CUP O' JO: Thursday, May 14th

Two PTown Area Pros have big night:

JONNY GOMES (OF, AAA Louisville Bats, Cincinnati Reds Organization):

Gomes received his American League Championship ring from Rays President Stuart Steinberg last night and went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored in a 4-3 loss to his old club, the Durham Bulls.  People sometimes ask if Joe Dillon, a 1990 something Cardinal Newman grad, is still around.  He was recently traded by the A's to the Rays and is playing 3B for the Durham Bulls.  I've always wondered if his dad is the Joe Dillon I worked for at Firemans Fund a decade ago.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (IF, AA Midland Rockhounds, Oakland Athletics Organization)
Tommy blasted a 3 run homer off the left field foul pole in the 4th last night to give the Rockhounds a lead they held onto the rest of the night.  Another hit in the 5th drove in two more runs for a 5 rbi night.  Here's the complete story: Everidge's Three Run Homer The Difference.


 13 Inning Marathon On 5/13 Unlucky For The Gauchos

What a game. 13 innings and a tough loss for the Gauchos after a hard fought pitchers' duel. Fortunately, one that shouldn't matter too much in the scheme of things as the SCL Tourney really only influences seeding for the Northern California Section playoffs.  PollyAnna chooses to think that a one run 13 inning game can't hurt the Gauchos' position much, if at all. 

The Dragons fire breathing pitcher, Ben Graff, went 11 innings last night giving up 6 hits and notching 15 strikeouts before Nate Swanson took the mound for the final three innings.  Graff retrieved his arm from somewhere in Sonoma Plaza after throwing just under 150 pitches.  Pretty efficient, but woo... That's a herculean hurlin' effort.

Scott Harkin went 9 innings.  He gave up 4 hits, but a few of those may go down officially as something else ;-)  He fanned 8 batters and walked 3.  Spencer Finkbohner took the mound for the final 4 innings and cruised through the 10th and 11th with 5 strikeouts before Sonoma, the visiting team, finally pushed one across in the top of the 13th. Steven Filippi, who led the league with a .482 average this season, got on base for the second time with a one out drive to center.  Graff struck out for the second out and Rose, the Sonoma catcher, laced an 0-2 pitch up the middle moving Fillippi into scoring position.  On a steal attempt, Rose was caught in a rundown and Filippi scored from third on a play that many will rewind several times to see if it was a run scored or actually the third out.

The bottom third of the order was due up for the Gauchos in the 13th, but the crowd had witnessed lead off hitter RJ Busse, a freshman call-up from the JV team, lace a sharp two strike gounder into the left center gap to start the 11th as a pinch hitter.  The shot sparked a rally and Busse nearly beat out a two out ground out by Sean Purtell which would have won the game. In the 13th, Busse worked a full count for a walk.  Cardona struck out, but Matt Gallo drove a ball to right for his third hit of the night to put runners at the corners.  Coach Maytorena sent Busse but the throw beat him by inches.  Beaudry tried to get it going again with two outs and one on, but couldn't push Gallo across, striking out to end the marathon game.

On the bright side, the Pearls of Wisdom live blog worked out pretty well.  Looks like the iPhone can Twitter about 20 innings if need be during the NCS Playoffs.  God forbid.

Let's go Gauchos.  Bring the Bling.