his groove for a deft single to left center (which I called, by the way), before WAAALT! followed suit and moved him into scoring position. A perfect 0-2 sacrifice bunt from Dante Love shifted them closer to home, and Peachy Arrieche, who is gathering new fans around The Nat faster than the judge that jailed Paris Hilton, smacked a solid doink through the hole at 3rd, scoring two to bust the lead out to 4-0.

It should be pointed out that Charles ‘Kerplunk’ Kerfoot came in to pitch the final three innings for the C’s, and while he at times looked shaky, he also showed plenty of great stuff (including a breaking ball that actually bent time). Ultimately he would fight back to get out of a 1-out bases-loaded jam in the bottmo of the 9th to take home the save.

GAME NOTES:

* With the bat, Matt Sulentic was looking rusty today. And by ‘rusty’, I mean ‘not as awesome and ridiculously successful as he was last season’, which in reality would be more accurately described as ‘about as good as everyone else.’ The Authentic One has put on some muscle by the looks of things, and he’s certainly looking like he’s got a more rounded game on the bases and in the field than he did when he was fresh out of high school in season 2006, but he struggled with the bat early on, looking like he was having trouble with his timing.

* Dan Hamblin is also struggling a tad with his timing, getting only one serious connection of bat and ball on the day; a towering moonshot that was tracked and put away in deep center field, and admittedly would have cleared the bases on any other ballpark. But here’s the thing - this isn’t any other ballpark. It’s The Nat, and that cavernous outfield is where homerun hitters go to die.

Every season we see this happen - a guy who hit a ton of dingers in college starts swinging for the fences, and everything falls short, leading to much consternation because the guy is only doing what made him so successful in the first place… fellas, please heed my call - The Nat will eat you if you try to abuse it. Work into deep counts, hit the line drives, make use of the acres of outfield space, and save the power displays for Everett, where you’ll clear the bases on a pop-up.

* JD Pruitt didn’t get beaned today. Instead he just went 1-2 with 2 walks on 4 plate appearances… His OBP sits at a mind-blowing .722… Slacker.

* Smokers take note - you thought it sucked when the C’s went smoke-free and told you that you’d have to smoke in the parking lot? Well, it just got worse… now you’ll have to go out to the sidewalk outside the parking lot. I admire what the team is trying to do, but wow, there’s going to be some annoyed smokers in weeks ahead. I’m no tobacco-head, but wouldn’t it makes sense to phase this in over a longer period rather than banishing smokers overnight?

* The smoking ban did have one comedic benefit, however, when manage Rick Magnante was asked to do an interview for TV. Nobody told him what the interview was about, so when the questions came about the smoking ban, Magnante did his best to hide the fact that he had a cheek full of chewing tobacco… and nowhere to spit for a good ten minutes of interview time.

* Former Canadian Idol contestant, Karen-Lee Batten, sang the national anthems before today’s game. Unfortunately, she brought along her boyfriend, who decided he needed to be star of the show by turning the Vancouver Province tricycle race into an eye-rolling affair. Having already won the event, he decided to pick his tricycle up, move it to the basepaths, and ham it up halfway to home plate before being dragged away by C’s staff. Memo to Canadian Idol handbags: baseballs hurt, and basepaths are for cleats, not your flip-flops.

* Apparently Shane Keough is the comedic entertainment of the Canadians roster, having taken it upon himself to ensure the Latinos on the team learn English, lest they wear the full brunt of his mocking scorn. "I can’t understand you! EEEEEENGLISH!" has been the common refrain in the locker room, with the Latino guys playing along all the way, demonstrating their newfound English skills at every opportunity; "Shane! H-E-L-L-O," they yell, and are duly rewarded with a pat on the back and those ever-comforting words… "Almost. You’re getting there." No word yet on whether Keough expects similar language skills from Canadian folk, but it’s probably best to practice in advance…

* Fabian Gomez would like it know his name is not Fabio. Apparently the MLB computers had him listed as Fabio during the draft, and now the error is like a runaway train, appearing on both MiLB rosters and the C’s roster. He would also like to request that nobody else leave giant blown-up pictures of Fabio the model on his locker, as he has more than enough already.

* Player moves: When Sulentic came down, someone had to go up, and that someone was ‘The Arm’, Ramiro Mendez. Three more players went the other way, getting an early start on their Arizona season. I’ve got to confirm those names yet, since the C’s roster hasn’t been updated on their website, and the MiLB.com pages aren’t updated either, but the news will be forthcoming.

Tomorrow’s game, the alst before a Yakima road trip, starts at 7:05pm - be there for what might be your last chance to see Sean Doolittle and Corey Brown… word to the wise.

