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Nothing is a given in baseball.
The Hannibal Cavemen lost to the Springfield Sliders 7-3 at Clemens Field on Wednesday. This gives Springfield its fifth win of the season and its first win in four tries against Hannibal.
Springfield currently sits in last place in the Prospect League West. The Sliders are 12 back. The Cavemen, at three and a half back, are in second place.
Hannibal manager Jay Hemond said the struggles started early.
“We spotted them the three runs in that first inning and we battled back,” Hemond said. “You give a team three runs, it’s going to hurt you and it did tonight.”
The first inning started with the Sliders plating three runs and the Cavemen committing three errors. The errors came from starting pitcher Mark Himmelberg (6 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and shortstop Ray Fuentes (2-4 1 RBI) had two.
Himmelberg said he felt like he pitched a good game, but the throw he made to first was an unfortunate error.
Hannibal couldn’t answer back in the first inning, but the second inning saw the team come back and tie the score up at three a piece. Designated hitter Nick Rountree (1-4 2 RBI 1 R) made his season debut Wednesday and in his first at-bat in his second season of play with the Cavemen, Rountree hit a two RBI double. Rountree would go on to score on a Fuentes single.
“It would have been nice to get the win,” Rountree said. “It’s been a stressful couple of days getting everything set up and ready to play again. It’s been a blast and all of the guys have been great.”
Rountree said coming up big in his first at-bat felt good.
“I’ve been coaching 13 year olds for something to do in June, you know, earn a little money,” Rountree said. “I’ve been seeing 60-mile-per-hour lob balls out there. I get out to BP (batting practice) earlier and it seemed like Jay was throwing like 100-miles-per-hour. It seemed so fast. I was just hoping to put a barrell on some balls today and luckily one fell in for two RBI.”
Hemond said he was glad to have Rountree back on the squad.
“He’s a good bat,” Hemond said. “He was second on our team in RBIs last year and he is a great defensive catcher, we got to work him back into that and make sure he is 100 percent healthy before he gets catching time, but it is nice to have his bat around.”
Springfield was held hitless over the third and fourth innings, and Hannibal scored a catcher Michael Tucker (1-4 1 K) single as well as a right fielder Trey Lang (2-4 1 R) in the third while Fuentes hit a single in the fourth. Neither team would score a run during this frame.
The scoring resumed in the fifth when Mike Fitzgerald (2-5 2 RBI 1 K) hit a two-out, two-RBI double to put the Sliders ahead 5-3. Hannibal first baseman Jeff Zimmerman (1-4) tried to get the Cavemen offense back on the board with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning, but the Cavemen did not answer back.
The fifth inning was also the last inning Hannibal would be able to hit Springfield starter Brandon Koeningsten (9 IP 9 H 3 R 3 ER 3 K). This was Koeningsten’s second consecutive complete game.
Himmelberg said the team fought despite the loss.
“I don’t think this team has any quit,” Himmelberg said. “We battled, we had a tough first inning, balls didn’t bounce our way.”
The pitcher added that the team did well to answer back in the second inning, he just wanted to be able to keep the Sliders from scoring additional runs.
The seventh inning saw Springfield add another run, with a hit from catcher Jeremy Shay (0-3 2 BB) off of relief pitcher Randal Meyer (1.1 IP 1 BB 1 K) with the run attributed to relief pitcher James Coon (.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 K). Springfield finished off the scoring with a home run from third baseman Cody Coffman (3-5 3 R 2 RBI) off of relifer pitcher Coklin Nguyen (1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER).
The game marked the return of another player as well — left fielder Matt Burton (0-4), who was day-to-day with a strained quadricept.
“He’s an all-star from last year,” Hemond said. “It’s nice to have options now as well. You can play with the bench a little bit and you can get guys in-and-out, keep them rested and have a well-rounded lineup out there every day.”
The Cavemen now look to play against the first place Quincy Gems at 6:35 p.m. tonight at Clemens Field.
