CVL LOSING WAYS CONTINUE FOR EXPRESS

June 28, 2004

St. Augusta

The CVL losing woes continued for the Express this past Sunday as they fell in defeat to the St. Augusta Gussies in a 13 inning battle 3-2 in St. Augusta.

A great atmosphere at the Gussies home park with the church festival in full swing throughout the game brining in a nice crowd. A Dave Fritz bloop single over third base that dropped in no man’s land in the bottom of the 13^th inning scored the game winning run.

Justin Hill started on the mound for the Express and pitch good enough to win as he allowed two runs in ten innings pitched only one run was earned. The Gussies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Express answered with one in the second and another in the third. That is the way it stayed until Fritz’ game winner in the 13^th. Brooks Marquardt (3-1) relieved Hill in the 11^th inning and takes the loss. The Express had two outs in the 13^th inning, the winning run reached base on an error making the loss more frustrating.

The Express defense committed five errors in the game leading to three Gussie runs. A very uncharacteristic game with the gloves for the Express. Kimball had bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning with no outs but were unsuccessful in getting the winning run across. They also had the go ahead run on third in the 10^th inning but could not get the clutch hit when they needed it.

The loss give the Express a 16-7 overall record and a 7-5 record in the league. Five losses in the league for the Express is very hard to swallow after winning their half of the division last year and having the best record in the league.

Delano

A big six run third inning propelled Kimball to its sixteenth win of the season as they defeated the Delano Athletics in Delano this past Friday evening by a score of 8-4 in non league amateur baseball action.

The sixth inning was a big one for the Express as they plated six runs giving Kimball starting pitcher Pat Arnold (6-1) all the run support he needed to notch his sixth win of the season.

The inning was highlighted by a two run single off the bat of shortstop Jeremy Kuechle and an rbi double by Joe Pennertz. The Express offense pounded out 13 hits on the night. Five players collected two hits for the Express. Jeremy Kuechle led the way scoring two runs and driving in a pair. Mike Arnold and Joe Pennertz both doubled in the win as they kept the big sticks mashing.

On the other side of the ball pitcher Pat Arnold starting his seventh game on the year going six complete innings allowing one run. Arnold struck out four and walked two. He’s pitched well this season but like every other year still struggles at times with his control. The only run scored off Arnold was the result of a base on balls. The runner moved to second on a wild pitch. Moved to third as a pick off attempt at second base went awry with the ball sailing into centerfield. The run finally scored on another wild pitch by Arnold. Needless to say Arnold needs to batten down the hatches before playoff time in order to be successful.

Brian Marquardt relieved Arnold in the seventh inning. This was Brian’s third appearance of the season. Marquardt had two outs in the inning before an Express error led to three Delano runs. In the eighth, Joe Krippner came in to close it out and cut off any hopes of a comeback by the Athletics. Joe allowed one hit in two innings and faced one over the minimum for two innings as the Express improved to 16-6 on the season.