Canadians win in a 'Fabiosan' fashion

(Photo Credit: Hans Havas)

After earning their first win of the season Wednesday afternoon, the Vancouver Canadians re-took the field Thursday night in attempts to head above the .500 mark.

Your Road Kill Sports starting lineup:

DH J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt
2B Angel 'Business' Corporan
1B Sean 'Swing' Doolittle
RF Ramiro 'Sendin' Mendez
CF Corey 'The Future' Brown
SS Walter 'Hunch' Correa
LF Shane 'Cougar' Keough
C Dusty Napoleon 'Dynamite'
3B Carlos 'Tomo Arigato' Arrieche
SP Edgar 'Time' Tejeda

The first inning didn't get off to a great start for Edgar Tejeda and the C's, with lead off man Everth Cabrerea singling on an infield-hit ground-ball. Cabrera stole second with Helder Velazquez batting, and then H.V. decided to single into the outfield, advancing his teammate to third base. The next batter, Alberta native Lars Davis hit a grounder to Angel Corporan, who flipped it to Walter Correa to get Velazquez out at two. Davis was running hard into first, and Correa's throw was way off, scoring Cabrera and sending Davis to second on the 'out of bounds' throw. Logan Wiens and Nate Anderson grounded out to end the inning, but one run was accounted for.

The Canadians waited until there were two outs on the scoreboard before starting a rally, with back-to-back-to-back singles by Sean Doolittle, Ramiro Mendez and Corey Brown, who was making his first at-bat one to remember. Brown's hit to right field drove in a run, Doolittle and also sent Mendez to third base. Welcome to the minors! Walter Correa was up next and hit a 2-RBI double to left field, thanks to a bobble by Kevin Clark, scoring Brown and Mendez and giving the C's an early 3-1 lead.

Clark tried to make up for the error in his first at-bat of the game when he doubled to Ramiro Mendez, and Cark would later score on an Everth Cabrera single. 3-2 Vancouver after one and a half.

Dusty Napoleon, also making his MILB debut, grounded-out to start his career, not exactly following in the foot-steps of Corey Brown, but still you have to give him props. Carlos Arrieche and Angel Corporan each hit doubles to Kevin Clark within the next three who were sent to the dish. Arrieche went first, followed by J.D. Pruitt who got on base by walking, and then Corporan who drove in Arrieche and sent Pruitt to third. 4-2 Van-city.

Sean Doolittle was up next, and reached on a fielder's choice, because Tri-City tried to gun down Pruitt who was heading for home. Pruitt was safe in the view of the fans, but in the view of home plate umpire Matt Raya, he was out. Rick Magnante argued, didn't get tossed, but had all rights to argue considering the call was almost as bad as the slurs coming out of the drunks in Section 10.

In the top of 4, Brian 'The Biting' Lapin doubled to lead off the top of the inning, and later came through to score thanks to a bunt-single by Everth Cabrera. 4-3 Vancouver. The bottom of 4 had nothing interesting, besides the fact that J.D. Pruitt was hit-by-a-pitch with two out. This is one guy who will be a candidate for M.V.P. by the end of the season!

Thanks to a weird call by plate ump Matt Raya, Kevin Clark was still at the dish when Edgar Tejeda gave him a shot to remember, as the ball sailed off the left-fielders bat and into the Vancouver nightline, clearing right field by a couple of feet. Folks, we have a tie ballgame!

In the top of 6, Fabian 'Fabiosa' Gomez came in relief for Tejeda and had two outs in the inning before Helder Velazquez singled in the infield. The next batter was Lars 'Canada' Davis who must have been shocked when Fabiosa picked off Velazquez, who had a big lead-off from first base. What a Fabiosa play!

The game was still tied in the 8th when the Canadians had their at-bats, and they did not give-up. Ramiro Mendez lead off with a single that landed in front of the SS, and then Corey Brown hit a double that scored Ramiro, thanks to a bobble by, you guessed it, Kevin Clark. Walter Correa was next, with Corey Brown on 2nd, when he bunted the ball down the 3rd base line, and surprisingly Brown didn't give up. He slid into third, much to the surprise of Darin Holcomb who thought it was a force at third, so when he stepped on the base and Brown was called safe, he was, to say the least, horrified. Shane Keough was up next, and thanks to a passed ball by Nate Anderson, the catcher, Correa advanced to second base. With runners on first and second, Dusty Napoleon grounded out, but it was all fine because Brown came into score. Carlos Arrieche popped up just near the stands to end the inning. 6-4 Vancouver!!

