Springfield Bats Heat Up a Chilly Opener

4/30/11

The Tigers opened the 2011 season with an exhibition match-up against the Tracy Express on a chilly and windy Saturday afternoon. Springfield was eager to turn the page after a disappointing 2010 season. The Tiger roster is mostly unchanged, but additions Dave Kreft and Adam Schmid look to make many postive contributions in 2011. The bats came out blazing as the Tigers ripped 22 hits and plated 19 runs in a 19-12 victory.

Alex Frank started on the mound for the home team. He started the game with back-to-back walks, both of which came around to score, giving Tracy an early 2-0 lead. Brady Schwab ripped a two-out double in the bottom of the first. An Express error got the Tigers on the board.

Tracy put together four hits to score three runs in the top of the second. Another Express error started things for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. Springfield proceeded to bat ten and take a 6-5 lead with Schmid, Christian Loomis, Schwab, and Matt Tews all driving in runs.

In the bottom of the third, Schmid led-off with a double, starting another Springfield rally. Hits by Danny Christensen, Loomis, and a big, two-out, two-run double by Marc Salazar pushed the Springfield lead to four, 9-5.

Kreft made his Springfield debut coming on to pitch in the fourth. A Tracy triple, followed by a sacrifice fly, got them within three, 9-6. The Tigers were retired in order in the bottom of the inning for the only three-up, three-down inning of the ballgame.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Springfield bats went back to work, again batting ten and scoring five additional runs on five hits. Down 14-6, the Express matched the ten batter, five hit, five run inning with one of their own in the top of the sixth to pull back within three, 14-11.

Loomis made his first pitching appearance for the Tigers, taking over on the hill in the seventh. Tracy put together a couple hits to cut the Springfield lead to two.

The score remained 14-12 going into the bottom of the eighth when Springfield took out a big insurance policy, highlighted by a two-run homer by Schwab and a two-run double by Schmid. The 19-12 score gave Loomis a comfortable seven run lead as he finished things up in the ninth.

Brady Schwab and Adam Schmid led the Tigers with four hits each. Schwab arguably could have hit for the cycle had he stretched one of his doubles into a triple. Matt Tews had three hits on the day. Danny Christensen, Marc Salazar, and Alex Frank each had two hits. Christian Loomis, Jason Nachreiner, Chris Sturm, Ken Sather, and Dave Kreft all added one hit each. Alex Frank picked up the win, working the first three inings. Alex Jones took the loss for Tracy, giving up 12 runs in four innings. Christian Loomis earned a save, working the final three innings of the victory.

The offensive outburst for Springfield was something that was not seen during the 2010 season. The Tigers had 22 hits as a team. In 2010, the team didn't record their 22nd hit until the fourth game of the season. The four-hit games by Schwab and Schmid were two more than they saw during 2010, as no player recorded four hits in a game the entire season. The Tigers open their Tomahawk East League schedule on Sunday, May 8th as they travel to Essig for their traditional early-May contest. Come cheer on this exciting Springfield team! See you at the ballpark!

Linescore

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
Tracy	2	3	0	1	0	5	1	0	0	12	14	3	14
Springfield	1	5	3	0	5	0	0	5	x	19	22	0	12

Springfield Box

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Christensen, SS	6	3	2	1	1	2
Loomis, 3B/P	3	2	1	1	2	0
Nachreiner, PH/PR	1	2	1	0	0	0
Schwab, C	6	1	4	5	0	2	2B(2), HR
Salazar, 1B	4	1	2	4	2	0	2B(2)
Tews, 2B/3B	5	1	3	2	1	0
C. Sturm, CF	6	2	1	1	0	2
Schmid, LF/2B	5	3	4	3	0	1	HP
Brandl, RF	1	0	0	0	0	1	HP
Sather, PR/RF	3	3	1	1	0	0	SAC
Frank, P/LF	3	1	2	0	0	1	SAC
Kreft, P	2	0	1	0	0	0
	45	19	22	18	6	9
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Frank (W, 1-0)	3	5	5	5	4	2
Kreft	3	6	6	6	3	2
Loomis (SV, 1)	3	3	1	1	2	3

Pictures