Aviators shoot down X's
By Steven Allspach - Journal sports writer | Posted: Friday, June 09, 2006
Posted from 06/08/06:
When you play in Texas, you better not fiddle with good fortune.
Take charge. Play lead.
Eventually, if you're the Coastal Bend Aviators out of Robstown, Texas, you have to quit flying by the seat of your pants and take advantage of a flighty performance by the other guys.
Such was the case Wednesday night when the Aviators shot down the Sioux City Explorers 6-3 in American Association baseball before a crowd of 1,244 at Lewis and Clark Park.
Coastal Bend, leading the South Division of the Association with a 17-8 record, took advantage of some shoddy X's defense at times and survived despite its starting pitcher Pedro Flores walking eight batters and offering 101 pitches in five innings.
The Avs also took advantage of the wildness of Sioux City starter Karsten Gaarder, who walked in two runs in the second inning when he issued four of his five free passes in six innings on the hill.
"I thought Gaarder pitched pretty well after he settled down after the second," said Sioux City Manager Ed Nottle. "He's had a couple of rough starts, but overall he threw pretty well.
"I maybe should have gone another inning with him, but you know me, I'm always second-guessing myself."
Speedy centerfielder Evan Tartgalia and Bryon Smith drew walks in the second to score Steve Morales and former Explorer Andy Wilson.
Wilson also drove in a run in the eighth with a ground out and Morales scored on a throwing error by second baseman Jason Carlson in the eighth. Matt Creighton also drove in a run in the seventh and Nick Connor collected an RBI with a ground out in the seventh.
"In defense of Carlson, we were in a bind and kind of threw him to the wolves, but he'll always give you everything he's got," said Nottle.
The Explorers loaded the bases in the first and second innings without scoring.
"Going into to the seventh we had three hits and you're not going to win games with that. Period," observed Nottle.
Timely hitting might have made a difference in the outcome.
"We seemed to have the right guy up there with runners in scoring position, but couldn't get the hit and we had our chances," said Nottle. "And, it looks like Coastal Bend is solid with their setup guy (Bryan Heaston) and closer (James Lira).
Heaston worked the eighth and Lira the ninth for his league-leading ninth save.
Mike Nunes (0-1), working in relief of Gaarder, absorbed the loss and Brian Litchfield (1-0) , who spelled Flores, earned the win.
The X's, now 13-12, got all three of their runs in the fifth.
Ryan Ruiz and Dan Meier walked and both scored, as did Robert Mendoza, on Ryan Gripp's three-run double over centerfielder Tartaglia's head in straightaway center.
Both teams put revised lineups on the field for the Wednesday game.
The Explorers released second baseman Julius Thames Wednesday for "conduct detrimental to the team" according to club officials.
Carlson, who had appeared in just 12 games and was batting .256 started at second.
Nottle also had to further adjust his lineup because outfielder Alex Llanos has returned to his home to attend to some personal family matters, making him unavailable until the first of a three-game series Friday in St. Joseph, Mo.
Kevin Henry started in right for the X's, Mike Richardson was catching and Chris Grossman was the designated hitter. Nottle had no other position players available.
To fill a void, Nottle said J.J. Burress, an infielder out of Newman University, would join the team today and start at shortstop with Mendoza shifting from short to second.
Meanwhile, Coastal Bend started Wilson Burwell at shortstop, replacing Jaime Landin. Landin suffered an ankle sprain during batting practice two hours before the game and was scratched.
He'll miss two games. Burwell, normally a third baseman, was making his first appearance at short this season.
X's and OH's: Coastal Bend's bus trip from its ballpark in Robstown, Texas (Corpus Christi suburb) to Sioux City, with a couple of rest stops, took 24 hours. The Avs play three games in Lincoln beginning Friday and returns to Texas immediately after the Sunday game with the Saltdogs....
Fans are urged to come to the park early tonight on KPTH's Birthday Bash Night....
Tom Lipari (3-1, 2.87 ERA) will be Sioux City's starting pitcher tonight in the final game of the series and Derrick Van Dusen (2-2, 4.60 ERA) will go for the Aviators....
In 53 games for Newman this past spring, Burress hit .370 with two homers and two RBIs. He led the team, which posted a 35-22 record, with 68 hits....
Carlson's two errors made it 15 straight games in which the X's have committed at least one error...
