Mustangs' ace shuts down Tribe

By Cody Pastorella
The Port Arthur News

May 17, 2008 01:44 am

— MONT BELVIEU - Port Neches-Groves senior pitcher Eric Harrington had some struggles with the mound in the early innings of the Indians 2-1 loss to Lamar Consolidated on Friday night at Barber's Hill High School.
Harrington was very impressive but for the first three innings, he had problems with his landing foot.
PN-G head coach Jay Stone said his ace was slipping as he tried to land.
It seems like a small problem. It was just a small problem. It was a problem Harrington adjusted to. However, it was a problem that fit the kind of night PN-G had - bad luck and no timing.
The bad luck started in the second inning when Raul Renovato took a full swing at a 1-2 pitch from Harrington. Renovato caught the slightest piece of the pitch, tapping the ball slowly down the third base line as if he was trying to bunt.
Renovato reached on the in-field single.
Following the hit, Harrington nicked the shirt of Ryan Haas on a 1-2 count to put runners at first and second.
Then with one out, Cameron Blinka doubled in Renovato for the 1-0 lead.
Randal Grichuk made the score 2-0 in the third when he blasted a shot over the left field wall for his 16th homer of the season.
PN-G would not go without a fight, however.
The Tribe, which fell to 23-6 with the loss, plated an unearned run in the fifth inning to cut the game to 2-1. Then, in the top of the seventh, Mitch Todd drew a walk off Brady Rodgers. Rodgers was the winning pitcher on the night. He surrendered just three hits, allowed one run, struck out six and walked just two.
After the walk, Todd was replaced by Nathan Minshew at first base. Minshew moved to second after a sacrifice bunt from Jacob Lynch. But with Minshew at second and one out, neither Jerin Spikes or Chris Sweetenham could drive in the tying run.
Spikes popped up to first base while trying to check his swing. Then Sweetenham was punched out with Rodgers' sixth K of the night, ending the game.
Rodgers, a sophomore, has 116 strikeout victims to just 12 walks this season.
With the win, he is 12-1 on the year.
Harrington, meanwhile, suffered his first loss and falls to 8-1 on the season. He allowed two earned runs on six hits in six innings.
After the third, however, Harrington allowed only one hit. He also picked up all five of his strike outs after the third inning, including four in his final two innings.
With the loss, PN-G will need to win back-to-back games today in order to advance to the fifth round of the playoffs. Game 2 is set to start at 2 p.m. at Barber's Hill High School. If necessary, Game 3 will follow the second game.
"We just didn't come up with the timely hits tonight," Stone said. "We had a few opportunities and we didn't capitalize."
The Tribe left four runners at second base.
"It was just two great pitchers getting after it tonight. They (Lamar) just had a couple key hits there at the beginning. That was the difference," said Stone.
Hunter Denzlinger scored the Indians only run of the night. He was running for Todd, who singled down the third-base line to start the fifth inning. Denzlinger reached second base on a sacrifice bunt from Lynch.
Then another bit of bad luck struck the Indians when Renovato snagged a line-shot from Spikes at first base. After making the diving save, Renovato got to his feet and hustled over to first for the unassisted putout.
Had that ball gone through the infield, Spikes might have reached second and scored Denzlinger with just one out. Instead, Denzlinger moved to third with two down.
The lone break the Tribe got all night came on the ensuing play when Brandon Hollek bobbled a ball at shortstop, giving
Sweetenham enough time to reach first on the error and allowing Denzlinger to score.
Kane Benoit and Spikes were the other two Indians to hit Rodgers. Benoit singled to lead off the second inning but was forced out at second base on a fielder's choice. Todd tried to get a bunt down to move Benoit over but the bunt went right back to Rodgers, who easily fielded and fired to second.
Then, when trying to break up the double play, Benoit slid into the bag a little too late and a little too hard, which caused the umpires to rule Todd out at first because of runner interference.
Spikes singled to lead off the third but like the second inning, the Indians could not manage to get in a run. After Spikes, PN-G's next three batters went down in order.
"We're just going to have to put this game behind us," Stone said. "We're going to have to come out tomorrow and win two ball games. It's as simple as that."
Stone added that he did not know who his Game 2 starter will be. The Mustangs will likely go with Blinka, as he has been their No. 2 all season.
Although nothing is for certain, Benoit, Todd or Sweetenham are the likely candidates to start for the Tribe.