Pitch By Pitch

Last night’s game was an interesting one. Auburn pitcher, Joel Carreno had a no-hitter going into the 7th. Through 5, the only thing keeping him from being perfect was a K+PB.

Auburn beat the Spikes 4-1, but only 1 of the game’s runs was earned.

It’s still early on, but the Spikes need to improve on their 18 runs in 7 games.

     Game of 6/25/2009 -- State College at Auburn (N)

  State College      AB  R  H RBI    Auburn             AB  R  H RBI  
Holt B, 2b            2  0  0  0   Fernandez J, 2b       4  2  1  0   
Summerlin T, 2b       1  0  0  0   Eiland E, cf          3  0  1  1   
Vasquez A, ss         3  0  0  0   Ramirez W, rf         4  0  1  1   
Byler J, dh           2  0  0  0   Glenn B, lf           4  0  1  0   
Irvine P, ph-dh       2  0  0  0   Hopkins C, lf         0  0  0  0   
Morgan K, 1b          3  1  1  0   Murphy J, c           3  1  1  0   
Rubinstein D, rf      4  0  1  0   Schwartz R, 3b        4  0  1  0   
Parry C, c            1  0  0  0   Durham L, 1b          4  0  1  0   
Mendez M, ph-c        3  0  0  0   Nolan K, ss           3  1  0  0   
Garcia E, lf          4  0  0  0   Gilligan K, dh        3  0  0  0   
Payne M, 3b           3  0  0  0   
Saukko K, cf          3  0  1  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     31  1  3  0                        32  4  7  2   

State College    000 000 100 --  1
Auburn           120 010 00x --  4

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Miller Q (L)          3.0  5  3  1  3  2
Erickson J            3.0  2  1  0  0  3
Foster Z              1.0  0  0  0  0  1
Fallon E              1.0  0  0  0  0  1

  Auburn               IP  H  R ER BB SO
Carreno J (W)         7.0  2  1  0  0  6
Anderson Z            0.2  1  0  0  1  0
Beck C (S)            1.1  0  0  0  0  1

E -- Payne M 2, Fallon E
LOB -- State College 6, Auburn 8
2B -- Eiland E, Durham L
HBP -- by Carreno J (Summerlin T), by Erickson J (Gilligan K), by Beck C (Morgan K)
WP -- Erickson J
PB -- Murphy J, Parry C
T -- 2:28
A -- 1821

The Spikes saw their 4th consecutive 1-run game last night, but this time they managed to score the win.

Tyler Cox gave up 6 hits and a walk in 5 innings, but he left allowing just 1 run. Brandon Holden, Diego Moreno, and Alan Knotts shut things down in the 7th, 8th, and 9th.

Tony Sanchez went 1-4 and scored 1 of the Spikes’ 2 runs. David Rubinstein went 2-5 and scored the other.

The Spikes have gone 1-2 in both of their first two series’. They look for their first series win, starting tonight, against the Auburn Doubledays.

     Game of 6/24/2009 -- State College at Mahoning Valley (N)

  State College      AB  R  H RBI    Mahoning Valley    AB  R  H RBI  
Holt B, 2b            5  0  1  0   Henry J, cf           3  0  2  0   
Vasquez A, ss         5  0  0  0   Greenwell B, lf       4  0  0  0   
Sanchez T, c          4  1  1  0   Bellows K, 3b         3  1  1  0   
Byler J, 1b           4  0  0  0   Allman J, dh          4  0  2  0   
Rubinstein D, rf      5  1  2  0   Smit J, 1b            4  0  2  1   
Parry C, dh           3  0  2  1   Folgia G, rf          3  0  1  0   
Hernandez J, lf       1  0  0  0   Smith K, ss           4  0  1  0   
Garcia E, ph-lf       1  0  0  0   Vera R, 2b            4  0  0  0   
Irvine P, 3b          3  0  2  1   Childs D, c           1  0  0  0   
Saukko K, cf          3  0  0  0   Basabe L, ph          1  0  0  0   
                                   Chen C, c             0  0  0  0   
                                   Johnson J, p          0  0  0  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     34  2  8  2                        31  1  9  1   

