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A variety of items from the Taco Bell menu may not be the healthiest meal for athletes before a game, but for Cavemen first basemen Jeff Zimmerman, the south of the border flavors seemed to do the trick.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder from Northern Illinois University belted two key doubles in Hannibal’s matchup against the DeKalb County Liners Saturday night to give the Cavemen a 4-3 win in front of more than 1,000 fans packed into historic Clemens Field.
“First one was off a change up, up in the zone and the second one was a curveball,” Zimmerman said. “I (was) seeing the ball really well today.”
Along with Zimmerman, starting pitcher James Coon also had a stellar outing, improving from his last home start that displayed lack of focus and inconsistent pitch location.
“I was able to throw strikes on a much more consistent basis, so that helped,” Coon, a student at Culver-Stockton College, said.
Coon shut the Liners down in order to start off the game. An unassisted play by Zimmerman at first, a flyout to Kyle Haen in left and a ground out to Ray Fuentes at short sent the Cavemen into the bottom of the first, where they would have a very productive offensive start.
Haen, who continues to contribute to the team in every way possible, led off the inning with a single and made his way to third after he stole second and DeKalb’s Alex Klonowski committed an error at shortstop.
“That’s (Haen’s) game, and I love that,” Hannibal Manager Jay Hemond said. “He’ll give up his body for the team and find some way of doing something to help the club.”
Coon was also appreciative of his teammate’s efforts.
“He’s just making highlight reel after highlight reel out there,” the starting pitcher said.
C.K. Irby, the Caveman DH for the game, flew out to second and Matt Burton brought Haen in when he captured a base hit in his first at-bat of the night.
Another scoreless inning for Coon in the second once again kept Hannibal’s defensive time on the field short in the top of the second.
Coon struckout two batters and walked one before he got Steven Scoby to flyout to centerfield.
And then it was time for a huge bottom of the second.
Zimmerman led off the inning with a smash to centerfield that landed on the on the warning track.
“He’s a good hitter,” Hemond said. “He’s the MAC freshman of the year, he made the Louisville all-freshman team, so obviously it’s not a fluke when he hits the ball like that. It’s just nice to see when he does it.”
Right fielder Trey Lang followed with a walk and then both runners advanced on a fielders choice by Alan Cheatham to third base. Second baseman Jake Mangler followed with a fielders choice of his own to third, allowing Zimmerman to score and give the Cavemen a 2-0 lead. Lang finished the game with only one official at-bat in four plate appearances while Cheatham finished the game with two at-bats in four plate appearances. Mangler had a two-RBI day going 1-for-3.
Hannibal’s only rut of the game was the top of the third inning when they gave up two runs on three hits.
Coon struggled to hit his targets and with many of the DeKalb players waiting on pitches, the Liners were able to draw two walks that extended the inning and tied up the game at two.
DeKalb catcher Joe Battaglia led off the inning with a walk, but was quickly eliminated from the base path when Coon picked him off first base. The Hannibal hurler followed with a strikeout of Liners second baseman Andy Lennington and then the up-hill battle began.
Coon gave up a walk and three consecutive base hits before striking out Pat Dockendorf to end the top half of the inning.
“(The game) got away from me a little bit and then I just took a step off the mound and refocused,” Coon said, “pretty much just cut everything that happened in the past, added a new memory and started fresh.”
And that he did.
Coon rebounded by ending the inning on a strikeout and when he came back out in the top of the fourth, shut the Liners down in order for the second time.
“We thought he was kind of rushing toward the plate in his first game,” Hemond said. “I don’t know if it was excitement or if he had gotten a little out of whack with his mechanics. Got that straightened away and he threw a lot better today.”
Meanwhile on the offensive side, DeKalb kept the Cavemen scoreless and hitless from the bottom of the third to the bottom of the fifth.
Liners starting pitcher Collin Taylor struckout the sides when he shutdown Haen, Irby, and Burton in order and only allowed Hannibal to have two base runners over the next three innings. Lang reached on an error by Taylor in the fourth and was stranded at third and Haen reached scoring position after he walked and stole his second base for the second time in the game.
In the DeKalb half of the fifth, the Liners broke the 2-2 tie when Klonowski singled in Alex Beckman, who also reached on a base hit, and put the Liners up 3-2.
