Punxatawney, PA (AP)--With a recent streak of 7 straight victories, the
Punxatawney Groundhogs have finally forged ahead of their division and
opened up a 3 game advantage on 2nd place Springfield and a 7 game edge on
3rd place Houston. This recent streak improved last season's Riker division
champ to 46-37 overall, 34-19 against the other Riker teams. Only Galena
and Vero Beach sport better inner-divisional records.
"We're pretty happy with our record because we feel our division is really
tough this year," said Punxatawney ace Jon Lieber. "I got to watch a lot of
baseball while I was hurt and both Houston and Springfield really impressed
me. Last year these guys were pushovers but Aaron [Watson of the Atoms] and
Jay [Scudieri of the Hellraisers] have made some great moves and made them
competitive again."
However, two days ago Punxatawney had one of their single most dissapointing
wins in franchise history. On a rainy day, they managed to beat the Houston
Atoms 4-1. However, this game was not without heartbreak. After 6 great
innings, Rocky Coppinger left the mound with a badly blistered index finger.
After the game was over, clubhouse celebrations were shortlived as Jose
Valentin tripped over the dugout steps and pinched his ulnar nerve badly,
causing him to miss anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. And later that night,
slugger Ryan Klesko found himself in a hospital bed with pnemonia. Shapiro
awoke the next morning in shock.
"Well, Rocky's finger seemed bad enough, but he's pitched through worse.
Then Jose slipped on the wet turf and really hurt himself, which is gonna
seriously hinder our offense," Shapiro noted, obviously refering to
Valentin's team leading .316 average, 50 runs, 64 runs created, and 14
stolen bases. "But then when I heard Ryan would by in the Hogspital for a
few days with pnemonia...I wasn't sure what to do."
Klesko is well on his way to another solid season, currently hitting .282
with 22 homers and a team leading 54 RBI.
"Well, sure, I'm a little dissapointed," remarked Klesko. "The whole year
has been a little bit of a letdown compared to last season, but I didn't
expect to get 150 RBI again or anything. And I hate to miss any games, but
its not worth risking my health in the longrun when I'll only be gone a
week. I'll even be at the games if I'm really needed."
The loss of these two hitters puts the team in a bit of an offensive
disadvantage over the next week or two. Dave Martinez will have to produce
more from the leadoff spot and Jason Giambi, who will bat 4th, will
certainly have to step up his production greatly. Coming off the bench to
replace the two stars will be youngsters Jack Jackson, Billy Ashley, and
Robin Jennings.
Jackson is playing in his 2nd professional season after being selected in
the first round of the first ever PVBL amateur draft. Over those two years,
Jackson is hitting .241 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, and 3 homers in 83 at
bats. However, he only has 6 at bats this year, 2 of which have been hits.
Billy Ashley was playing at AAA Roswell before being called up. Peter
Gammons said of the 24 year old LF, "I don't think we've seen too many
better power hitters than Ashley come out of the minors, but he's far too
much of a free swinger. Ashley needs to learn to hit the single, not just
the longball."
Gammons comments certainly hold water. Ashley is batting only .195 in 82 at
bats over the last two years, and 6 of his 16 hits have been for extra
bases. He has also struck out a whopping 24 times--over 1/4 of his plate
appearances.
The final guy who will get more playing time is Robin Jennings, selected in
this season's free agent draft. Jennings has spent a large part of the
season in the majors, getting some playing time during Dave Martinez's
injury. So far he is batting .255 in 55 at bats and has shown a bit of a
power stroke with 4 doubles and 2 homers.
"He looks a lot like Scott Rolen did last year," Hogs 3B coach Mike Schmidt
said. "Nice solid fundamental swing, a bit of power, a bit of speed, and
just a nice overall player to have around.
So in today's action, a new lineup was put to the test. However, because
Shapiro was not able to be at the game due to a obligation he had to fulfill
at school, the correct lineup never reached Schmidt and he just tossed
Jackson and Jennings into the 3rd and 4th spots in the lineup where Valentin
and Klesko were batting.
"We were pretty surprised to see where we were hitting," said Jackson. "I
mean, we figured we'd be playing since Ashley hadn't arrived yet, but
batting in the bottom of the order."