State College    011 000 000 --  2
Mahoning Valley  000 100 000 --  1

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Cox T (W)             5.0  6  1  1  1  5
Holden B              1.0  1  0  0  0  0
Moreno D              2.0  1  0  0  0  2
Knotts A (S)          1.0  1  0  0  0  1

  Mahoning Valley      IP  H  R ER BB SO
Anthony R (L)         3.0  5  2  2  2  2
Mead K                3.0  1  0  0  3  5
Adams A               2.0  2  0  0  0  2
Johnson J             1.0  0  0  0  0  1

E -- Bellows K
DP -- State College 3, Mahoning Valley 1
LOB -- State College 12, Mahoning Valley 7
2B -- Allman J, Sanchez T, Bellows K
SB -- Hernandez J
SH -- Folgia G, Henry J
SF -- Parry C
HBP -- by Cox T (Childs D), by Mead K (Hernandez J)
WP -- Mead K
PB -- Childs D, Chen C
T -- 2:58
A -- 2066

The Spikes lost their 3rd consecutive 1-run game, as the Mahoning Valley Scrappers outlasted State College 2-1. Michael Felix, Marc Baca, and Mike Williams combined to allow just 5 hits, and they struck out 6 Scrappers’ batters.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Andy Vasquez singled with 1 out. Tony Sanchez followed with a ground ball to shortstop that could have been a double-play ball. An error on the second baseman kept the inning alive. Kyle Morgan tripled to score Sanchez and give the Spikes the lead.

The bottom of the 6th, started the Marc Baca hitting Jason Smit with a pitch. A Roberto Perez double scored Baca and Jordan Henry hit a ball to third baseman, Freizer Pedron. A Pedron error allowed Perez to score the go-ahead run.

     Game of 6/23/2009 -- State College at Mahoning Valley (N)

  State College      AB  R  H RBI    Mahoning Valley    AB  R  H RBI  
Holt B, 2b            4  0  1  0   Basabe L, 2b          3  0  1  0   
Vasquez A, ss         3  0  1  0   Greenwell B, lf       2  0  0  0   
Sanchez T, c          4  1  2  0   Bellows K, 3b         4  0  2  0   
Morgan K, 1b          4  0  1  1   Allman J, rf          4  0  1  0   
Rubinstein D, rf      4  0  0  0   Smit J, 1b            3  1  0  0   
Irvine P, lf          4  0  0  0   Chen C, dh            4  0  0  0   
Rosero C, dh          3  0  0  0   Smith K, ss           4  0  0  0   
Byler J, ph           1  0  0  0   Perez R, c            3  1  1  1   
Pedron F, 3b          3  0  1  0   Henry J, cf           3  0  0  0   
Parry C, ph           1  0  0  0   
Garcia E, cf          3  0  1  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     34  1  7  1                        30  2  5  1   

State College    001 000 000 --  1
Mahoning Valley  000 002 00x --  2

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Felix M               4.0  3  0  0  1  2
Baca M (L)            2.0  2  2  1  1  1
Williams M            2.0  0  0  0  0  3

  Mahoning Valley      IP  H  R ER BB SO
Popham M              5.0  6  1  0  1  4
Kirk N (W)            3.0  1  0  1  0  4
Burns C (S)           1.0  0  0  0  0  3

E -- Felix M, Pedron F 2, Sanchez T, Basabe L
DP -- State College 1
LOB -- State College 7, Mahoning Valley 8
2B -- Perez R
3B -- Morgan K
SB -- Smit J
CS -- Basabe L, Chen C
HBP -- by Felix M (Basabe L), by Baca M (Smit J)
PB -- Sanchez T
T -- 2:35
A -- 4682

For the second night in a row, the State College Spikes had a late-inning comeback that just fell short. The Spikes really didn’t deserve to be in this game, though. Outhit 13-6, the Spikes were able to take advantage of 5 Mahoning Valley errors, including 4 by the second-baseman Lurvin Basabe.

Kyle McPherson struggled in 4.2 innings, giving up 10 hits and 6 runs (4 earned). He did strike out 6. Zach Foster pitched 3.1 nice innings in relief, giving up just 3 hits and 1 run. He walked 3 batters.

From the plate, David Rubinstein and Miguel Mendez were both 2-3, and they each scored a run.

The teams play game 2 of their 3 game series tonight at Mahoning Valley.

