News
RedHawks Drop Exhibition Opener 3-2 By Terry Hersom
SIOUX CITY – Scoring 28 runs in two games against college teams may have been fun, but the Sioux City Explorers knew the runs would be tougher to come by once they started facing some of their fellow professional clubs.
Indeed, the runs weren’t easily recorded for either team on a cold and breezy Friday night at Lewis and Clark Park, where the X’s rallied in the ninth-inning for a 3-2 exhibition win over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, a former Northern League rival.
T.J. Bohn’s RBI double off the base of the wall in right-center capped a two-run ninth for Sioux City, which mustered just three hits in the contest, all in the final two innings.
“It felt good to square up on a ball just because it was so cold out and you really feel it if you don’t (hit the ball square) in this weather,’’ said Bohn, a veteran outfielder who has reached the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
On a night when temperatures dipped into the low 40’s and a stiff breeze howled over the left-field wall from the north, the X’s were held hitless for seven innings after one-sided wins over Briar Cliff (10-1) and Mount Marty (18-0) in their two previous preseason starts.
“I’m not worried about the hitting, it was just a rough day, the weather’s tough,’’ said X’s Manager Les Lancaster, whose team will put its 3-0 exhibition mark on the line a 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon at Huron, S.D., facing their I-29 rivals from Sioux Falls.
Weather permitting, it will be the team’s first encounter with an American Association opponent and their last game before heading south to El Paso, where they’ll play an exhibition Tuesday and then open the regular season Thursday night.
Lancaster’s team dodged several early bullets as the RedHawks squandered five hits and two walks in the first four innings against Sioux City starter David Trahan, who wriggled out of three different jams with help from seven strikeouts. Dustin Jones, one of just two holdovers in the X’s lineup, manufactured the game’s first run after drawing a four-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Jones, fifth in the Association with 32 stolen bases last season, stole second as backup catcher Kole Zimmerman’s throw nailed pitcher J.J. Pacella in the back of the head.
Then, with 30-year-old veteran Casey Hoorelbeke taking over for the wounded Pacella, Jones stole third and then scooted home on a wild pitch by Hoorelbeke, whose 33-year-old brother, Jesse, is the the Hawks’ new slugging first baseman.
Fargo-Moorhead responded with an unearned run in the eighth after loading the bases on Eddy DeLaCruz with help from an infield error. Kevin Clark’s sky-high pop fly was ruled an out on the infield fly rule, but the Hawks’ base runners were in motion and were awarded a tying run after third baseman Jared Keel failed to make the catch, fielding the ball on one hop.
In the ninth, Brett Reid, returning for his third season as the Sioux City closer, surrendered a go-ahead run to the Hawks, yielding a double by Jay Cox and an RBI single by Jesse Hoorelbeke.
However, an infield miscue let Jeff Hughes reach to lead off the home half of the ninth and ultimately led to two runs off Fargo’s sixth pitcher, Donnie Smith.
Stantrel Smith’s infield single and a sacrifice by Jones put runners at second and third before Jon Owings’ infield grounder tied the game 2-2. Then came the slicing liner by Bohn. |
Browse by Month »
November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 December 2008 November 2008 September 2008 |
