Rock
Island walks
all over MaroonsIf Rock Island baseball coach Andy Campbell remains concerned, imagine how
Moline coach Derek Lindauer feels with both baseball teams heading into this weekend's
start to Western Big 6 Conference play.
Campbell's Rocks batted around twice Wednesday,
pounding out five doubles among 11 hits in a 14-7 nonconference victory over Lindauer's
Maroons at Rocky.
However, on a sun-kissed but terribly gusty day,
the pitching staffs combined for 16 walks, three hit batsmen, six wild pitches and two
balks. The teams also totalled five errors.
Surprisingly, most of that bad mojo came from the
Rocks, who take a 10-1 record into a single game today at United Township. Moline's
three-time defending league champs look to improve upon a 3-4 start in a doubleheader
today at East Peoria.
``We issued 10 walks, hit two guys and had three
errors. That's giving somebody a lot of baserunners; that's asking for a lot of trouble,''
Campbell said after his club overcame 1-0 and 3-2 deficits by pushing across six runs in
the second inning and five more in the third.
``When the big (conference) games roll around, it
will be tough to get away with that stuff. But, I guess that's why we split our season up
into three parts -- the preseason before conference, the conference season and then the
postseason.
``We haven't peaked yet, and don't want to be
peaking right now. It's kind of good to know there's still a lot of little things we have
to work on.''
Lindauer was far from comforted by that fact
after his hitters registered more strikeouts (6) than hits (5).
``We've got some guys right now that just don't
know the strike zone or appreciate any of the intricacies of the game,'' the Moline coach
said. ``We have a lot of talent, and I know we're going to get better. It's just
frustrating right now. A lot of juniors are being forced to learn on the run. We're just
so young. But being young is over come Saturday.''
That's when the conference season starts, with
Moline at United Township and Quincy visiting Rock Island. The doubleheaders each begin at
11 a.m.
Rock Island appeared most ready at the plate for
the Big 6 to start. All but one Rock in the lineup had at least one hit.
Jacob Meisenbach and Clayton George each drove in
three runs in the middle of Rocky's lineup. Jake Vroman added two RBIs, and scored two
runs in a 2-for-3 day hitting out of the No. 2 hole.
Both of Vroman's hits were doubles. George
(2-for-3), Meisenbach (1-for-3) and Jason Amble (1-for-3) had Rocky's other two-baggers.
Pitcher Tom DeBroeck (2-0) benefitted from the
big day, settling down after a rocky start to go five innings for the win. Chris Watters
fanned five in two innings of relief.
Moline gamely avoided the 10-run rule in the top
of the fifth, thanks to a two-run, two-out, two-strike double by Brent Anderson, who went
2-for-2.
Copyright 2002, Moline Dispatch
Publishing Co. |