     Game of 6/22/2009 -- State College at Mahoning Valley (N)

  State College      AB  R  H RBI    Mahoning Valley    AB  R  H RBI  
Holt B, 2b            5  0  0  0   Basabe L, 2b          4  2  2  0   
Vasquez A, 3b         5  0  1  0   Greenwell B, lf       5  1  2  1   
Hernandez J, lf       3  0  1  0   Smit J, cf            4  0  1  0   
Morgan K, ph          1  0  0  0   Henry J, cf           1  0  1  0   
Byler J, 1b           2  1  0  0   Head S, rf            4  1  1  1   
Irvine P, dh          3  1  0  0   Palincsar T, rf       0  0  0  0   
Rubinstein D, rf      3  2  2  0   Allman J, dh          3  1  1  2   
Saukko K, cf          3  1  1  1   Bellows K, 3b         4  1  2  0   
Mendez M, c           3  1  2  2   Vera R, 1b            4  1  1  0   
Summerlin T, ss       4  0  0  1   Smith K, ss           4  0  2  2   
                                   Chen C, c             3  0  0  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     32  6  7  4                        36  7 13  6   

State College    000 000 420 --  6
Mahoning Valley  310 030 00x --  7

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
McPherson K (L)       4.2 10  6  4  0  6
Foster Z              3.1  3  1  1  3  1

  Mahoning Valley      IP  H  R ER BB SO
Guilmet P             4.0  2  0  0  2  5
Fonseca G (W)         3.0  3  4  2  3  1
Urena J               1.0  2  2  2  0  0
Grening B             1.0  0  0  0  0  1

E -- Saukko K, Summerlin T, Basabe L 4, Bellows K
DP -- State College 1, Mahoning Valley 2
LOB -- State College 7, Mahoning Valley 8
2B -- Allman J, Vera R, Mendez M
3B -- Basabe L
HR -- Head S
CS -- Vasquez A, Henry J
SF -- Saukko K
HBP -- by Urena J (Byler J)
T -- 2:47
A -- 2696

Over the past few days, the Pirates have continued to sign their 2009 draft picks, and they now have a total of 12 signings.

1st Rounder, Tony Sanchez signed, and he has been playing for State College.
1st Round Supplemental Pick, Victor Black signed, and he will be assigned to State College.
2nd Rounder, Brooks Pounders signed, and he will be assigned to the Gulf Coast League.
9th Rounder, Brock Holt signed, and he will be assigned to State College.
11th Rounder, Aaron Baker signed.
21st Rounder, Philip Irwin signed.
23rd Round – Jose Hernandez signed and has been playing for State College.
24th Round – Jason Erickson signed and has been playing for State College.
30th Round – Ty Summerlin signed and has been playing for State College.
33rd Round – Patrick Irvine signed and has been playing for State College.
42nd Round – Marc Baca signed and has been playing for State College.
43rd Rounder, Ed Fallon signed.

Also of note, the Pirates 2008 1st round draft pick, Pedro Alvarez, has been promoted to AA-Altoona. He will make his AA debut on Tuesday night. Dustin Molleken, Michael Dubee, and Miles Durham will join Alvarez in Altoona.

Brad Lincoln was promoted to AAA-Indianapolis.

The State College Spikes finished their 3 game series against the Williamsport Crosscutters tonight. The Spikes are still looking for their first win at Medlar Field.

After falling behind 4-0 after the first 5 innings, the Spikes’ rallied in the bottom of the 7th to score 3 runs, but it would end there. The Cutters held on to win by the 4-3 final.

Tony Sanchez played six innings and went 0-3.

