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For the fourth night in a row, the deciding factor was a lone run.
The Hannibal Cavemen fell on Friday to the Springfield Sliders by a score of 6-5. This marks the third straight loss for the Cavemen, with nine games left to play in the season.
Hannibal trails rival Quincy by three games in the division and is behind second-place Terre Haute and Springfield by two in the chase for a playoff spot.
Hannibal All-Star starting pitcher Mark Sappington said the loss had a lot to do with defense.
“We gave up at least three un-earned runs tonight, and if you want to win, especially down the stretch, you can’t do that,” Sappington said. “You can’t give teams like this extra outs. They’re fighting for their lives just like we are and we just have to do better than that.”
Sappington said he felt that he pitched well, and was complimentary of his bullpen.
“I was blowing by some guys. It was nice, but I still walked too many,” Sappington said. “I had Cody Parker come in and really pick me up in that sixth inning.”
The game started with Springfield going 1-2-3. Hannibal started the bottom of the first inning with Jake Mangler getting a hit, and advancing to second on a passed ball. All-star left fielder Matt Burton became the first out of the inning, and then first baseman Nick Rountree hit a single to move Mangler to third, setting up designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman.
Zimmerman was credited with a sacrifice, but left fielder Mike Fitzgerald ran into the railing allowing Rountree, Mangler and Zimmerman to score, making the game 3-0.
Fitzgerald was lifted and second baseman Cody Coffman was moved over to left field.
Catcher Michael Tucker was the second out of the inning. Right fielder Trey Lang hit a single after that, stole a base, and was hit in by center fielder Jake Hermsen. Third baseman C.K. Irby followed up by drawing a walk, but shortstop Ray Fuentes became the last out of the inning.
Hermsen said he felt he played well on the night, but would have liked to see the team put up more runs after the first inning.
Hannibal would score one more run over the rest of the game.
The score remained at 4-0 until the top of the third inning when center fielder Brad McKewon hit an RBI single for the Sliders. The Cavemen answered right back in the bottom of the same inning and scored another run, following a Ray Fuentes sacrifice to put the team up 5-1.
The fourth inning went by with neither team scoring a run, though the Cavemen did load the bases up with two outs, only for Hermsen to be the last out.
The fifth inning started with catcher Mike Wieland reaching after an error from Lang. Wieland advanced to second on the play. He would be advanced to third after a sacrifice. Shortstop Brandon Howard hit the second Sliders sacrifice of the inning to plate Wieland, to make the score 5-2. Coffman hit a single to knock in the next run.
Sappington walked the first two men in the top of the sixth inning and was replaced by reliever Cody Parker. Parker worked his way out of the inning.
Cavemen manager Jay Hemond said his starter pitched well for the most part.
“He pitched pretty well, a few base runners will come back to get you,” Hemond said. “He also had a bit of wildness, which caused his pitch count to go up a bit tonight.”
Sappington said the offense got the job done.
“Offense scored five runs for us,” Sappington said. “If we can’t win with five runs, we don’t deserve to win.”
This was Sappington’s last start of the regular season, the pitcher leaves tomorrow for a service trip to the Dominican Republic.
Sappington is looking forward to the trip.
“It should be a blast, baseball has helped me all of my life, so finally I have an opportunity to give back,” the pitcher said. “It’s a real blessing.”
He will be back on Aug. 6.
“If we make the playoffs, I will be able to start,” he said.
The Sliders scored one run in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The run in the seventh plated Howard after an error from Lang, the run in the eighth plated McKewon after an error by Fuentes, and the run in the ninth was after a sacrifice from Wieland. The Cavemen had runners at third in both the seventh and eighth, but went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Reliever A.J. Martin, who pitched the ninth inning, was thrown out of the game after yelling something at the umpire. The crowd seemed to be on the officiating crew all night.
Hemond acknowledged the crowd’s disapproval.
“Sometimes the fans can see pitches from behind the plate better than we can from the side,” Hemond said. “They seemed to disagree with quite a few.”
Hemond said the approach for tomorrow’s matchup with Quincy is simple.
“Win.”