Little did DeKalb know that a Hannibal takeover was forthcoming.
Coon only gave up two hits and kept the Liners scoreless in the top of the sixth before the heart of the Cavemen lineup came to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
After Burton struckout looking for the second time, Hannibal catcher Michael Tucker followed with triple to left field.
That brought Zimmerman back up to the plate.
He grounded out to second in his second at-bat, but that was with the bases empty. It was now “Zim’s” time to contribute and send home “Tuck” to tie the game.
With an opposite field smash to left, Zimmerman came through again. Scoby and Beckman couldn’t get to the ball in time and Zimmerman sailed into second base with his third double of the season and tied the game up at three.
But he wasn’t done there.
Zimmerman advanced to third on a fielders choice to second by Lang and then scored the go-ahead, winning run when Mangler knocked in a single.
“I don’t think it was anything special, just another team effort for another win,” Zimmerman humbly said in the Hannibal clubhouse after the game. “We’re sitting great right now, we’re in a great position and we always want to keep things going the way we are right now.”
The recaptured lead by the Cavemen allowed Coon to hold onto his status as the pitcher of record when Hemond went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh inning.
Fresh off a postseason run with his comrades at Lee University, Dustin Lawson has joined up with the Cavemen and made his first appearance on the mound as the team’s first reliever of the night.
Lawson gave up no hits and two walks in his one inning of work, big A.J. Martin followed in the top of the eighth and only gave up one hit with two strikeouts, then Irby stepped out of the DH role and came on the mound in the ninth to close out the game and capture the save.
Coon finished the night giving up three runs, eight hits and three walks while striking out six in six innings pitched. The win puts his ERA at .338 on the year.
The win also keeps the Cavemen in a close battle for the Prospect League’s Western Division.
Hannibal improves to 6-2 on the year and is one game back of the Quincy Gems who defeated the Danville Dans Saturday night 10-3.
The Cavemen have the day off Sunday while DeKalb County travels to Quincy for a Sunday matchup. If Quincy loses the game, the Cavemen will be a half-game back of their cross-state rivals.
Hannibal returns to the field Monday to face the DuBois County Bombers. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
A variety of items from the Taco Bell menu may not be the healthiest meal for athletes before a game, but for Cavemen first basemen Jeff Zimmerman, the south of the border flavors seemed to do the trick.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder from Northern Illinois University belted two key doubles in Hannibal’s matchup against the DeKalb County Liners Saturday night to give the Cavemen a 4-3 win in front of more than 1,000 fans packed into historic Clemens Field.
“First one was off a change up, up in the zone and the second one was a curveball,” Zimmerman said. “I (was) seeing the ball really well today.”
Along with Zimmerman, starting pitcher James Coon also had a stellar outing, improving from his last home start that displayed lack of focus and inconsistent pitch location.
“I was able to throw strikes on a much more consistent basis, so that helped,” Coon, a student at Culver-Stockton College, said.
Coon shut the Liners down in order to start off the game. An unassisted play by Zimmerman at first, a flyout to Kyle Haen in left and a ground out to Ray Fuentes at short sent the Cavemen into the bottom of the first, where they would have a very productive offensive start.
Haen, who continues to contribute to the team in every way possible, led off the inning with a single and made his way to third after he stole second and DeKalb’s Alex Klonowski committed an error at shortstop.
“That’s (Haen’s) game, and I love that,” Hannibal Manager Jay Hemond said. “He’ll give up his body for the team and find some way of doing something to help the club.”
Coon was also appreciative of his teammate’s efforts.
“He’s just making highlight reel after highlight reel out there,” the starting pitcher said.
C.K. Irby, the Caveman DH for the game, flew out to second and Matt Burton brought Haen in when he captured a base hit in his first at-bat of the night.
Another scoreless inning for Coon in the second once again kept Hannibal’s defensive time on the field short in the top of the second.
Coon struckout two batters and walked one before he got Steven Scoby to flyout to centerfield.
And then it was time for a huge bottom of the second.
Zimmerman led off the inning with a smash to centerfield that landed on the on the warning track.
“He’s a good hitter,” Hemond said. “He’s the MAC freshman of the year, he made the Louisville all-freshman team, so obviously it’s not a fluke when he hits the ball like that. It’s just nice to see when he does it.”
