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Chase d'Arnaud goes yard and wins it for the Cards

Big Hit? No Problem For Chase d'Arnaud On A Grand Night

Chase d'Arnaud's eighth inning grand slam broke a 6-6 tie

July 12, 2007

By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Cotuit, Massachusetts – For over a week, Manager Kelly Nicholson has spoke about a lack of timely hits.  The coach held a team meeting this afternoon and Hitting Coach Robb Gorr talked about being more aggressive and swinging at good pitches early in counts.  The meeting seemed to spark the Cardinals as they finally started to drive in some runners in during important situations and defeated Cotuit, 10-6.

“We talked today about handling the adversity that we have gone through in the last ten games.  The guys did a great job.  They stayed poised, had a good approach at the plate, and had a good result,” Coach Nicholson said.

After surrendering a 6-1 lead and allowing Cotuit to tie the game at six, it felt as though the Cardinals were going to fall on the wrong side of a one-run game yet again.  However, the poise that the Cardinals hitters were seeking was finally displayed in the top of the eighth inning.  It all changed with the bases loaded and one out when 3B Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) delivered the big hit the Cardinals have been needing all week.  Facing an 0-1 count, d'Arnaud turned on a slider, launching the ball over the left-field fence and sending the Cardinals dugout into an excited frenzy.  The grand slam not only gave Orleans a 10-6 lead, but finally started to turn around a frustrating week and a half for this Cardinals team.

“The pitch was a slider high and in.  I just reacted to it. I haven’t shown that I can hit off-speed pitches so far this summer; but, I know that I can and I’ve always felt that things are going to come around for me,” the Pepperdine third-baseman said.

The Cards stranded eight runners in the first three innings and were down 1-0 early but broke out to score three in the fifth.  DH Jose Jimenez (Tampa) and SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) hit back-to-back doubles to drive in LF Jon Gaston (Arizona) and Jimenez, respectively.  C Hampton Tignor (Florida) chipped in, as well, scoring Crawford with an RBI-single for the third run of the inning.

Orleans busted the floodgates open the following inning when 1B Nate Freiman (Duke) hit a three-run shot off of RHP Josh Lindblom (Purdue) to give the Cards a 6-1 lead.  The home run was Freiman’s first of the season and drove in Jimenez and Gaston, the second time both of them had scored in the game.

“The guy struck me out last time with a curve ball so I moved up in the box to try and take that away.  I fouled off a fastball and then he threw me one over the plate a little bit away and I saw it well.  Jose and Dennis Raben got on base just before me and that helped out a lot,” Freiman said.

LHP Will Atwood (S. Carolina) made his first start of the summer tonight and pitched brilliantly.  Earning the win after throwing five innings, Atwood gave up five hits and only walked one while striking out three and allowing only one run.  He left the game with the Cardinals cruising and ahead of Cotuit 6-1.

“Will Atwood was an all-star in this league last year so we expected a good performance out of him.  He’s a left-handed strike thrower with a good change.  He’s mature and he knows how to pitch.  I was a little surprised that he threw as strong as he did through five innings because he hadn’t gone that long and he did a good job,” Coach Nicholson said.

RHP Jason Novak (UCLA) relieved Atwood and continued the Cardinals’ pitching success.  Crawford had trouble with a couple of balls hit his way with one out in the bottom of the sixth but Novak worked his way out of the jam by forcing Kettleers C Robert Stock (USC) to ground-out and struck out CF Curtis Dupart (Georgia Tech) out to end the inning.

Novak could not work his way out of a jam in the seventh, however, and Cotuit jumped right back into the game.  Two Kettleer singles were followed by a three-run homer by 2B Tony Delmonico (Florida State) over the left-field fence.  Novak could not find the strike-zone after the home run and was pulled after walking the next two hitters.  He left the game with a 6-4 lead.

RHP Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt) relieved Novak and struggled.  After fielding a ball from the bat of RF Jonathan Pigott (Florida), Christiani tried a back-handed flip home to nab a sliding LF Ryne White (Purdue) but the ball was over Tignor’s head and all runners moved up a base.  A bunt by C Robert Stock (USC) brought in SS Reese Havens (S. Carolina) to tie the game at 6-6.

“I thought we had good guys in the pen.  Novak hadn’t been out there in awhile and I think he was a little bit rusty as a result.  Our guys stayed real poised and under control and did a good job to get out of the inning,” Coach Nicholson said.

Searching for something to spark a rally, RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) and Freiman each singled with one out in the eighth.  A wild pitch sent the runners to second and third and Cotuit Manager Mike Roberts decided to issue a free pass to the hot-hitting Crawford.  That loaded the bases up for the heroics of d’Arnaud, who belted a pitch from RHP Garrett Richards (Oklahoma) over the left-field fence for a grand slam to give Orleans a 10-6 lead.

Christiani continued to pitch and shut Cotuit down in the eighth and ninth innings to give Orleans the kind of win they have needed. 

“We needed this as a team.  We’re going to build on this and score a lot of runs in the next couple nights,” Freiman said.

Despite only winning two of their last ten games, the Cardinals entered the game only four points behind Brewster for second place in the Eastern Division.  With a Whitecaps win tonight, the Cards are still two games out of a playoff position but have the momentum building to make a run.

Orleans will have a chance to shake up the standings this weekend as they play host to both Brewster and the Eastern Division-leading Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. LHP Craig Bennigson (California) will make the start for the Cards (12-12-0) against the Whitecaps tomorrow night.  The game starts at 7:00pm at Eldredge Park in Orleans.

WP – Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt), 2-3

LP – Garrett Richards (Oklahoma), 1-1

SV – None