LOMBARD TAKES THREE OF FOIUR
2009-06-21
The Lombard Oriole buzz saw was plugged in this weekend.
Trotting out one flame-throwing pitcher after another, the Orioles took three of four games from the A’s this weekend. The wins put the Orioles at 8-6 in the league in third place behind unbeaten Kenosha. The A’s drop to 6-6 and tied with Eau Claire for fourth.
Tuesday night the A’s travel to Oshkosh to resume State League play with Mitch Gardner scheduled to start. Gametime at EJ Schneider field is 7:30 p.m. The players bus leaves at 5:15 p.m.
The A’s won the opener Saturday by a 4-2 score in nine innings, but then lost the nightcap 8-2. Sunday’s scores were 7-4 and 4-2.
On Saturday Matt Schilter’s leadoff double led to a first inning run for the A’s, and after Lombard tied it in their half of the first, David Novak doubled and Brett Cleveringa singled him in for a 2-1 A’s lead.
Starter Zach Hoch held the powerful Orioles at bay until they tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. The A’s took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth on hits by Novak, Ryan Schmitz and Cleveringa. Lucas Petrie came through in the clutch to shut the Orioles down for the last two innings to get the win.
The win broke Lombard’s 11-game winning streak over the A’s.
But the Orioles started a new streak after that.
The A’s managed only five hits in the second game and couldn’t come back after falling behind 3-0 in the second.
In Sunday’s opener, the A’s fell behind 5-0 after three, and despite a gallant battle in the humid Chicago suburb, couldn’t get any closer than 5-3 after four. They managed only four hits in that game.
The battling continued in the second game and they had a 2-2 tie in the fifth when Taylor Schwarz, Greg Blohowiak and Kreston Albright sandwiched hits around a couple sacrifices. But Lombard got single runs in the sixth and seventh to get the win.
Albright had three hits in that game; Schilter two.
