Cardinals Come Just Short In 12 Inning Thriller
Orleans can't hang on to lead, wind up falling to 1st place Red Sox in extra innings
June 30, 2007
By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals
Intern
South Yarmouth, Massachusetts – In a game with four lead changes, two game-winning runners tagged out at the plate, and many strange plays, the Cardinals failed to come out on top, losing 4-3 in 12 innings to the Eastern Division leading Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. The crazy game ended on the brink of darkness at a field without lights in South Yarmouth. The Cards were one out away from having the game declared a tie and picking up another point in the standings but came up just short.
RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) started things out for the team with his fourth home run of the season. His solo shot came in the fourth and gave Orleans a 1-0 lead.
“He hung a changeup over the plate and I just got the barrel on it,” Raben said as he described his home run.
LHP Craig Bennigson (California) was cruising until he found himself in some trouble in the bottom half of the fifth. After walking the lead-off batter and giving up a base-hit, he had two runners on with one out. That was when Bennigson, usually solid with his command, started to become a little wild. He threw three wild pitches while facing the next three batters. Those miscues moved the two runners all the way around the horn and in to score. Yarmouth-Dennis ended the inning with a 2-1 lead.
Bennigson left the game after the sixth inning with a rather impressive line. Pitching six innings for the Cards, he allowed only four hits. Bennigson walked three and gave up two earned runs in his final two innings, though, as his pitch count climbed up to 90.
The Cardinals had a big opportunity in the top half of the sixth when 2B Alden Carrithers (UCLA) got things going. Carrithers hustled out a routine groundball and slid safely into first base as the throw was wide of the bag. A single to right from LF Eric Reese (Fordham) and a walk by Raben loaded the bases up with nobody down. Red Sox RHP Eddie Burns (Georgia Tech) proceeded to strike out 1B Jose Jimenez (Tampa) for the first out. That was when Sox C Buster Posey (Florida State) made a momentum changing play when he threw behind Carrithers at third base and nailed him for the second out of the inning. Burns struck out DH Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) looking, and ended the threat for the Cardinals as they continued to trail, 2-1.
Carrithers would soon redeem himself. With runners on the corners and two outs in the seventh, Carrithers lined a pitch into the gap in right-center. The hit scored 3B Mark Sobolewski (Miami, FL), sent a runner to third, and tied the game at two. LF Eric Reese (Fordham) continued the rally with a bunt-single down the third base line that scored pinch runner Jon Gaston (Arizona). The two-run inning gave the Cardinals the momentum, and the lead back, 3-2.
Things were going well for Orleans until an extremely odd play in the eighth inning changed the momentum, yet again. After SS Grant Green (USC) doubled off of relief RHP Jason Novak (UCLA), Novak attempted to pick him off. The ball bounced off of Green’s helmet as he dove back into second base and ricocheted into right-center field. It carried far enough into the outfield for Green to come around and tie the contest for the third time.
In a game of giant momentum swings, the Cardinals found a way to swing it back their way one more time. Yarmouth-Dennis had a runner on first with two down in the bottom of the ninth when LF Joey Railey (San Francisco) lined a pitch just inside first-base and into right field. The Red Sox waved pinch runner Matt Long (Santa Clara) around third as Raben came up throwing. Raben’s throw one-hopped to the plate as C Hampton Tignor (Florida) blocked Long from sliding in and tagged him out to keep the game going.
“As outfielders we are playing deep in that situation with a guy on first. We’re trying to stop anything from getting to the fence. A lefty hooked one down the line and I knew I might get a shot to get him at home so I got to it as quick as I could and I made an accurate throw,” Raben said.
The Cardinals could not capitalize on the great defense, however, and the game entered the bottom of the 12th inning still tied at three as darkness began to loom. A single and a walk issued by Cardinals RHP Sam Brown (NC State) put two runners on for the Red Sox. Posey followed with a sacrifice bunt to send the winning run to third. Orleans decided to intentionally walk 2B Gordon Beckham (Georgia) and load the bases.
The next batter, RF Johnny Ayers (Boston College) laid down a squeeze bunt right in front of the plate. With the speedy Railey racing in from third, Tignor fielded the bunt and lunged at Railey, barely tagging him for the second out and again keeping the game alive for the Cards. The drama came to an end, though, when the next batter, 3B Nick Romero (San Diego St.) lined a pitch into center-field that scored Green from third and won the game for the Red Sox.
“We had the bases loaded with nobody out and couldn’t get a run across. Two of the runs they got came from balls getting away from the catcher and the third was on the pickoff so that was three of their four runs. Their pitchers did a good job, though. Tip your hat to those guys, they did a good job on the mound,” Manager Kelly Nicholson said after the frustrating loss.
One of those pitchers that Nicholson spoke of was RHP Nick Cassavechia (Baylor). Cassavechia threw 3.1 innings between the seventh and tenth innings and frustrated Cardinals hitters with his low release point. The Cards managed only two hits off of the righty from the Big XII conference and never threatened to score.
The other outstanding pitcher from the Y-D bullpen was RHP Shawn Sanford (South Florida). Sanford replaced Cassavechia in the 11th and struck out five of the six Cardinal hitters he faced. His perfect two innings earned him his first win of the season.
With their four-game winning streak snapped in a tough loss tonight, Orleans will look to bounce back from its tough loss tomorrow afternoon when they host the Cotuit Kettleers. The game will not be played in their usual home time slot but will be played instead at 5:00pm. The Cardinals will send LHP Pat McAnaney (Virginia) to the mound for the third time this season. McAnaney is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in his previous two starts.
WP – Shawn Sanford (S. Florida), 1-0
LP – Sam Brown (NC State), 0-1
SV – None
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