Leonardo 'The Aspiring' Espinal came into the game for the C's, replacing Gomez who over three innings allowed just one hit, and did much of the same as Fabian. Espinal struck-out Maruis Loupadiere to start the inning off, followed by a walk to Everth Cabrera. Helder Velazquez was up next and grounded out his teammate Cabrera, but he was safe at first. Much to the pleasure of the Section 10 drunks, Velazquez was safe at one, so one of the brutes yelled out, "You got to first base, congrats, you do something new every day!" This is a reason why taking your kids to a baseball game is hilarious, the drunks. They make it more entertaining, and when it's raining out you forget all about it. Back to the game, Lars David grounded-out to end the ballgame, Canadians win 6-4.

Winning pitcher: Fabian Gomez (1-0, 0.00)
Losing pitcher: Andrew Groves (0-1, 9.00)
Save: Leonardo Espinal (0-0, 1 Save, 0.00)

Game notes:

-Corey Brown is awesome.

Canadians even up their record; suck up the dust

After a tough opening night loss to the Tri-City Dust Devils in front of a sellout crowd Tuesday, the C's took to the field in the first nooner of the 2007 season Wednesday, in attemps to bring their record to 1-1.

LF JD 'Beaned' Pruitt
1B Sean 'Will not' Doolittle
DH Danny 'Amblin' Hamblin
RF Ramiro 'Sendin' Mendez
3B Justin 'Making a' Frash
SS Walter 'South' Correa
CF Shane 'Lane' Keough
C Julio 'Julius' Rivera
2B Matt 'Sting' Ray
SP Leonardo 'Lefty' Martinez

Lefty took the hill to face Everth Cabrera as the first batter in the game, and did so in the same fashion Jose Guzman did last night, striking out the first batter. Cabrera this time however, was called out on strikes unlike last night. Helder Velazquez also struck out, and then Justin Nelson popped out to end the half inning.

JD Pruitt took to the dish for the C's, facing Robinson Fabian in the bottom of one, and surprise surprise Pruitt was hit by a pitch. Last night, he went 0-0 with three walks and two hit-by-pitches. The next batter was Oakland's second pick in this year's draft, Sean Doolittle. Doolittle was making his first minor league at-bat against Fabian, and fared much worse than anticipated. He grounded into a 4-6-3 double-play, which meant Pruitt was out as well. Danny Hamblin and Ramiro Mendez each came up with two outs and hit singles to the outfield, but Justin Frash ended the inning when he was called out on strikes.

With two outs in the top of 2, Tri-City had managed to put Darin Holcomb at third base, but there was also a runner on first for the batter Brandon Reichert. With Reichert still at the plate, the runner at first (Josh Banda) was thrown out by catcher Julio Rivera as he attempted to steal second base. No, no said Rivera and that ended any hope of Tri-City taking an early lead. Walter Correa, Shane Keough and Julio Rivera went down 1, 2, 3 in the bottom half of the inning, scoreless ball game after two.

After an Everth Cabrera double, Helder Velasquez brought him home on a single to Shane Keough, 1-0 Tri-City after two and a half. The bottom half of the inning saw 2B Matt Ray lead-off, and he walked to first base on four balls. J.D. 'Beaned' Pruitt came up to the plate 0-0 with a HBP already in the game, and cracked one to left field. The ball did have the distance and did go fair, 2-1 Vancouver. And ladies and gentlemen, J.D. Pruitt can say he was the first one to hit a homer over the new fences at Nat Bailey Stadium!

Now in the bottom of 5, the score still 2-1, J.D. Pruitt came up to bat and hit a single to Justin Nelson to lead-off the inning. With Sean Doolittle now batting, the pitcher Fabian threw a wild pitch that sent Pruitt sprinting to second base. Doolittle hit an infield hit to Helder Velasquez, but Pruitt did not advance from second. With one out in the inning, Tri-City brought in John Rodriguez to pitch and the first batter he faced was Ramiro Mendez who loaded the bases thanks to an error by Velasquez. Justin Frash walked, that sent Pruitt home, and still kept runners on every base. Walter Correa hit a sac fly to right field, and that cashed in Sean Doolittle, 4-1 Canadians. Shane Keough grounded-out to end the inning.

Leonardo Martinez lasted six innings, allowing only three hits, one earned run, a walk and he also sent six Dust Devil batters back to the dugout on strikes. That is a great performance! John Quine replaced Martinez in the 6th and sent Tri-City down 1, 2, 3.

The bottom of 7 brought Kenneth Durst into the game for the visitors, and he fared not much better than the two before him. Sean Doolittle lead-off the inning with a single, and Doolittle advanced to 2nd on an attempted pick-off by Lars Davis (the catcher). Danny Hamblin struck-out, but Ramiro Mendez came up and walked, followed by a Justin Frash walk and that brought the bases loaded. Walter Correa was next and hit a single to left field that cashed in Doolittle, and advanced Mendez and Frash one base. Shane Keough flew out, and then another Dust Devil pitcher came into the game, this time being Agustin Arias. Arias' first batter was Julio Rivera who singled to right field. This brought in Mendez and Frash, but Correa was tagged out at home. 7-1 Vancouver.

