Short(ish) & sweet today, as the day job looms. A stirring debut from a very promising youngster, and the Jays' affiliates went 4-1 overall but Pulaski will get most of the ink.
Syracuse off
The SkyChiefs (and the whole IL) enjoyed a day of rest. They are in Indianapolis tonight to start a four-game set. Glenn Williams was named an IL All-Star. Congratulations, Glenn, from Batter's Box!
New Hampshire 13 Bowie 2
Scoreline says it all as the Fisher Cats scored six in the first and waltzed. Anton French went 3-for-4 with a homer, a stolen base and two walks, and catcher Victor Valencia had three walks and a single in five trips. Todd Ozias went seven strong innings, allowing seven hits and two runs. The Cats were helped by six errors from Bowie. They remain five games behind Binghamton in the Northern Division.
Boxscore
Game Story
Palm Beach 7 Dunedin 1
The D-Jays aren't the first folks to get fleeced in Palm Beach. The Cardinals won thanks to four runs in the first inning off Neomar Flores, but of Flores's five runs, only two were earned as Dunedin made two errors (Roberts and Tablado; Roberts was also caught stealing). Carlo Cota and Jason Waugh had two hits each.
Boxscore
Short Story
Charleston 11 Hickory 2
The Alley Cats left it until late, but they did it in style, scoring 8 runs in the ninth inning to wallop Hickory. Reliever Joaquin Canizal picked up the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief; leadoff hitter and shortstop William Rivera went 4-for-5 with a homer and a HBP. Centerfielder David Smith went 0-for-1 but reached base four times and scored two runs thanks to two walks and two HBP.
Charleston are 2-0 in the second half of the Sally League season.
Boxscore
Game Story
Auburn 7 Williamsport 6
Another win for the Doubledays, who still trail Batavia by a game in the Pinckney Division. Vinny Esposito hit two doubles and walked in five trips to the plate, scoring three times; Adam Lind went 2-for-3 with a walk as well. Jeremy Harper struggled as the starter, giving up six runs and only striking out one in his five innings of work; Matthew Dalton pitched three innings of shutout ball in relief to earn a well-deserved win and Dewon Day nailed down the save with a hitless 9th.
Box favourite Chip Cannon? 1-for-3 with a walk and his 3rd RBI of the campaign... the game-winner!
Boxscore
Game Story
Pulaski 7 Princeton 5
Just as the big team did, the P-Jays enjoyed a stirring come-from-behind win over the Devil Rays. The Princeton Devil Rays, in this case. Pulaski actually allowed four runs in the 8th off reliever Scott Roy (and partially thanks to an error from SS Eugenio Velez) to trail 5-4, but came back with three of their own in the 9th on a three-run homer by Luke Hetherington before Michael Rider slammed the door in the 9th.
The real story here, though, was the professional debut of the much-heralded Chi-Hung Cheng, who struck out nine Devil Rays in five innings, though he made an error that led to an unearned run to blot his copybook. His final line of 5 3 1 0 1 9 is extremely promising. I'd like to figure out why he's listed as 24 years old rather than 19, though. Any ideas? Just an error, I think, as the most recent story out of Pulaski refers to him as 19.
Rider struck out three himself, and recent signee Adrian Martin struck out three as well in two scoreless and hitless innings of relief. A total of 15 Pulaski punchouts.
On the offensive side, Hetherington (3-for-5) and Nick Thomas hit home runs and Eugenio Velez went 3-for-4 with two doubles.
Roanoke.com has an article about the P-Jays.
Boxscore
The Three Stars
3rd Star : New Hampshire LF Anton French with a line of 4 3 3 4, a homer and also two walks.
2nd Star : Pulaski starter Chi-Hung Cheng with a line of 5 3 1 0 1 9 in his professional debut.
1st Star : Pulaski LF Luke Hetherington, because when you hit a three-run homer in the ninth to lead your team to a come-from-behind win, you get the first star. Hetherington's line was 5 2 3 3.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040624094253999