Sioux City's Dan Meier, the AA's best first baseman, made the defensive play of the game in the sixth when stabbed a line drive by Wilson, whirling 360 degrees at the same time to tag out Morales for an inning ending double play.
Coastal Bend 6, Sioux City 3
COSTAL BEND SIOUX CITY
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Tartaglia cf 2 0 1 1 Ruiz cf 3 1 0 0
Conner cf 2 0 0 1 Mendoza ss 4 1 0 0
Smith 1b 4 0 1 1 Meier 1b 3 1 1 0
Creighton 2b 4 0 1 1 Moreno lf 5 0 2 0
Ontiveros dh 4 0 0 0 Gripp 3b 4 0 1 3
Medina rf 5 1 2 0 Henry rf 2 0 0 0
Morales c 5 2 3 0 Grossman c 3 0 0 0
Wilson 3b 3 1 0 1 Richardson dh 3 0 0 0
Fryer lf 4 1 1 0 Carlson 2b 4 0 1 0
Burwell ss 3 1 1 0 Gaarder p 0 0 0 0
Flores p 0 0 0 0 Nunes p 0 0 0 0
Litchfield p 0 0 0 0 Howerton p 0 0 0 0
Heaston p 0 0 0 0
Lira p 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 6 10 5 Totals 31 3 5 3
Costal Bend 020 000 220 - 6
Sioux City 000 030 000 - 3
E - Wilson (6), Fryer (1), Burwell (10), Carlson 2 (2). DP - Costal Bend 2, Sioux City 1. LOB - Costal Bend 9, Sioux City 10. 2B - Meier (8), Gripp (8). SH - Mendoz. SB - Fryer (3). CS - Tartaglia (2).
IP H R ER BB SO
Costal Bend
Flores 5 3 3 3 8 2
Litchfield (W, 1-0) 2 2 0 0 0 2
Heaston 1 0 0 0 0 1
Lira (S, 9) 1 0 0 0 0 2
Sioux City
Gaarder 6 5 2 2 4 5
Nunes (L, 0-1) 1 4 4 3 1 1
John Howerton 2 1 0 0 1 0
WP - Howerton. PB - Grossman.
Time: 2:53. Attendance: 1,244.
When you play in Texas, you better not fiddle with good fortune.
Take charge. Play lead.
Eventually, if you're the Coastal Bend Aviators out of Robstown, Texas, you have to quit flying by the seat of your pants and take advantage of a flighty performance by the other guys.
Such was the case Wednesday night when the Aviators shot down the Sioux City Explorers 6-3 in American Association baseball before a crowd of 1,244 at Lewis and Clark Park.
Coastal Bend, leading the South Division of the Association with a 17-8 record, took advantage of some shoddy X's defense at times and survived despite its starting pitcher Pedro Flores walking eight batters and offering 101 pitches in five innings.
The Avs also took advantage of the wildness of Sioux City starter Karsten Gaarder, who walked in two runs in the second inning when he issued four of his five free passes in six innings on the hill.
"I thought Gaarder pitched pretty well after he settled down after the second," said Sioux City Manager Ed Nottle. "He's had a couple of rough starts, but overall he threw pretty well.
"I maybe should have gone another inning with him, but you know me, I'm always second-guessing myself."
Speedy centerfielder Evan Tartgalia and Bryon Smith drew walks in the second to score Steve Morales and former Explorer Andy Wilson.
Wilson also drove in a run in the eighth with a ground out and Morales scored on a throwing error by second baseman Jason Carlson in the eighth. Matt Creighton also drove in a run in the seventh and Nick Connor collected an RBI with a ground out in the seventh.
"In defense of Carlson, we were in a bind and kind of threw him to the wolves, but he'll always give you everything he's got," said Nottle.
The Explorers loaded the bases in the first and second innings without scoring.
"Going into to the seventh we had three hits and you're not going to win games with that. Period," observed Nottle.
Timely hitting might have made a difference in the outcome.
"We seemed to have the right guy up there with runners in scoring position, but couldn't get the hit and we had our chances," said Nottle. "And, it looks like Coastal Bend is solid with their setup guy (Bryan Heaston) and closer (James Lira).
Heaston worked the eighth and Lira the ninth for his league-leading ninth save.