Tri-City scored two runs in the 8th, both credited to John Quine who left the game in favour of Nick Walters with two out in the inning. Tri-City couldn't muster up any runs in the 9th, and for the first time in 2007, the Vancouver Canadians had won a game!

Winning pitcher: Leonardo Martinez (1-0, 1.50)
Losing pitcher: Robinson Fabian (0-1, 6.23)

Game notes:

-The announced attendance was 3,045 just over two thousand less than last night's ballgame. Still, for a Nooner when most kids are in school that's not a bad figure.

-Danny Hamblin was 1-5 and three of his four outs were strike-outs. That isn't too good for the power guy in the lineup.

-What a game for Sean Doolittle. His first minor league won't be one he'll soon forget, going 3-5 with a double, and he scored twice.

-J.D. Pruitt was beaned once in this game, and did not walk at all. He hit the two-run blast early in the game, that gave the C's early momentum.

The next game is tomorrow night, Prom Night, as these two teams battle at it once more. It is the longest night of the year, so be sure to make your way out to the Nat! Game time 7:05.

Canadians fall short to Dust Devils in opener

June 19th marked opening day for the Northwest league, among others, and that meant it was the first chance to see the 2007 Vancouver Canadians in action, as they faced the Tri-City Dust Devils.

Righty Jose Guzman took the hill for Vancouver, and opposed Taiwan native Sheng-An Kuo of Tri-City.

The C’s batting lineup goes as follows (with preliminary nicknames):

CF Angel ‘Cake’ Sierra
DH J.D. ‘Beanball’ Pruitt
3B Justin ‘The Frashmaker’ Frash
1B Danny ‘Amblin’ Hamblin (seen left)
RF Ramiro ‘The Arm’ Mendez
SS Walter ‘South’ Correa
LF Shane ‘3-0′ Keough
C Dante ‘Playground’ Love
2B Matt ‘Manta’ Ray
SP Jose ‘The Magic’ Guzman

Jose Guzman took the hill for the C’s in his first start since being removed from Oakland’s minor league disabled list last week. He started the season in Stockton, but is rehabbing in Vancouver until the bonus babies show up. Whether he’s here to stay or not will depend on results.

Guzman started the season like James Heuser did last year for the C’s, striking-out the first batter of the game. Jose’s victim was Everth Cabrera who was less than pleased with his opening act. After a ground out, Justin ‘Half’ Nelson walked with two outs, and with Logan Wiens batting, Guzman threw a wild-pitch sending Nelson to 2nd base. Luckily for the C’s, Wiens ended up flying out to Shane Keough to end the first half inning of the NWL season.

2006 8th round draftee and C’s lead-off hitter, Angel Sierra, boasts prodigal speed, but fared no better than Everth Cabrera as he too struck-out in his team’s first AB of the season. J.D. Pruitt lived up to his college reputation of being a human hit-by-pitch magnet, and started off his pro career with an HBP on the board. Pruitt, who crowds the plate so hard it could pass as the Lion’s Gate Bridge at 5pm, advanced to second on a Justin Frash ground out, but Danny Hamblin watched strike-three to end the inning.

Darin Holcomb managed a single into left field in the top of two, but teammate Nate Anderson grounded into a double-play to end the half inning. Ramiro Mendez managed a hit into left field for Vancouver’s first hit of the season, but the next batter up, Walter Correa, grounded into a 5-4-3 double-play, before the Reality TV King, Shane Keough, popped out to end the inning.

The top of 3 put the C’s in a hole, after Helder Velazquez doubled to left field to score Kevin Clark and Everth Cabrera. 2-0, Dust Bunnies after two and a half, but the C’s weren’t done with just yet.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd, Matt ‘The Manta’ Ray walked on four balls, but would go no further after ‘Cake’ grounded into a 1-6-3 DP to end the inning, and by the time the top of 4 rolled around, the lack of basepath action had the game clock sitting on about an hour, which in baseball terms means the game is going fast.

J.D. Pruitt led off the bottom of 4 for the C’s, after a scoreless half inning by Tri-City, and - surprise surprise - he was hit by a pitch! Way to stick that thing out there, JD.

Next up was The Frashmaker, who watched a wild pitch go past Lars Davis to advance Beanball Pruitt to 2nd. Frash grounded out, but Danny Hamblin was up next and smoked one to center field to drive in Pruitt, and set himself up on first. Ramiro Mendez was in the on-deck circle when Hamblin brought in the first run of the season, and when he came up he tried to do the exact same thing, hitting a ball to right field that brought Hamblin to third, thanks to an error by right fielder Justin Nelson.

