The final week of fall practice is underway and I was able to
catch Tuesday's intra-squad game. Here are some notes :
* The team spilt up into two squads and played a seven-inning
game. The team A lineup was as follows: Sam Fuld (CF),
Andy Topham (SS), Chris O'Riordan (2B), Ryan Garko (C), Arik
VanZandt (1B), Billy Paganetti (1B), Andrew Cleary (DH).
Team B's lineup was: Danny Putnam (CF), Jonny Ash (2B), Brian
Hall (3B), Carlos Quentin (RF), Chris Carter (1B), Donny Lucy
(C), Tobin Swope (SS), Scott Dragicevich (DH).
* Team B defeated Team A by the score of 5-3 behind a solid
pitching performance by Drew Ehrlich and some clutch hitting from
Brian Hall. Ehrlich dominated this afternoon tossing six
very quality innings. The sophomore righthander gave up six
hits, two runs (one earned), walked none, and struck out
two. He was in complete control, constantly firing in
first-pitch strikes and was very efficient. He didn't give
up a run until the sixth inning and had three perfect 1-2-3
frames. Topham (0-for-3 versus Ehrlich), O'Riordan (0-for-3),
Garko (1-for-3), and Paganetti (0-for-3) all had very little
success against Ehrlich.
* The hitting stars of the victorious Team B included Brian
Hall, Chris Carter, and Donny Lucy. Hall continued his
torrid hitting this fall with an impressive 4-for-4
performance. Two of those hits were doubles while he also
drove in three runs. Chris Carter (2-for-3) and Donny Lucy
(2-for-3) also had multi-hit games. Carter come the closest
to hitting one out when he hit a double off the very top of the
wall in right center.
* Team A got a solid performance from Sam Fuld. The
speedy centerfielder had three of his team's seven hits on the
afternoon. Arik VanZandt was the only other player with a
multi-hit game (2-for-3, double). Team A trailed 5-2
heading into the seventh inning but mounted a rally against new
pitcher Mike O'Banion. With two outs, VanZandt walked,
Paganetti singled and Cleary walked to load the bases. Fuld
then stepped up and drew a walk to bring home the team's third
run of the game. With the tying run at second, O'Banion
settled down and got Topham to fly out to center and end the
game.
* Freshman Mark Jecmen started on the hill for Team A.
Jecmen went only two innings yielding three runs and three walks
while striking out one. The 6'8" righthander despite
getting hit around some today appears to have very good
stuff. He throws hard and has got a nasty curve ball.
When facing Brian Hall, he froze Hall with two consecutive curves
for strikes then tried to sneak in a fastball only to have Hall
belt it off the wall in left-center. He's got good stuff,
just needs to be more consistent. Jonny Dyer threw the
final four innings and gave up only two runs. He didn't
strike out anyone, but did a good job of throwing strikes and
letting his fielder's do the work.
* Fall Practice concludes this week as the team continues to
get ready for the 2002 season. I'll have a Fall Ball recap
early next week.