The Spikes now hit the road for a series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

     Game of 6/21/2009 -- Williamsport at State College (N)

  Williamsport       AB  R  H RBI    State College      AB  R  H RBI  
Dabbs M, rf           5  0  3  0   Garcia E, lf          4  1  2  1   
Castro L, cf          4  1  1  0   Vasquez A, ss         5  1  1  0   
Barnes J, ss          5  1  1  0   Sanchez T, c          3  0  0  0   
Batts S, 1b           4  2  2  3   Parry C, c            2  0  0  0   
Warren T, lf          5  0  3  1   Morgan K, 1b          3  0  1  0   
Hewitt A, 3b          4  0  1  0   Byler J, ph-1b        1  0  0  0   
Rodriguez J, c        4  0  0  0   Payne M, 3b           5  0  0  1   
Porter E, 2b          4  0  1  0   Rosero C, cf          3  0  0  1   
Uhl C, dh             4  0  0  0   Irvine P, dh          2  0  0  0   
                                   Hernandez J, ph-dh    1  0  0  0   
                                   Biela B, rf           2  1  0  0   
                                   Willemburg B, 2b      3  0  0  0   
                                   Summerlin T, 2b       1  0  1  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     39  4 12  4                        35  3  5  3   

Williamsport     300 010 000 --  4
State College    000 000 300 --  3

  Williamsport         IP  H  R ER BB SO
Ballestas F           3.2  2  0  0  1  5
Arroyo S (W)          2.1  0  0  0  2  1
Lugo E                0.2  2  3  3  1  0
Jimenez E             1.1  1  0  0  1  2
Hyatt A               1.0  0  0  0  0  2

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Pereira N (L)         3.0  6  3  3  1  4
Paulino R             4.0  4  1  1  0  3
Erickson J            2.0  2  0  0  0  1

E -- Ballestas F, Barnes J, Vasquez A
LOB -- Williamsport 10, State College 11
2B -- Hewitt A, Dabbs M 2, Batts S
HR -- Batts S
SB -- Warren T, Dabbs M, Biela B
CS -- Warren T
HBP -- by Jimenez E (Byler J), by Erickson J (Batts S)
WP -- Pereira N, Arroyo S, Lugo E
Balk -- Paulino R
PB -- Sanchez T
T -- 3:15
A -- 4486

The State College Spikes played the 2nd game of their season tonight, and they beat the Williamsport Crosscutters 4-3. Pirates’ #1 draft pick, Tony Sanchez, entered the game in the bottom of the 6th inning. In the top of the 9th inning, with runners on 1st and 2nd, Sanchez hit a go-ahead single that turned out to be the game-winner.

Jose Hernandez, the Pirates’ #23 draft pick had a nice game, going 3-4, with 2 singles and a double.

     Game of 6/20/2009 -- State College at Williamsport (N)

  State College      AB  R  H RBI    Williamsport       AB  R  H RBI  
Summerlin T, 2b       5  0  0  0   James J, cf           4  0  1  0   
Willemburg B, ss      5  1  1  0   Castro L, rf          4  1  1  0   
Irvine P, dh          4  0  0  0   Barnes J, ss          3  2  2  2   
Byler J, 1b           3  1  2  1   Murillo F, 1b         4  0  1  0   
Rubinstein D, rf      4  1  1  0   Dabbs M, dh           4  0  3  1   
Payne M, 3b           3  0  0  1   Hewitt A, 3b          3  0  0  0   
Hernandez J, lf       4  1  3  0   Porter E, 2b          4  0  2  0   
Saukko K, cf          4  0  1  0   Doss D, c             4  0  0  0   
Mendez M, c           2  0  0  0   Uhl C, lf             4  0  0  0   
Sanchez T, c          2  0  1  1   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     36  4  9  3                        34  3 10  3   

State College    000 003 001 --  4
Williamsport     200 001 000 --  3

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Miller Q              4.0  5  2  2  0  2
Moreno D              3.0  3  1  1  1  2
Williams M (W)        2.0  2  0  0  0  1

  Williamsport         IP  H  R ER BB SO
Pettibone J           5.0  2  0  0  1  6
Simon R               1.0  4  3  3  0  0
Wertz L               2.0  0  0  0  0  2
Ellis J (L)           1.0  3  1  1  0  2

E -- Hewitt A
DP -- State College 2
LOB -- State College 7, Williamsport 6
2B -- Castro L, Byler J, Rubinstein D, Hernandez J
3B -- Porter E
HR -- Barnes J
SB -- Barnes J, Dabbs M, Saukko K
CS -- James J
SF -- Payne M
HBP -- by Miller Q (Barnes J)
WP -- Simon R
Balk -- Simon R
PB -- Doss D
T -- 2:38
A -- 1725

Four errors and a whole lot of hits in two disastrous innings doomed the State College Spikes on their opening night against the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Cutters got 8 hits in the top of the 5th, and they took advantage of a Spikes’ error and hit-by-pitch to score 8 runs and blow the game wide open. They added 5 more hits and 5 more runs in the top of the 9th to complete their destruction of the Baby Bucs.