‘South’ Correa was up next, and he wasted no time belting one to left field, just missing fair territory as it landed in the area beside the C’s bullpen for a foul ball. It wasn’t a dinger, but he still cashed in a run when later in the at-bat he singled to 3rd and scored Hamblin, advancing Mendez to second.

Runners on first and second for Shane Keough with only one out in the inning, a situation most hitters dream of.

Keough sent the ball past first base after he connected, just missing the glove of Dust Devil Logan Wiens, and even though the ball appeared fair, umpire Bobby Leon called it foul ball, which meant Mendez and Correa did not get to score on the play. Keough had the at-bat to finish after Rick Magnante finished quietly arguing the call, and unfortunately for the C’s he grounded into a double-play to turn what should have been an insanely great inning for Vancouver into an inning of ploite applause as the scores leveled.

Tri-City went down 1, 2, 3 in the fifth, and Jose Guzman (who was awesome all night) struck out Helder Velazquez in what would prove to be his final batter of the game, to end the inning.

With Playground Love and The Manta Ray on base, the top of the order came up in the bottom of five with none out; a perfect opportunity for Angel Sierra to get his first hit in the NWL. Unfortunately, though he made contact, Love was out on a force at third base.

With runners still at 1st and 2nd, this time with one out, and ‘Hit me baby one more time’ at the dish, it looked like time for another beanball.

But then something Pruitt had never heard of in his pro career happened… he saw ball four. He didn’t get beaned, he didn’t take one in the throat - he just walked. Four balls. And to make matters more interesting, he had to come back from an 0-2 count. That left the bases loaded for the #3 hitter, The Frashmaker, but Frash could only ground into a force as Matt Ray was tagged out at home.

The bases were still loaded when Danny Hamblin came up, and it’d be great if we can see that situation a few more times this season, as Hamblin looks like he can rake. He hit a rope to left field that cashed in Sierra and Pruitt, as well as advancing himself to second and Frash to third, leaving the score 4-2 to the Canadians after five innings.

But then the bullpen kicked in. Former Canadian Pascuel ‘El Gigante’ Manzueta came in to relieve in the top of six for Guzman, and he had difficulty on the hill from the outset. He allowed four runs in one inning (6-4 Tri-City), with all the runs earned, and ended the inning with an ERA that won’t be pretty for some time.

Riquy Pena came in the game for Tri-City in the bottom half of the sixth inning, and he was lights out, striking out Shane Keough and Dante Love, as well as grounding out Walter Correa.

The 7th inning saw the C’s keep Manzueta in the game, but that decision proved costly as he allowed another two runs before the 7th inning stretch, giving those with small children the option of leaving early without risk of missing a comeback.

The defense didn’t help, with Danny Hamblin making a costly defensive error, letting the ball bounce off the top of his glove to put Everth Cabrera on base, and with another runner on, Justin Nelson singled to Angel Sierra. Sierra picked up the ball awkwardly and fumbled it a bit in the grass, before throwing out Nelson at 2nd base.

Give The Manta credit for making a great tag, but in the meantime, Helder Velasquez chose to sprint from third to home, with Ray still on his backside. The second baseman didn’t stick around in the soil - rather, he gunned a throw to home plate for what was undoubtedly a close play. The home crowd said out, but the umpire had other ideas. 8-4 to the Dust Bunnies.

The bottom of 7 saw Angel Sierra and J.D. Pruitt on first and second base respectively with only one out, (Pruitt walked, 2 HBP, 2 walks up at this point) when Justin Frash and Danny Hamblin struck-out to end any chances of a bottom of 7 comeback.

Pitching Coach Jimmy Escalante took Manzueta out in the 8th in exchange for 2006 Canadian Keith Eusebio. Eusebio allowed two more runs in the inning, including a triple by Everth Cabrera, which added to Tri-City’s lead and left only the fireworks fans sticking around.

The C’s didn’t allow any runs in the 9th, but they didn’t gain any either in the final two innings, ending their season opener with 5100 disappointed faces, and a 10-4 losing scoreline.

The C’s are the only team in the West Division that lost tonight, and Tri-City is the only team in the East that won on opening day, so both teams are at very different ends of the standings, but that of course will change tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a Nooner at the Nat, gates open at 11:30 (heard this on the P.A.) but the game won’t start until 1:00 PM. Lefty Leonardo Martinez is expected to get the nod for the C’s, and he’ll oppose Robinson Fabian of the Dust Devils.

