In the miracle comeback of 1999, the Punxatawney Groundhogs pummeled team
after team over one stretch, winning many games with double digit scoring
and wide margins of victory. The message they sent to open the 2000 season
was clear--they trounced their division rival Houston Hellraisers twice in a
row to open the PVBL's 4th season with a 2-0 record.
Great pitching and balaced hitting from the entire team led the way to
victory. Houston ace Pat Hentgen was no match for the Groundhogs offense in
the earlygoing. Dave Martinez opened the 2000 season with a walk and was
trotting his way around the bases moments later as Scott Rolen crushed hit
first homerun of the season, giving the Hogs a 2-0 lead even before an out
was made.
"It was a hell of a way to start the year," said Rolen, recently named as a
co-captain of the team. "We take it as a sign of things to come."
In the second inning, 9th hitter Robin Jennings added to that lead, blasting
a 3-run shot to right-center that scored Alex Ochoa and Dan Wilson.
Jennings, for the first time in his career, has been giving a starting job
that is his to lose.
"It was great for the team, but it was also great for me," said the Hogs'
left-fielder. "I have to keep pinching myself to believe that it's real."
While Houston did manage a run in the second, as Ron Gant walked and scored
on an Edgar Renteria double, they could muster no more against the strong
Groundhog pitchers. The win went to young ace Rocky Coppinger, who was wild
in his first outing of the year but only allowed 3 hits. He also walked 5
and struck out 7 in 6 innings.
"Yeah, it wasn't one of my best outings," said Coppinger, "but I kept the
ball moving around enough to keep them off guard."
The Hogs added two later runs, one coming on another Rolen homerun and the
other when Dan Wilson was driven in by Tony Batista. In addition, the
sometimes unreliable bullpen was dominant. Masato Yoshii, now pitching from
the pen, threw two scoreless innings before handing the ball over to mop-up
man Tim Worrell. Worrell tossed a 1-2-3 final inning, striking out Ron Gant
to close the game.
After opening the year with a dominating victory, the Groundhogs wanted to
follow it up with another win. This time, they sent Jon Lieber to the mound
against Houston's Mariano Rivera. The game opened as a pitchers duel, with
the score deadlocked at 1-1 through 6 innings. But a 6-run rally in the 7th
inning, led by a Jose Valentin homerun, knocked Rivera out of the game and
gave the Hogs a convincing lead. They added 3 more in the 8th inning,
winning by a 10-1 score.
Jose Valentin led the way, going 2-5 with 2 homeruns, driving in 4. Masato
Yoshii took the win, as Lieber only lasted 4 innings. Worrell, Yoshii,
Bobby Munoz, and Scott Ruffcorn combined to throw the final 5 innings while
allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5.
"Jon threw a lot of pitches in those 4 innings, and we didn't see a need to
get him in trouble this early in the season," said Shapiro. "I also wanted
to show the bullpen that I believe they are capable of being the best in the
league."
Punxatawney has already left Houston on a plane bound for home. They will
face the 2-0 Springfield Atoms in a 3-game set before welcoming the Tampa
Bay Mets to town. Springfield barely edged the Mets twice, winning 2-1 and
4-2 in extra innings.
"Hell, its a great way to open the year. How could it get much better?"
said Jose Valentin. "It was tough taking the field without Ryan [Klesko]
there, but once Scott hit that blast we just coasted from there."
STATS 'N STUFF
What makes the offensive outburst even more amazing is how it compares to
the rest of the league. Only the 3-0 Phoenix Gila Monsters have a better
team batting average in the DL. The Hogs have scored almost twice as many
runs as any other team--only Phoenix, who has played 1 more game, has scored
more runs. And while the offense has been better than most of the league, t
he team has allowed only 2 runs in 2 games.
Leading the Hogs so far has been the left side of the infield, Scott Rolen
and Jose Valentin. Rolen is 4-9 with 2 homers and 5 RBI while Valentin has
2 homers and 4 RBI. In addition, the bullpen has thrown 8 scoreless innings
already.
"Houston likes to call their place a hitters park, but they certainly didn't
hit today," said Shapiro. "We didn't seem to have much trouble. Maybe its
not the park."
In other news, the Punxatawney scouting staff got the results of a league
report which included scouting on their recent draftees Karim Garcia, A.J.
Hinch, and Terry Jones.
Garcia, the first player taken by the Hogs, certainly looks like he was
worth the pick. Most scouts say that he'll be able to develop a decent
batting eye with time, and, as expected, noted that he has very good
potential to turn into a powerhitter.
Hinch, however, was quite a surprise to many scouts. While Shapiro figured
he'd potentially be a decent power source off the bench, most scouts
analyzed his swing and think that he may turn into a true threat.
The other rookie draftee, Terry Jones, is not expected to ever make a huge
impact. He may be a useful backup like John Cangelosi, but nothing more.
"We think we did a great job with this draft," said Shapiro. "If you look
at what we ended up with and where we picked, I definetly think our trade
with New Orleans will help out team in the long run."
He was referring to the trade where the Hogs sent pitching prospect Charlie
Bunker to the New Orleans Saints (now the Vampires) for the 20th and 27th
picks of round 1, along with prospect Bobby Astacio. The trade ended up
bringing Karim Garcia and A.J. Hinch to the Hogs through the draft.