However, it ended up a rather fortuitous move to have the two batting where
they did. The game was a low-scoring pitchers duel in which Punxatawney
only collected 6 total hits. Jackson had one of those, a double, after
which he scored one of the Punxatawney runs. Robin Jennings had a pair of
base hits as well. However, the rest of the offense came from the two
players who need to step up the most. Tony Batista went 2-4 with a pair of
doubles, scoring twice. Jason Giambi only had a single, but drove in all 3
Punxatawney runs.
"Well, I figure this is my chance to turn this season around, pick up some
RBIs, and help us out more until the big guns are back," said Giambi,
playing back at 1B with Klesko injured. However, Klesko did get into this
game, batting once and playing an inning at SS.
However, the Punxatawney pitching was second to none in this game. Sean
Bergman was going for his 11th win of the season and got it, improving to
11-2. But he did this one in style, allowing only 2 hits, no walks, and
needing only 82 pitches to throw 8 innings. However, one of those hits was
an 8th inning Fred McGriff home run, the other a base hit to Mike Piazza in
the 4th. Ricky Bottalico threw a perfect 9th to record the save, his 13th.
Both of these pitchers boast spots on the league leaderboard. Sean Bergman,
in his first year as a starter, has recorded 11 wins, tying him with Pedro
Astacio, Curt Schilling, and teammate Rocky Coppinger for 3rd in the league.
Ricky Bottalico's 13 saves tie him with Trevor Hoffman and Troy Percival for
3rd in the league.
"I'm really glad to see how my role has changed this year," noted the
Groundhogs closer. "Last year I felt like a spare part that wasn't pulling
his fair share. Now I'm getting the chance to pick up the save and I've
been fine so far."
Bottalico has bettered his numbers of last season so far. He has a 2.19 ERA
over 24 2/3 innings and has walked only 5 while striking out 23. Also, none
of the 7 runners he inherited have scored.
Shapiro was a bit somber in his post game speech. "We aren't looking
forward to playing without Jose and Ryan in there, and also having Rocky
fighting a blistered finger. But I think this team is capable of
continuining to win and at least holding the fort where it is until we are
back to full health."
Stats 'n Stuff
Punxatawney's top starters have been a fearsome crew to contend with.
Rocky Coppinger 11-3, 1.50, .165 opp. avg., 12 quality starts out of 14
Sean Bergman 11-2, 2.83, .224 opp. avg., only 13 walks in 86 IP
Bobby Thomas 4-5, 3.32, .235 opp. avg., 20 walks, 116 K in 111 IP, 12/16 QS
Jon Lieber 4-1, 2.18, .227 opp. avg., 7 walks, 46 K in 53 2/3 IP.
When asked to comment on how the pitchers around him were doing so well,
last year's ace Jon Lieber responded, "Well, all these guys showed signs of
brilliance last year. They bloomed together, drawing off each other and
learning together. Rocky and Sean have been godsends this year and have
given us more quality starters than we know what to do with. Its a credit
to all of them that we are in first place even though I've only made 10
starts."
However, while Punxatawney's pitching has become top notch this year, their
hitting seems to have dropped off a bit. However, hitting coach Bernie
Carbo doesn't agree.
"Its not that our hitting went away, the entire league is hitting a lot
less. We may only be hitting .266 as a team, but that puts us 4th in the DL
and 7th overall. We're 5th in DL run scoring, and while our homer
production has dropped off a bit, and we still can't seem to hit triples,
but a team OPS of .759 is by no means bad."
Shapiro does have one definite regret about his offseason moves. "I should
have kept Rondell White around and risked a pitcher. Tucson stole him in
the special talent reallocation draft, and he's been amazing so far down
there. 16 homers, 61 RBI, a .283 average, 16 steals...he's doing it all.
And he's a huge part of why they are now leading the Kirk division."
Also, with the recent rise of first of the Groundhogs, questions have been
raised about the playoffs. Shapiro was fairly blunt on the subject.
"We aren't even thinking about it. Not yet. We have half a season left to
play with a 3 game lead over a solid ballclub. And if we get there, well,
we know Vero can be beat. Last year we came in as heavy favorites but then
we took a bunch of injuries. The same thing could happen to them. And in a
short series, anything can happen, especially when both teams have the kind
of amazing pitching staffs like us. And don't forget Phoenix, they are
ripping up the Data division this year. It'll be an interesting home
stretch."