Game notes:
* Parking at the new stadium is a little brutal, especially for a sell-out. It took some folks 20 minutes to get from Dumfries (a nearby street) to the Nat, and this wasn’t including the time spent actually finding a spot!!

* The C’s managed a sell-out crowd for tonight’s game, and that was almost three times the crowd they attracted for last year’s opener!

* The lines for purchasing tickets were twice as long as the line for food at tonight’s game, and those lines were nasty. It took some 30+ minutes to grab some french fries, but with so much new about the set-up, it makes sense there’d be teething pains. In response to the jam, the C’s offered free tickets to everyone in attendance, which is a stand-up move.

* The 3rd base sausage grill is one of the best additions to the C’s lineup, especially when Jeff Mooney is there mingling with the crowd!

* Nobody got hit in the face with a foul tip, despite the absence of fencing on the 1st and 3rd base dugout sections. Kids crowded around the home dugout like crazy all game long, and the players seemed to be loving the fact, with plenty of back and forth banter between team and crowd.

* Best. Fireworks. Ever.

Lions Pre-Season game 1

Tonight marked the Leos first game of the 2007 season, even if it was an exhibition match with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. This was Kent Austin's first game as Riders Head Coach.

Tonight was a game of kickers, and coincidentally enough two of the three kickers in tonight's game held the only scoring in the first quarter. Riders Kicker Jamie Boreham, a Hamilton reject who is battling with Luca Congi for the Riders kicking duties this season, booted one past the uprights at 6:22 of the first quarter. 3-0 Riders. BC answered right back, with Paul McCallum kicking it through the other BC Place uprights almost three and a quarter minutes later. The game was tied at 3 heading into the second quarter.

BC took its first lead of the game at 3:20 of the 2nd when backup Rob Pikula kicked a field goal in this hockey-score type of game.

It was 6-3 Lions when Jamie Boreham took the field six minutes later, in an attempted 35 yard field goal (his first FG was from 43 yards out). Boreham went wide right, but luckily enough it was out of the endzone, so it counted as a single point. 6-4 BC.

Marcus Crandell took the field for the Riders in the 2nd after Kerry Joseph went 2 for 5 in the 1st, and he did much better than the former Ottawa Renegade. Crandell threw a bomb to Andy Fantuz in the endzone, that counted as a 25-yard TD. Jamie Boreham made the convert, 11-6 visitors.

Boreham booted a FG in the 3rd quarter at the 7:46 mark, and that would be the lone point scored in the third. 14-6 was the score for the Riders.

Saskatchewan wasted no time adding to their lead, and after marching down field to the one yard line, Drew Tate ran it into the Lions endzone, 21-6 Riders.

Four minutes later, BC battled back as Jarious Jackson found a Cody Rodgers who had just fought off a Rider defender for the Lions lone TD of the game. Rob Pikula made the convert, 21-13 visiting team.

Just as BC's chances were looking slimmer, on a 3rd down attempt deep in their own territory, the Riders elected the Safety touch, giving BC two points but setting themselves up for a kick, instead of a punt from the endzone. 21-15 BC. Now, Shawn Bell came into the game for the first time in what most considered BC's last chance of the game with three minutes left. Would he pull it off and score six points to tie?

Bell's first play, complete to Cory Rodgers. Six yard gain, 2nd and four. Next play, he just misses Adam Nicolson. Third and four. Lions gamble, Bell throws it to Rodgers he leaps up one-handed he has it, no he drops it! Incomplete! The offensive man of the night, Rodgers, dropped the pass that could've changed the game.

Saskatchewan took over, Jamie Boreham kicked a field goal. Game over, 24-15 Riders. But hey, it's pre-season right?

Road Kill notes:

-BC Place has new scoreboards to showcase the game clock, score, downs and yards to go. These are much sharper compared to the ratty things they had in the past.

-According to those who tried it, BC Place's new beer (Russell) is 7.25 each. Not bad, not bad.

-Cory Rodgers is impressive, he made a one-handed catch earlier in the 4th, and then he caught the lone touchdown for BC.

-If Dennis Mitchell is not cut this week, I will be mad.

Lions QB's:
Dave Dickenson 6 for 10, 82 YDS
Buck Pierce 4 for 4, 31 YDS
Jarious Jackson 19 for 27, 191 YDS, TD
Shawn Bell 2 for 6, 8 YDS

Key Rushing Stats:
Jarious Jackson 2 attempts, 11 YDS

Key Receiving Stats:
Cory Rodgers, 6 Receptions, 61 YDS, TD
Jason Clermont, 3 Receptions, 45 YDS
Kendrick Jones, 3 Receptions, 44 YDS
Josh Boden, 4 Receptions, 39 YDS
Paris Jackson, 1 Reception, 31 YDS

Key Defensive Stats:
Nick Hannah, Rick Foley, Dan McCullough and Jay Pottinger each had one sack.
Nick Hannah, Rick Foley, Derek Wake and Markeith Knowlton each had three tackles.

