Game Recaps: 6/14

On Saturday, INF Michael Aubrey was placed on the disabled list retroactive to June 12. With the roster room, Buffalo promoted C Michael Valadez from Single-A Lake County.

INDIANS SIGN INF LONNIE CHISENHALL
FIRST ROUND SELECTION OF 2008 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT

The Pitt (NC) Junior College Product Selected 29th Overall by the Indians CLEVELAND, OH --- The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed INF LONNIE CHISENHALL, the 29th overall pick of the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

Chisenhall, 19, spent the 2008 school year at Pitt Junior College in Greenville, NC where he hit .410 (68-166) with 27 doubles, 8 homers and 66 RBI for the Bulldogs, who went 41-15 on the season and finished one win shy of qualifying for the NJCAA World Series. The Newport, NC native drew 38 walks and struck out just 8 times all season. Following the season the left-handed hitting infielder was a NJCAA All-District and First Team All-Region X All-Conference selection.

Chisenhall was the 11th round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006 out of West Carteret High School (NC) after batting .574 as a senior and earning Baseball America second team High School All-American honors. He played his freshman season for the University of South Carolina in 2007 (20 games, .313, 1HR, 13RBI) before enrolling at Pitt J.C. for the 2008 season.

The Indians have now signed 11 picks from the June 5-6 First-Year Player Draft, including 8 of the club’s first 14 selections.

Aeros Sweep Twin Bill From Portland
Akron Moves Into Tie For 1st with 10th Straight Win

AKRON, OH – The Aeros swept a doubleheader from the Sea Dogs Saturday night, winning their 10th straight game and moving into a virtual tie for first place in the Eastern League Southern Division thanks to Bowie’s 4-3 loss to Harrisburg. The Aeros finished last night’s suspended game with a 4-2 win, and pounded Portland in the seven-inning nightcap, 12-2. Akron improved to 39-26, while the Dogs fell to 37-30.

The Aeros came from behind in game one. The game left off Friday night with the Sea Dogs leading 1-0 and the bases loaded in the top of the third. Reid Santos – essentially making a start – struck out Andrew Pinckney and got John Otness to fly to right to escape the jam, though Portland made it 2-0 in the fifth on a sac fly by Jeff Corsatelli.

The Aeros tied it in the sixth when Wes Hodges walked with two outs and Bronson Sardinha followed with a booming home run on a 3-1 pitch into the bleachers in right. Akron played small ball to take control in the eighth inning. Trevor Crowe singled to center to lead off and Josh Rodriguez followed with a walk. Chris Gimenez moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt to bring the Eastern League’s RBI leader Wes Hodges to the plate. He knocked a single through the drawn-in left side for his 51st RBI. Sardinha followed with his third RBI on the night with a sacrifice fly to score Rodriguez.

J.D. Martin (5-3) earned the win, tossing 2.1 innings and allowing just one hit, a walk, and striking out two. Miguel Asencio (1-3) took the loss, allowing both runs in the eighth inning. Randy Newsom pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to grab his league-leading 19th save. Sardinha was 1-2 with three RBI and Hodges was the only Aero with multiple hits as Akron had just four in the game.

The Aeros took a 2-1 lead into the fourth inning of game two on RBI singles by Gimenez and Brandon Pinckney in the first and third innings. Akron broke the game open in the fourth with seven runs, helped by two errors and three walks in the inning. With one out, Crowe and Rodriguez walked, and Gimenez drove in Crowe with his second RBI of the night. Hodges singled to load the bases, and Sardinha knocked a potential double play ball to third, but Ryan Khoury threw the ball into right field, allowing Rodriguez and Gimenez to score. Goleski walked to re-load the bases and Pinckney followed with a chopper to third. Khoury, though, made his second error of the inning as he threw wildly past catcher Mark Wagner, allowing two more runs to score. Akron newcomer Damaso Espino capped the inning with a two-run single to left, giving Akron a 9-2 lead. The Aeros added three more in the fifth with on RBI hits by Goleski and Pinckney.

Frank Herrmann (6-3) picked up his team-leading sixth win, tossing six innings and allowing two runs on five hits, while walking none and striking out two. Wisconsin native Dave Gassner (0-1) took the loss after 3.1 innings of work, allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits. He walked three and did not record a strikeout. Four Aeros had at least two hits and Pinckney drove in three runs.

The Aeros will try to tie the franchise record winning streak of 11 games as they look for the sweep against Portland at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at Canal Park. Akron sends left-hander Ryan Edell (3-4, 4.52 ERA) to the hill against Portland southpaw Kris Johnson (3-3, 4.00 ERA). Sunday is Family Fun Pack Day at Canal Park with four tickets, four hot dogs, four bags of chips, and four sodas for $48, and fathers and children can play catch on the field prior to the game courtesy of Spike TV and Jeep. The game broadcast begins at 1:50 p.m. on SportsRadio 1350 AM and online at www.akronaeros.com.

CAPTAINS CLINCH NORTHERN DIVISION CROWN

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains defeated the Hagerstown Suns 7-3 on Saturday night to clinch the 1st half SAL Northern Division Championship. This is the first time since the inaugural season in 2003 that the Captains will make the play-offs. The Captains have been in 1st place in all but 10 days of the season and have had sole possession of first place since April 22nd.

The Captains got home runs by Roman Pena and Matt Brown and a two run triple from Mark Thompson to power the offense. Josh Judy upped his record to 7-0 pitching three scoreless, hitless innings.

The Divisional Championship Series is a best of three games format with the Captains hosting games on September 5th and 6th if necessary. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 PM. The Championship Series is a best of five games format with the Captains hosting games on September 11th at 7:05 PM and if necessary, September 12th & 13th at 7:05 PM.

Tickets are currently on sale and there will be no ticket price increase for the play offs as tickets will remain the same price as regular game tickets, $9 reserved seat, $7 bleachers, juniors, and seniors, $6 lawn. Lawn seats will only be sold once the reserved seats and bleachers are sold out. The $7 group rate will still apply to groups of 20 or more.

There is a limited amount of premium seating play off packages available as well. The 2008 CAPTAINS PLAYOFF PACK will include a reserved seat to each of the five games for only $30.00 per pack. Only 300 of these premium seating playoff packs will be sold guaranteeing the absolute best seats around full and partial season ticket holders. Individual ticket purchases will be outside of those reserved areas held for those who purchase the CAPTAINS PLAYOFF PACK.

The Captains and Hagerstown Suns will close out the first half with 1:05 PM game on Sunday. The Captains will send RHP Joey Mahalic (3-1, 4.80) to mound against the Suns Bradley Meyers (2-1, 6.48). The game can also be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

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