Friday night’s game at sold-out Medlar Field at Lubrano Park featured some of the Pirates’ 2008 draft picks and some of the 2009 draft picks that have already signed with the club.

2008
11th Round – David Rubinstein
34th Round – Matthew Payne
35th Round – Tyler Cox
36th Round – Kyle Morgan
38th Round – Alan Knotts
39th Round – Albert Fagan
50th Round – Craig Parry

2009
23rd Round – Jose Hernandez
24th Round – Jason Erickson
30th Round – Ty Summerlin
33rd Round – Patrick Irvine
42nd Round – Marc Baca

Pirates’ first round draft pick, Tony Sanchez, will join the team today in Williamsport where they will finish out the final two games of the opening series.

     Game of 6/19/2009 -- Williamsport at State College (N)

  Williamsport       AB  R  H RBI    State College      AB  R  H RBI  
James J, cf           5  1  1  0   Garcia E, cf          3  1  1  0   
Castro L, lf          6  2  5  2   Hernandez J, ph-lf    1  0  0  0   
Barnes J, ss          6  1  2  1   Vasquez A, ss         3  0  2  0   
Murillo F, 1b         5  2  2  3   Willemburg B, ss      0  0  0  0   
Batts S, 2b           4  2  1  1   Byler J, dh           3  0  0  0   
Hewitt A, 3b          4  1  1  1   Irvine P, ph-dh       1  0  0  0   
Dabbs M, rf           4  2  1  0   Morgan K, 1b          4  0  1  0   
Warren T, dh          5  3  3  4   Rubinstein D, rf      2  0  0  0   
Rodriguez J, c        5  1  3  2   Parry C, c            4  0  0  0   
                                   Payne M, 3b           4  1  1  0   
                                   Rosero C, lf-cf       4  0  2  1   
                                   Pedron F, 2b          3  0  0  0   
                                   Summerlin T, 2b       0  0  0  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     44 15 19 14                        32  2  7  1   

Williamsport     100 180 005 -- 15
State College    110 000 000 --  2

  Williamsport         IP  H  R ER BB SO
Lebron S (W)          5.2  6  2  2  1  5
Massingham E          1.1  1  0  0  0  2
Long J                1.0  0  0  0  1  2
Grieve S              1.0  0  0  0  1  1

  State College        IP  H  R ER BB SO
Cox T (L)             4.2 10 10  8  1  4
Knotts A              1.1  3  0  0  0  1
Erickson J            1.0  0  0  0  0  1
Baca M                1.0  1  0  0  0  1
Fagan A               1.0  5  5  5  1  0

E -- Cox T, Vasquez A, Rubinstein D, Pedron F
DP -- Williamsport 1, State College 2
LOB -- Williamsport 6, State College 6
2B -- Garcia E, Payne M, Murillo F 2, Warren T, Morgan K
3B -- Warren T
HR -- Castro L
SB -- Vasquez A
CS -- Castro L
SF -- Hewitt A
HBP -- by Cox T (Dabbs M)
PB -- Rodriguez J
T -- 2:42
A -- 5593

I was very excited when it was announced that the State College Spikes would be a new Short Season Single A team, right in my hometown. I was even more excited following the 2006 season when it was announced that the Spikes would change affiliation from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now that the first year player draft has completed, and we now know many of the names that will show up on the Spikes’ roster this year, I decided to research the Spikes’ alumni over the past 2 seasons and see where they’re playing now (I ignored the 2006 season with the Cardinals… although Luke Gregerson, Jason Motte, Brendan Ryan and P.J. Walters have already played for the Cards.

Technically, Zach Duke was a State College Spike because he made a rehab appearance in State College in 2007. Otherwise, the most notable Spikes within the Pirates’ system are: Brian Friday, Daniel Moskos, Moises Robles, and Anthony Watson. They’re all playing in AA Altoona.

Here’s a table that I compiled of Spikes’ alumni and where they’re playing now. If I have something wrong, let me know.