Lions vs Riders 2007 CFL Pre-Season: Lions game #1

Game: Saskatchewan Roughriders at BC Lions, June 15th, BC Place Stadium, 7:30 pm

Style: This is the first game of the pre-season for both teams.

Quarterbacks for the Riders:

Riders regular starter Kerry Joseph will kick of tonight's game. Joseph was 267 for 463 last season, throwing 22 TD's and 17 interceptions. Backup Marcus Crandell will play the 2nd quarter, and he was 19 for 30 as the Riders #2 last season. He threw an interception in his short time on the field. Drew Tate will play the 3rd quarter, and he is coming off his senior year in College with the Iowa Hawkeyes where he threw for 2,623 yards as well as being the QB for 18 TD's. He finished his college career with almost 8,300 passing yards. Finally, Darian Durant will close out the game for Saskatchewan. He is 1-1 passing in the CFL, and in College he pratically re-wrote UNC's record books throwing for almost 9,000 yards, and 68 touchdowns.

Quarterbacks for the Lions:
Buck Pierce, Dave Dickenson, Jarious Jackson and Shawn Bell should all see time on the turf tonight, but Jackson and Bell will handle most of the duties. Dickenson and Pierce are the guaranteed 1,2 in BC so it's up to Jackson and Bell to make up #3. Jackson was BC's third down QB last season, coming in on the 3rd and 1, 3rd and 2 and 3rd and inches situations, but he did manage to throw the pigskin, going 37 for 79 with 3 TD's. Bell comes from Baylor University and had an MVP season this year for the Bears throwing for 2,582 yards in his Bear career, despite only having played nine games in four seasons. Bell is one guy that will give competition for Jarious Jackson.

Offensive threats to watch out for on the Riders:
Fred Russell and Neal Hughes will both be carrying the ball tonight (unless they've been injured) and both are trying to replace departed Kenton Keith at the RB spot. Hughes and Russell come from impressive College careers, with Hughes being the only one with CFL experience. Jason Armstead, Matt Dominguez, Andy Fantuz and Thyron Anderson should all see at least some playing time tonight, and all four are capable 1,000 yard receivers.

Offensive Lions:
While Dave Dickenson won't see much time on the field thanks to some injuries last week, Buck Pierce, Jarious Jackson and Shawn Bell will all take the helm for the Leos during the pre-season matchup. Joe Smith, Ian Smart, Alex Bwenge and Sadeghian will probably take some reps at RB, but with Smith pretty much locking up #1, it will be a battle for #2. Kendrick Jones, Mike Lindstrom, Josh Boden, Adam Nicolson, along with a four-some of American receivers will see most of the action Friday, but perhaps Geroy Simon, Jason Clermont, Paris Jackson and especially Tony Simmons (who is coming off playing just one game last season due to injury) will see some time.

Player to watch for Saskatchewan:
Andrew Tate had a fabulous career at Iowa, and is looking to continue that success in his first CFL game, and will do so in the 3rd quarter.

Player to watch for the Lions:
There are three key players in BC's lineup tonight. First off, Josh Boden, the Canadian slotback that narrowly missed the team last year after a surprising rookie camp. Boden looks to make the team for real in 2007, and tonight is his first chance to do so. Jarious Jackson and Shawn Bell are the other two, and they are looking to take home #3 at the QB position on the depth chart.

Game prediction: Lions 32 Saskatchewan 15

Attendance prediction: 33,583

Road Kill Sports is back; and better than ever!

Full apologies are in order for my absence on the keyboard lately, I figure I'll need it considering what the next 90 days have in store. Starting tomorrow my life won't be the same as the BC Lions get the gear on for the first time since winning the Grey Cup November 19th in Winnipeg. Sunday there's Fanfest for the Vancouver Canadians, an event that means the C's season is just around the corner, and then Tuesday is the big day when Rick Magnante's C's play the Tri-City Dust Devils at the Nat to kick off the season.

Let me go back. Like I said, the Leos play their first pre-season game tomorrow at BC Place (of course I'll be there) so you can expect a game preview before you head out the door to the game (unless you leave at 3:00 pm) and a recap no less than two hours after the game (12:30 at the latest). Next week, June 21st to be exact, I will post my annual CFL Preview article for the Eastern division. The next day (the 22nd) the West division preview will be posted so that before the CFL starts regular season action June 28th, you'll know on who to watch out for in each division.

