Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Catfish 5, Greenville 3

Go Catfish!The Catfish concluded the home stand with a win tonight over the Greenville Bombers (Red Sox), 5-3. After jumping out to an early lead  5-0 lead, the Catfish relied on their pitching staff to shut the Bombers down. The bullpen has been shaky of late, but tonight held until the ninth inning, when Greenville closed the gap to 2 runs. But then things settled down, and the Catfish earned the split.

Our player, Dan Batz, enjoying having family in the stands for most of the home stand, had another double tonight. Dan is second on the roster in several offensive categories, including hits, doubles, at-bats, games played, total bases, stolen bases, and on-base percentage. Dan has quietly been one of the stars of the team. And that doesn't even take into consideration his fielding prowess. He's been a consistent player the entire year.

The president of the South Atlantic League was at the game tonight, and got to see 519 people in the stands. I didn't think that many were there (I counted 26 when the National Anthem was sung). I'm thinking the announced figures included the people buying gas at the Spectrum station across the street from the stadium. And that's a shame. The Catfish deserve more than the locals are giving.

More on the game from the Columbus Catfish:

Scott Elbert’s Second Straight Dominant Outing Leads Fish to 5-3 Win
Elbert Strikes Out 10 in Five Innings; Fish Score Five Runs in First Two Frames

COLUMBUS, GA—LHP Scott Elbert struck out 10 Greenville Bomber batters and did not allow a run tonight in five innings, leading the Catfish to a 5-3 victory in the series finale with the Greenville Bombers. In his last 10 innings (two starts), Elbert has not allowed a run, has given up just two hits and has struck out 22 batters. DH Chris Westervelt drove in two with a double in the first inning tonight, as the Fish scored all five of their runs in the first two frames. 2B David Nicholson had three hits for the Catfish, who pounded out 12 in the victory. With the win, the Catfish capture the season series over Greenville 12-11 and earn a split in the four-game set with the Bombers at Golden Park. The Catfish are 28-27 in the second half (56-68 overall) while Greenville falls to 28-30 in the second half (63-63 overall).

With three straight hits off LHP Roger Lincoln in the bottom of the first inning, the Catfish loaded the bases for Westervelt, who ripped a two-run double to left off his former college teammate driving home a pair of runs. RF Sergio Pedroza followed with an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 Fish after one. In the second, a single by C Gabriel Gutierrez and a double by SS Dominique Laurin put two runners in scoring position. LF Brandon Carter drove home a run with a sacrifice fly and Nicholson’s RBI single made it 5-0 Columbus.

Elbert walked just one and gave up only a single to LF Claudio Arias in the second inning. He struck out the final five hitters he faced and six of the last seven. Elbert has not allowed a run in his last twelve innings of work. RHP Nate Hochgesang tossed two scoreless innings and RHP Blake Johnson pitched a scoreless eighth. In the ninth inning, RHP Albenis Castillo allowed three runs but escaped with a Catfish victory. After a day off on Wednesday, the Fish begin their final road series of the season on Thursday in Savannah at 7:05 PM. RHP Chris Malone (9-5, 3.52 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Catfish.

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