Early last season, the Riker division was shocked when the Springfield
Atoms, picked to finish well behind both Punxatawney and Houston, took the
early lead. They continued to challenge the Hogs all season and moved ahead
of the Hellraisers, but fell short in the end.
In the offseason, the Atoms were once again picked to finish third. And
once again, the Atoms took the early lead and held it for the first month or
so.
However, the Punxatawney Groundhogs have gotten serious and won five
straight games, including a sweep of Calgary, to move 1/2 game ahead of
Springfield.
"We're playing good baseball. So is Springfield. That team plays with a
lot of heart," Shapiro said in praise of the Atoms.
Their series against Calgary was an exciting series as Punxatawney had to
work hard for their victories. The series opened looking like a pitchers
duel as Sean Bergman and Paul Wagner matched each other for almost 6
innings, heading into the 7th with Calgary ahead 1-0. Bobby Thomas threw
the top of the 7th in relief, and during the seventh inning stretch, team
captain Ryan Klesko grabbed his teammates.
"I just told 'em to get on base. I wanted to make a statement that we were
tired of being behind Springfield," Klesko said.
His teammates listened, loading the bases for Punxatawney's big slugger.
With the bases loaded and score 1-0, Klesko sat on a Wagner curve and
crushed it to deep right field for a grand slam, putting Punxatawney ahead
4-1.
Houston scored once to close the gap to 4-2, but Punxatawney scored 5 more
runs off Houston Hamner in the 8th inning and went ahead 9-2 and held on to
win 9-3. Jose Valentin and Dave Martinez both homered in the each homered
in the 5-run 8th.
"We mixed speed and power today for this win. Batista, Rolen, and Ochoa
kept them off guard by stealing bases. Their pitchers got distracted and
our power hitters made them pay," said Shapiro.
The win went to Bobby Thomas, his first of the year. Bergman threw 5 2/3
innings, allowing only 1 run, but wasn't in when Punxatawney went ahead.
"I wanted to get my first win as a starter, but I'll take it any way I can.
Its good to get one, even if I didn't pitch all that well," said Thomas.
After that late comeback victory, the last thing Punxatawney needed was a
grueling 14 inning marathan, but that's exactly what they got. For 9
innings, Mike Hampton and Jose Barnowski matched each other pitch for pitch,
and the score after 9 remained a 1-1 tie. Hampton left after that, but
Barnowski didn't, and ended up with one of the most memorable performances
in PVBL history. In fact, while Punxatawney relievers Ricky Bottalico and
Bobby Munoz were holding Calgary scoreless through the 14th, Barnowski
toiled on through the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th innings with the score
remaining a 1-1 tie.
It was not until the 14th inning that his exhaustion cost him the game.
Billy Ashley, playing catcher for the first time ever, had a 1-out double
and Tony Batista followed that by doubling him home to end the game, and
give the Hogs a 2-1 win.
Munoz got the win with one of his best relief appearances of the season,
throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Today, Punxatawney finished their series against Calgary. It was a far less
exciting game, as Punxatawney went ahead 5-0 through 6 and held on to win
6-2. Curly Karkovice threw a great game allowing 2 runs on 8 hits, 2 walks,
and 4 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. The bullpen closed it out as Tim Worrell
got his second hold and Henry Neale notched his first save with on a
strikeout. Both Klesko and Berroa homered in the winning effort.
That win extended the team's current winning streak to 5 games. They now
play 3 at Richmond, a team playing just about .500 ball.
"We need to win at least two of those. We need to give ourselves breathing
room. Springfield is better than most people think, and we're really taking
them seriously now. It was a mistake that we didn't before," Shapiro said.
Stats 'n Stuff
Punxatawney currently boasts 6 players hitting over .280. Tony Batista is
having an amazing start to the year, hitting .309 with 21 doubles, 4
triples, 7 homers, 45 runs created, and 9 steals. Scott Rolen, the other
young infielder, is hitting .303 even with a significant injury, including 9
homers.
Catcher Dan Wilson is finally starting to hit like he should, batting .295
with 5 homers in 146 at bats, while Dave Martinez is helping to spark the
offense with a .289 average, 11 doubles, 6 homers, and 9 steals. Ryan
Klesko leads the team with 16 homers while Jose Valentin and Geronimo Berroa
each have 12. Alex Ochoa leads the team with 11 steals and is hitting .263
while fellow rightfielder Roberto Kelly is batting .281. Either will be
hard to get out of the lineup when Giambi returns from injury.
The rotation is currently occupied by 5 pitchers with ERA's no worse than
3.11. Sean Bergman has a miniscule 1.34 ERA while Coppinger has a
team-leading 8 wins. Jon Lieber is the "worst" of the group with a 5-3
record and a 3.11 ERA. Mike Hampton has been brilliant in the pen and as a
starter, boasting a 3-0 record and 2.35 ERA. Same goes for rookie Curly
Karkovice, who after 19 appearances and 3 starts has a 1-1 record and 2.70
ERA.
