| The games at
Saturday's Western Big 6 Conference baseball twinbill between Alleman and hosting Rock
Island were nearly mirror images of each other. In the opener, the Pioneers jumped all over top Rock
Island pitcher Andrew Tarnow (3-1) to the tune of nine hits and seven runs in the first
two innings en route to an 8-5 victory.
The Rocks rode their late success
in game one to scoring five runs in the first two innings in the nightcap off Alleman
starter Jeremy Hauer (2-3). Rocky then had to hold on for a 6-3 victory as Alleman was
retired in the seventh inning with the tying run at the plate.
After two weeks of Big 6 play,
Rock Island (16-6) and Galesburg (14-4) are tied atop the league standings with 3-1
records. Alleman (14-6) and Moline (8-5) are a game back at 2-2.
Rock Island coach Andy Campbell
was content with the split and happy to be on top of the league race after two weeks.
``After that 7-0 deficit in the first two
innings, we didn't know what was going to happen,'' Campbell said. ``From the third inning
on, we really played good baseball. It wasn't that we played bad baseball those first two
innings, take your hat off to Alleman -- they smashed the ball.''
Which Alleman coach Chris Lemon
loved to see as his club knocked out nine of its dozen hits in the opening two frames of
the first game.
``My gosh, yes -- we have not jumped out on
a team like that in a long time and that was very encouraging,'' Lemon said.
Leadoff man Matt Ebner (2-for-4)
set the tone for the first game. After working Tarnow for eight pitches, he delivered the
ninth offering of the game for a double that opened the floodgates. Jeremy Hauer, winning
pitcher Nate Just, Dylan Cross (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) and Ryan McGinnis followed with singles,
the latter three knocking in runs. Ben DeRoo (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) and McGinnis then pulled
off a double-steal to plate the fourth run of the frame. Ebner, Cross and DeRoo then
delivered RBI singles in the second.
Just was unhittable in the first
three innings, gave up a scratch run in the fourth and then was touched for two runs each
in the sixth and seventh as he tired in a 100-plus pitch effort.
``I think the sixth and seventh innings of
the first game really fueled us into the second game and gave us something positive to
build on and gave us some positive reinforcement,'' Campbell said. ``Alleman was a
preseason conference favorite. Nate Just and Jeremy Hauer are great pitchers. As a coach,
you're never happy with a split, but we'll take it.''
Zach Norris carried Rocky's
offensive momentum into Game 2. He started the bottom of the first with a leadoff triple
and scored on a passed ball. He then delivered a three-run triple in the second and scored
on Zac Simpson's RBI grounder that resulted in an error.
While Rocky parlayed its five
hits in the nightcap into the seven runs, Alleman wasn't nearly as efficient with its
seven hits -- all off winning pitcher Bryant Loy (3-1), who got out of a pair of
bases-loaded jams as Alleman stranded 13 in Game 2.
Alleman's problem in those
threats was that most of the damage came with two outs ``and then we don't get the big
hit,'' Lemon said. ``Conversely, early in the game, they got the big hit with that
triple.''
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Moline Dispatch Publishing Company, L.L.C., All Rights Reserved
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