Right fielder Trey Lang followed with a walk and then both runners advanced on a fielders choice by Alan Cheatham to third base. Second baseman Jake Mangler followed with a fielders choice of his own to third, allowing Zimmerman to score and give the Cavemen a 2-0 lead. Lang finished the game with only one official at-bat in four plate appearances while Cheatham finished the game with two at-bats in four plate appearances. Mangler had a two-RBI day going 1-for-3.
Hannibal’s only rut of the game was the top of the third inning when they gave up two runs on three hits.
Coon struggled to hit his targets and with many of the DeKalb players waiting on pitches, the Liners were able to draw two walks that extended the inning and tied up the game at two.
DeKalb catcher Joe Battaglia led off the inning with a walk, but was quickly eliminated from the base path when Coon picked him off first base. The Hannibal hurler followed with a strikeout of Liners second baseman Andy Lennington and then the up-hill battle began.
Coon gave up a walk and three consecutive base hits before striking out Pat Dockendorf to end the top half of the inning.
“(The game) got away from me a little bit and then I just took a step off the mound and refocused,” Coon said, “pretty much just cut everything that happened in the past, added a new memory and started fresh.”
And that he did.
Coon rebounded by ending the inning on a strikeout and when he came back out in the top of the fourth, shut the Liners down in order for the second time.
“We thought he was kind of rushing toward the plate in his first game,” Hemond said. “I don’t know if it was excitement or if he had gotten a little out of whack with his mechanics. Got that straightened away and he threw a lot better today.”
Meanwhile on the offensive side, DeKalb kept the Cavemen scoreless and hitless from the bottom of the third to the bottom of the fifth.
Liners starting pitcher Collin Taylor struckout the sides when he shutdown Haen, Irby, and Burton in order and only allowed Hannibal to have two base runners over the next three innings. Lang reached on an error by Taylor in the fourth and was stranded at third and Haen reached scoring position after he walked and stole his second base for the second time in the game.
In the DeKalb half of the fifth, the Liners broke the 2-2 tie when Klonowski singled in Alex Beckman, who also reached on a base hit, and put the Liners up 3-2.
Little did DeKalb know that a Hannibal takeover was forthcoming.
Coon only gave up two hits and kept the Liners scoreless in the top of the sixth before the heart of the Cavemen lineup came to the plate in the bottom of the inning.
After Burton struckout looking for the second time, Hannibal catcher Michael Tucker followed with triple to left field.
That brought Zimmerman back up to the plate.
He grounded out to second in his second at-bat, but that was with the bases empty. It was now “Zim’s” time to contribute and send home “Tuck” to tie the game.
With an opposite field smash to left, Zimmerman came through again. Scoby and Beckman couldn’t get to the ball in time and Zimmerman sailed into second base with his third double of the season and tied the game up at three.
But he wasn’t done there.
Zimmerman advanced to third on a fielders choice to second by Lang and then scored the go-ahead, winning run when Mangler knocked in a single.
“I don’t think it was anything special, just another team effort for another win,” Zimmerman humbly said in the Hannibal clubhouse after the game. “We’re sitting great right now, we’re in a great position and we always want to keep things going the way we are right now.”
The recaptured lead by the Cavemen allowed Coon to hold onto his status as the pitcher of record when Hemond went to the bullpen in the top of the seventh inning.
Fresh off a postseason run with his comrades at Lee University, Dustin Lawson has joined up with the Cavemen and made his first appearance on the mound as the team’s first reliever of the night.
Lawson gave up no hits and two walks in his one inning of work, big A.J. Martin followed in the top of the eighth and only gave up one hit with two strikeouts, then Irby stepped out of the DH role and came on the mound in the ninth to close out the game and capture the save.
Coon finished the night giving up three runs, eight hits and three walks while striking out six in six innings pitched. The win puts his ERA at .338 on the year.
The win also keeps the Cavemen in a close battle for the Prospect League’s Western Division.
Hannibal improves to 6-2 on the year and is one game back of the Quincy Gems who defeated the Danville Dans Saturday night 10-3.
The Cavemen have the day off Sunday while DeKalb County travels to Quincy for a Sunday matchup. If Quincy loses the game, the Cavemen will be a half-game back of their cross-state rivals.
Hannibal returns to the field Monday to face the DuBois County Bombers. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