Now, onto the C's. This is what I live for. Baseball. Nat Bailey Stadium. And of course Nat Bailey french fries. No less than two hours after the game finishes (so usually around midnight-12:30, excluding day games when recaps will be up before 6:00) a full detailed recap with the batting order and the plays of the game will be posted here on the blog, and expect interviews from the C's themselves throughout the season.

I know we havn't had that many readers lately, but be sure to check in daily! Also, the first edition of C's weekly comes out this Monday, one day before the Home opener, so you can read about your favourite Canadians that will suit up on Opening Day. C's weekly comes out every Monday until the end of the C's season featuring whatever I can get my hands on.

I can tell you this much, Road Kill Sports is taking a turn for the best, and in the next three months you'll be shocked, amazed and glad you stayed to read. A forum, prizes and much more are in the planning stages so stay tuned!

Jeremy

Recap of 2007 MLB Draft

This draft was one the Oakland A's should be happy with. They picked up a power Outfielder in Greg Desme, a first-round Pitcher named Donald Simmons and a couple key guys like OF's Corey Brown and Gary Brown, 1B's Sean Doolittle and Danny Hamblin, SS's Josh Horton, Matt Ray and Michael Richard as well as Catchers Jordan Smith, Mike Napoleon and Tobias Streich.

On the mound, Travis Banwart, Sam Demel, Gary Carnigan, Scott Hodson, Brett Lysander, Justin Friend, Stepher Porlier and Lee Land are all pretty high picks that might make their way into Van-City this season throwing right-handed, and then there's Lance Sewell, Daniel Schlereth, Eric Berger, Stephen Hunt, Brad Hertzler and Aaron Jenkins all southpaws are a couple of the top lefties in the A's draft results, but don't expect all of them to sign. Most have College teams awaiting them for a final College season, or in the case of 40th round draft pick Daniel Magnante (Son of C's Manager Rick) Syracuse is waiting for Magnante to report for his Freshman season.

Oakland went primarily for Juniors and High School players, but went with a couple of Seniors including Danny Hamblin a guy Oakland drafted last season but re-entered this year's draft to be picked by - you guessed it - Oakland.

Corey Brown has a history of being a "rebel" as he was charged for having sex with a 14-year-old girl along with his buddies (not him, the girl). Brown lost a scholarship to Virginia, but went to Oklahoma State instead. Don't wory Corey, here at Road Kill Sports we just hope you kick some butt on the field!!

Greg Desme is the one pick I'm pumped for as he will probably report to Vancouver this season. Desme led Cal Poly in most offensive categories, hitting .405 with 15 dingers and 53 Rbi's as well as stealing 12 bases in 15 attemps.

Daniel Hamblin hit 22 long bombs this season, an increase of 3 from last year. But do you know who will be our new C/1B?? That's right Napoleon, a late-teen draft pick from Iowa had an OBP of over .500 and he walked 50 times this season, in addition to batting .364. Nap, welcome to the C's.

A couple of notes, UBC didn't have any players drafted, but Fruitvale BC's and LC State's Chris Kissock was. Congrats to the Kissock family tonight!!

More news this week as we discover who has signed with Oakland, and who will suit up for the C's.

Edmonton Oil Kings Expansion Draft complete; UBC Pitchers recap not posted?

First off, the UBC Pitchers recap I did last week did not turn up on the site from what I have seen. I guess I'll make a new one when I get the chance before Friday!?!

The Edmonton Oil Kings took part in the WHL Expansion draft yesterday, and acquired some good talent. Goalies Tommy Tartaglione and Alex Archibald are between the pipes, and guys like Bretton Stamler and Matt Swaby are on D. Kenton Dulle, a former Giant, was originally drafted by Edmonton, but was soon after traded to Kamloops for a 17-year-old Goalie.

Vancouver traded 16-year-old Cam Reid to Edmonton to avoid losing a player in the Expansion draft.

The MLB Draft will be held tomorrow and Friday and it will decide at least 3 quarters of this year's C's roster. In the past top picks such as Landon Powell, Kurt Suzuki, Mark Kiger, John McCurdy, Nick Swisher, Mark Teahen and Jeremy Brown have opened up their careers in Van-City and a new crop will be at the Nat in 10 days for practise.

To follow a live-blog of the draft, visit our friends at Notesfromthenat.com all day tomorrow and Friday for hourly updates (if not quicker) on Oakland's selections.

Look for a couple UBC players to be in the mix as well. A recap on Day 1 of the draft will be held tomorrow night on this blog.

Finally, the G-Men acquired 19-year-old Forward Chris Cloud from Saskatoon today and it looks as though this guy is a Penalty guy who can score goals if needed. Good move Scott Bonner! We only gave up a Draft pick in '08 by the way.