For the fourth night in a row, the deciding factor was a lone run.
The Hannibal Cavemen fell on Friday to the Springfield Sliders by a score of 6-5. This marks the third straight loss for the Cavemen, with nine games left to play in the season.
Hannibal trails rival Quincy by three games in the division and is behind second-place Terre Haute and Springfield by two in the chase for a playoff spot.
Hannibal All-Star starting pitcher Mark Sappington said the loss had a lot to do with defense.
“We gave up at least three un-earned runs tonight, and if you want to win, especially down the stretch, you can’t do that,” Sappington said. “You can’t give teams like this extra outs. They’re fighting for their lives just like we are and we just have to do better than that.”
Sappington said he felt that he pitched well, and was complimentary of his bullpen.
“I was blowing by some guys. It was nice, but I still walked too many,” Sappington said. “I had Cody Parker come in and really pick me up in that sixth inning.”
The game started with Springfield going 1-2-3. Hannibal started the bottom of the first inning with Jake Mangler getting a hit, and advancing to second on a passed ball. All-star left fielder Matt Burton became the first out of the inning, and then first baseman Nick Rountree hit a single to move Mangler to third, setting up designated hitter Jeff Zimmerman.
Zimmerman was credited with a sacrifice, but left fielder Mike Fitzgerald ran into the railing allowing Rountree, Mangler and Zimmerman to score, making the game 3-0.
Fitzgerald was lifted and second baseman Cody Coffman was moved over to left field.
Catcher Michael Tucker was the second out of the inning. Right fielder Trey Lang hit a single after that, stole a base, and was hit in by center fielder Jake Hermsen. Third baseman C.K. Irby followed up by drawing a walk, but shortstop Ray Fuentes became the last out of the inning.
Hermsen said he felt he played well on the night, but would have liked to see the team put up more runs after the first inning.
Hannibal would score one more run over the rest of the game.
The score remained at 4-0 until the top of the third inning when center fielder Brad McKewon hit an RBI single for the Sliders. The Cavemen answered right back in the bottom of the same inning and scored another run, following a Ray Fuentes sacrifice to put the team up 5-1.
The fourth inning went by with neither team scoring a run, though the Cavemen did load the bases up with two outs, only for Hermsen to be the last out.
The fifth inning started with catcher Mike Wieland reaching after an error from Lang. Wieland advanced to second on the play. He would be advanced to third after a sacrifice. Shortstop Brandon Howard hit the second Sliders sacrifice of the inning to plate Wieland, to make the score 5-2. Coffman hit a single to knock in the next run.
Sappington walked the first two men in the top of the sixth inning and was replaced by reliever Cody Parker. Parker worked his way out of the inning.
Cavemen manager Jay Hemond said his starter pitched well for the most part.
“He pitched pretty well, a few base runners will come back to get you,” Hemond said. “He also had a bit of wildness, which caused his pitch count to go up a bit tonight.”
Sappington said the offense got the job done.
“Offense scored five runs for us,” Sappington said. “If we can’t win with five runs, we don’t deserve to win.”
This was Sappington’s last start of the regular season, the pitcher leaves tomorrow for a service trip to the Dominican Republic.
Sappington is looking forward to the trip.
“It should be a blast, baseball has helped me all of my life, so finally I have an opportunity to give back,” the pitcher said. “It’s a real blessing.”
He will be back on Aug. 6.
“If we make the playoffs, I will be able to start,” he said.
The Sliders scored one run in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The run in the seventh plated Howard after an error from Lang, the run in the eighth plated McKewon after an error by Fuentes, and the run in the ninth was after a sacrifice from Wieland. The Cavemen had runners at third in both the seventh and eighth, but went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Reliever A.J. Martin, who pitched the ninth inning, was thrown out of the game after yelling something at the umpire. The crowd seemed to be on the officiating crew all night.
Hemond acknowledged the crowd’s disapproval.
“Sometimes the fans can see pitches from behind the plate better than we can from the side,” Hemond said. “They seemed to disagree with quite a few.”
Hemond said the approach for tomorrow’s matchup with Quincy is simple.
“Win.”
