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Wynn Pelzer was injured in the Cardinals game tonight

Pelzer Injured, Cardinals Lose To A's Again

Cardinals lose to Chatham in eight innings, 8-4

July 4, 2007

By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Orleans, Massachusetts – Despite a quick start, the Cardinals lost to Chatham for the third time this season tonight in a rain-shortened game by a score of 8-4.  The game featured a rain delay, lots of defensive miscues from Orleans, and an injury to one of the Cardinals’ best pitchers.

The Cards wasted no time in jumping on the Athletics.  2B Alden Carrithers (UCLA) and RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) both walked in the first inning.  With one out and two on, 1B Nate Freiman (Duke) came through with a base-hit to score both runners and give the Cardinals a two-run lead.

RHP Wynn Pelzer (S. Carolina) made his third start of the season tonight and wasn’t as sharp as normal.  He ran into some trouble in the third inning when Chatham lead-off man CF Addison Johnson (Clemson) hit an infield single and Pelzer walked the next two batters to load the bases.  The next batter, LF Sean O’Brien (Virginia Tech) hit a ground ball but in the Cardinals’ attempt to turn two, they failed to record an out at first or second and a run scored.  A base-hit brought in another Chatham run when 1B Allan Dykstra (Wake Forest) came to the plate with a tie game and the bases loaded.

Dykstra lined a pitch right back at Pelzer, hitting the Cardinals right-hander directly on his left leg.  Pelzer fell to the ground in pain but recovered enough to pick the ball up and toss it to first for the second out.  That play gave the Athletics the lead but that was the last thing on the mind of the Cardinals faithful.  Pelzer was slow to get up but after seeking medical attention, he attempted to throw a practice pitch off the mound.  While throwing the pitch, he fell to the ground in pain after he could not land on his left leg.  The game was stopped for several minutes as Pelzer was helped off the field.

“That’s a bad injury he suffered.  I don’t know all the details but the game becomes irrelevant when something like that happens,” Manager Kelly Nicholson said after the game.

Things continued to get worse for Orleans after Pelzer’s injury.  An error by 3B Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) and a single by Chatham 2B Kyle Seager (UNC) set the stage for a three-run bomb hit by C Gregg Glime (Baylor) to left-field.  The home-run gave Chatham a 6-2 lead and put the Cardinals in a deep hole.

Orleans began to chip away during their next trip to the plate.  In the bottom half of the fifth, back-to-back walks drawn by C Hampton Tignor (Florida) and Carrithers led to a RBI opportunity for Raben.  The Miami Hurricane crushed a pitch to deep left-center.  The ball landed at the foot of the fence nearly 400 feet away from the plate as Raben coasted into second standing up.  The double scored both Cardinals on-base and cut Chatham's lead in half.

The game was stopped for ten minutes prior to the start of the eighth inning for a rain delay.  When it was resumed, RHP Jason Novak (UCLA) returned to the mound for his second inning of work.  An error by SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) did not start things off on the right foot for the Cardinals; but, he made a superb play a few batters later when he back-handed a ball and threw a Chatham runner out at the plate for the second out of the inning.  The next two Athletics batters singled, however, and drove in two more runs to put Orleans behind by four runs again.

The game was called after the end of the eighth inning because of more rain with Chatham still ahead 8-4. Chatham LHP Mitch Houck (C. Florida) was credited with the win.  It was the first win of the season for the standout from Cypress Bay HS in Weston, FL.

“We didn’t pitch well.  We walked too many guys and didn’t play well defensively.  Like I’ve said all season, it’s pitching and defense.  If we would have pitched better and played better defense, the game might have had a different result. You’re not going to win when you walk seven or eight guys and make defensive miscues and give up five unearned runs against a team as good as Chatham,” Coach Nicholson said.

The numbers for a team that is normally sound defensively and has the best pitching staff on the Cape were quite startling.  The three Cardinals pitchers combined to walk nine guys in only eight innings tonight.  Orleans made three errors and those errors accounted for five unearned runs.

As for Pelzer, his stay with the Orleans Cardinals is over. The injury was serious enough to send Pelzer home to South Carolina. Without Pelzer on the squad, Coach Nicholson said that RHP Clayton Shunick (NC State) would likely join the starting rotation again.  He was moved to the bullpen with the arrival of fellow Wolfpack LHP Eric Surkamp (NC State).  The Cardinals would also likely pick up RHP Kyle Kamppi (Ga. Southern) whom was just released from his temporary contract yesterday.  Kamppi was 1-0 with the Cardinals and had not allowed a run in 10.1 innings out of the bullpen.

Orleans will head to Cotuit tomorrow afternoon for a 5:00pm start.  The Cardinals lost to the Kettleers this past Sunday in Orleans by a score of 1-0.  The starting pitcher for Orleans will be RHP Michael Schwimer (Virginia).  Schwimer is 2-0 on the year and has not allowed a run in the 10.0 innings he has pitched.

W – Mitch Houck (UCF), 1-0

L – Wynn Pelzer (S. Carolina), 1-2

SV – Alex White (UNC), 1