• Home
• Cards News
• Game Day Central
• Roster
• Coaching Staff
• Sounds of the Game
• Clinics
• Volunteer
• Alumni
• Contact

Ollie Linton came within inches of making an unbelievable game saving catch

Resumed Game Results In Another One-Run Loss

The Cardinals lose another extra-inning game, by one-run again

July 10, 2007

By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Hyannis, Massachusetts – It has been one of those stretches for the Orleans Cardinals who just can’t seem to buy a break these days.  Resuming a game that was delayed on Friday in Hyannis, the Cardinals and the Mets started from the bottom of the fourth inning today with Orleans holding a 3-1 lead.  A bloop single fell in for Hyannis with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and the Mets went on to win it in the 12^th.  It was the third game that the Cardinals have lost in extra innings this season and the seventh loss for Orleans in their past nine games.

The 3-1 lead for Orleans carried over from last week’s game when SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) broke a 1-1 tie in the top half of the fourth with a two-run shot.  After a Cardinals victory over the Mets last night back in Orleans, the Cards appeared to have a significant amount of momentum heading into today’s contest.

RHP Clayton Shunick (NC State) began the resumed game and did not get off to the start that he was hoping for.  After inheriting a runner on second base from Friday, Shunick threw 17 pitches and walked two batters in the bottom of the fourth, He bounced back to strike out Hyannis 2B Patrick Long (Georgia Tech) to get out of the bases loaded jam.

The Wolfpack righty struggled in the fifth, as well.  Hyannis RF Joey Gonzalez (UC Riverside) lined a pitch to left-field to get the inning started with a base-hit.  Shunick then hit LF Phil Bell (UAB) with a pitch and 1B Shane Peterson (Long Beach St.) placed a bunt single down the first-base line to load the bases with nobody out. 

That was when Clayton finally settled down and started to pitch like the pitcher the Cardinals have seen the past two summers.  Shunick forced 3B James Darnell (S. Carolina) to ground into a double play and struck CF Dan Brewer (Bradley) out to end the inning with only one run across for Hyannis and Orleans still holding a 3-2 lead.

The bats struggled for the Cardinals but Shunick cruised, picking up 12 consecutive outs before the next Met reached base.  The 3-2 Orleans lead carried into the ninth inning when Hyannis began to threaten again.

With one out, Long drove a pitch to deep center-field that bounced off the bottom of the fence, just behind CF Ollie Linton (UC Irvine).

“Defensively we should have probably had Ollie a little bit deeper and take away that double,” Pitching Coach Chris Beck said after the game.

The double put the tying run in scoring position for Hyannis and put the Cardinals dugout on the edge of their seats hoping that Shunick would get out of it unscathed.  Shunick retired Gonzales on a great pitch to sit the outfielder down looking for the second out of the inning.  Hyannis, down to their final out, sent Bell to the plate looking for some heroics.

They got exactly that, as Bell hit a pitch off of the end of the bat that blooped into center-field, just inches in front of the speedy Linton.  The hit scored Long and tied the game at three runs apiece.

“I thought I had a good jump but it was a long run and I just missed it.  It kind of flattened us out a bit and you saw that with our bats.  We tried to get back up from it but we just couldn’t,” Linton said.

Flattened them, it did.  The only hit Orleans managed in extra innings was a bunt single laid down by Linton himself.  Linton did advance to second when LF Jon Gaston (Arizona) followed him with a walk.  That brought up the ever so dangerous Cardinals RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) who leads the league in extra-base hits and is tied for the lead in RBIs.  Raben stung a ball to the right side of the field but hit it right at first-baseman Peterson to end the opportunity.

In the bottom half of the 12^th, Hyannis led the inning off with a base-hit by Gonzales.  A sacrifice bunt moved him over to second and two batters later, Darnell lined a ball into right-field to score Gonzales and win the game for the Mets.

“I think overall it was just frustrating that we couldn’t get anything going offensively.  We didn’t execute very well.  We didn’t get runners in scoring position and then when we did we just didn’t get them in,” Coach Beck said.

The loss is the fifth one-run loss suffered by the Cards in their past nine games.  Things will not get easier for Orleans either as they head to face the top team on the Cape tomorrow in Yarmouth-Dennis.

“We’re close. We’re just finding ways to lose games here in the end.  We have to find a little fight in us and get us going,” Beck said.  “We can’t panic or try to re-invent things or do things differently. You tell your players that eventually those bloop hits fall in for you, too,” he added.

RHP Michael Schwimer (Virginia) will start tomorrow's game in Y-D for the Cardinals.  He is a perfect 2-0 on the season and looks to get a win for Orleans that they desperately need.  Yarmouth-Dennis leads the Eastern Division with a record of 16-5-1.  The last time the teams met, Orleans lost to Y-D on the road in 12 innings, 4-3.

W – Garrett Sherrill (Appalachian State), 2-1

L – Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt), 1-3

SV – None