Nothing is a given in baseball.
The Hannibal Cavemen lost to the Springfield Sliders 7-3 at Clemens Field on Wednesday. This gives Springfield its fifth win of the season and its first win in four tries against Hannibal.
Springfield currently sits in last place in the Prospect League West. The Sliders are 12 back. The Cavemen, at three and a half back, are in second place.
Hannibal manager Jay Hemond said the struggles started early.
“We spotted them the three runs in that first inning and we battled back,” Hemond said. “You give a team three runs, it’s going to hurt you and it did tonight.”
The first inning started with the Sliders plating three runs and the Cavemen committing three errors. The errors came from starting pitcher Mark Himmelberg (6 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and shortstop Ray Fuentes (2-4 1 RBI) had two.
Himmelberg said he felt like he pitched a good game, but the throw he made to first was an unfortunate error.
Hannibal couldn’t answer back in the first inning, but the second inning saw the team come back and tie the score up at three a piece. Designated hitter Nick Rountree (1-4 2 RBI 1 R) made his season debut Wednesday and in his first at-bat in his second season of play with the Cavemen, Rountree hit a two RBI double. Rountree would go on to score on a Fuentes single.
“It would have been nice to get the win,” Rountree said. “It’s been a stressful couple of days getting everything set up and ready to play again. It’s been a blast and all of the guys have been great.”
Rountree said coming up big in his first at-bat felt good.
“I’ve been coaching 13 year olds for something to do in June, you know, earn a little money,” Rountree said. “I’ve been seeing 60-mile-per-hour lob balls out there. I get out to BP (batting practice) earlier and it seemed like Jay was throwing like 100-miles-per-hour. It seemed so fast. I was just hoping to put a barrell on some balls today and luckily one fell in for two RBI.”
Hemond said he was glad to have Rountree back on the squad.
“He’s a good bat,” Hemond said. “He was second on our team in RBIs last year and he is a great defensive catcher, we got to work him back into that and make sure he is 100 percent healthy before he gets catching time, but it is nice to have his bat around.”
Springfield was held hitless over the third and fourth innings, and Hannibal scored a catcher Michael Tucker (1-4 1 K) single as well as a right fielder Trey Lang (2-4 1 R) in the third while Fuentes hit a single in the fourth. Neither team would score a run during this frame.
The scoring resumed in the fifth when Mike Fitzgerald (2-5 2 RBI 1 K) hit a two-out, two-RBI double to put the Sliders ahead 5-3. Hannibal first baseman Jeff Zimmerman (1-4) tried to get the Cavemen offense back on the board with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning, but the Cavemen did not answer back.
The fifth inning was also the last inning Hannibal would be able to hit Springfield starter Brandon Koeningsten (9 IP 9 H 3 R 3 ER 3 K). This was Koeningsten’s second consecutive complete game.
Himmelberg said the team fought despite the loss.
“I don’t think this team has any quit,” Himmelberg said. “We battled, we had a tough first inning, balls didn’t bounce our way.”
The pitcher added that the team did well to answer back in the second inning, he just wanted to be able to keep the Sliders from scoring additional runs.
The seventh inning saw Springfield add another run, with a hit from catcher Jeremy Shay (0-3 2 BB) off of relief pitcher Randal Meyer (1.1 IP 1 BB 1 K) with the run attributed to relief pitcher James Coon (.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 K). Springfield finished off the scoring with a home run from third baseman Cody Coffman (3-5 3 R 2 RBI) off of relifer pitcher Coklin Nguyen (1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER).
The game marked the return of another player as well — left fielder Matt Burton (0-4), who was day-to-day with a strained quadricept.
“He’s an all-star from last year,” Hemond said. “It’s nice to have options now as well. You can play with the bench a little bit and you can get guys in-and-out, keep them rested and have a well-rounded lineup out there every day.”
The Cavemen now look to play against the first place Quincy Gems at 6:35 p.m. tonight at Clemens Field.