Mike Nunes (0-1), working in relief of Gaarder, absorbed the loss and Brian Litchfield (1-0) , who spelled Flores, earned the win.
The X's, now 13-12, got all three of their runs in the fifth.
Ryan Ruiz and Dan Meier walked and both scored, as did Robert Mendoza, on Ryan Gripp's three-run double over centerfielder Tartaglia's head in straightaway center.
Both teams put revised lineups on the field for the Wednesday game.
The Explorers released second baseman Julius Thames Wednesday for "conduct detrimental to the team" according to club officials.
Carlson, who had appeared in just 12 games and was batting .256 started at second.
Nottle also had to further adjust his lineup because outfielder Alex Llanos has returned to his home to attend to some personal family matters, making him unavailable until the first of a three-game series Friday in St. Joseph, Mo.
Kevin Henry started in right for the X's, Mike Richardson was catching and Chris Grossman was the designated hitter. Nottle had no other position players available.
To fill a void, Nottle said J.J. Burress, an infielder out of Newman University, would join the team today and start at shortstop with Mendoza shifting from short to second.
Meanwhile, Coastal Bend started Wilson Burwell at shortstop, replacing Jaime Landin. Landin suffered an ankle sprain during batting practice two hours before the game and was scratched.
He'll miss two games. Burwell, normally a third baseman, was making his first appearance at short this season.
X's and OH's: Coastal Bend's bus trip from its ballpark in Robstown, Texas (Corpus Christi suburb) to Sioux City, with a couple of rest stops, took 24 hours. The Avs play three games in Lincoln beginning Friday and returns to Texas immediately after the Sunday game with the Saltdogs....
Fans are urged to come to the park early tonight on KPTH's Birthday Bash Night....
Tom Lipari (3-1, 2.87 ERA) will be Sioux City's starting pitcher tonight in the final game of the series and Derrick Van Dusen (2-2, 4.60 ERA) will go for the Aviators....
In 53 games for Newman this past spring, Burress hit .370 with two homers and two RBIs. He led the team, which posted a 35-22 record, with 68 hits....
Carlson's two errors made it 15 straight games in which the X's have committed at least one error...
Sioux City's Dan Meier, the AA's best first baseman, made the defensive play of the game in the sixth when stabbed a line drive by Wilson, whirling 360 degrees at the same time to tag out Morales for an inning ending double play.
Coastal Bend 6, Sioux City 3
COSTAL BEND SIOUX CITY
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Tartaglia cf 2 0 1 1 Ruiz cf 3 1 0 0
Conner cf 2 0 0 1 Mendoza ss 4 1 0 0
Smith 1b 4 0 1 1 Meier 1b 3 1 1 0
Creighton 2b 4 0 1 1 Moreno lf 5 0 2 0
Ontiveros dh 4 0 0 0 Gripp 3b 4 0 1 3
Medina rf 5 1 2 0 Henry rf 2 0 0 0
Morales c 5 2 3 0 Grossman c 3 0 0 0
Wilson 3b 3 1 0 1 Richardson dh 3 0 0 0
Fryer lf 4 1 1 0 Carlson 2b 4 0 1 0
Burwell ss 3 1 1 0 Gaarder p 0 0 0 0
Flores p 0 0 0 0 Nunes p 0 0 0 0
Litchfield p 0 0 0 0 Howerton p 0 0 0 0
Heaston p 0 0 0 0
Lira p 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 6 10 5 Totals 31 3 5 3
Costal Bend 020 000 220 - 6
Sioux City 000 030 000 - 3
E - Wilson (6), Fryer (1), Burwell (10), Carlson 2 (2). DP - Costal Bend 2, Sioux City 1. LOB - Costal Bend 9, Sioux City 10. 2B - Meier (8), Gripp (8). SH - Mendoz. SB - Fryer (3). CS - Tartaglia (2).
IP H R ER BB SO
Costal Bend
Flores 5 3 3 3 8 2
Litchfield (W, 1-0) 2 2 0 0 0 2
Heaston 1 0 0 0 0 1
Lira (S, 9) 1 0 0 0 0 2
Sioux City
Gaarder 6 5 2 2 4 5
Nunes (L, 0-1) 1 4 4 3 1 1
John Howerton 2 1 0 0 1 0
WP - Howerton. PB - Grossman.
Time: 2:53. Attendance: 1,244.
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