Madison Drops

Madison Drops Opener to Eustis, Florida 3-0

The Madison Warhawks opened their 2005 season in the 2005 Orlando National Baseball Classic at McCracken Field next to the Citrus Bowl. The Warhawks first opponent, the Eustis Panthers, are one of the top teams in Florida and are coached by former major leaguer Chet Lemmon. The Warhawks were visitors and faced Panthers right handed pitcher Spencer Hale. Rich Conlon stepped to the plate as the lead-off batter to start the 2005 season. Hale retired Conlon on a strike out and then Mark Riffee lined a single for the Warhawks first 2005 hit. Joe Canova grounded hard back to the pitcher and the Panthers turned a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Brian Eck took the hill for the Warhawks and retired Lemmon's son, Marcus, on a ground out to short stop Rich Conlon for the first out. John Maulia doubled for Eustis and then stole third base and scored on a wild pitch and the Panthers led 1 to 0. Eck stuck out Hale but the Panther reached first safely on a passed ball on the third strike. Hale stole second base but was out on a double play when Steve Brletic lined out to Eric Garner who threw to Rich Colon for the double play to end the inning. Eustis led 1 -0 after one inning.

In the top of the second Arman Moniri flied out to the shortstop and Josh Carter grounded out before Hale hit Joey Hayes with a pitch. Hale struck out Brian Eck and Hayes was left on base. In the bottom of the second, Brian Eck struck out Mike Vaughn looking and retired the side in order getting Kirby Cartwright to ground out to Rich Conlon and Chase Okey to ground out to Eric Garner who threw to Arman Moniri to end the inning. Madison trailed 1-0 after two innings.

Hale struck out Eric Garner in the top of the third and Alex Andrews grounded out for the second out. Rich Conlon drew a walk but was picked off as he stumbled trying to steal. In the bottom of the third, Kyle Storms walked for the Panthers and then Brian Eck struck out Erick Cohen looking for the first out. Marcus Lemmon singled Storms to second and both runners advanced as Matulia grounded out to Arman Moniri unassisted. The Panthers had Storms on third and Lemmon on second with two outs. Eck had an 0-2 count on Hale who lined a single to center scoring both runners with Lemmon drawing a throw on a close play at the plate. Hale went to second on the throw to home. Eustis led 3-0. Brian Eck struck out Brletic to end the inning.

In the fourth, Mark Riffee grounded out on a ball headed for the hole that Hale snagged nicely to prevent a hit. Joe Canova hit another hard grounder up the middle that Hale grabbed again for the second out. Arman Moniri hit a shot at the third baseman that was too-hot-to-handle and resulted in a double down the line. Pat Powers pinch ran for Moniri but was stranded at second as Josh Carter grounded out for the third out. In the bottom of the fourth, Vaughn flied out to Josh Carter for the first out. Cartwright drew a walk and then Chase Okey flied out to Joe Canova for the second out. Brian Eck struck out Storms to end the inning. Madison trailed 3-0 after four innings.

Both pitchers were pitching well and Hale kept that going by striking out Joey Hayes and Jason Farley to start the fifth. Eric Garner grounded a ball up the middle for what looked like a hit but Lemmon gloved it and threw across his body to "just get" Garner who hustled down the line on the closest play of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, Jason Farley made his 2005 pitching debut and immediately retired Cohen on a ground ball that Farley fielded nicely. He retired Lemmon on a fly ball to Joe Canova for the second out. Matulia walked and then Hale flied out to Canova in shallow center field to end the inning. The score was still 3-0 Eustis after five innings.

After Alex Andrews grounded out, pinch hitter Sterling Sams reached first on an error. Rich Conlon reentered to run for Sams and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mark Riffee grounded out hard to the third baseman who kept Conlon at second with two outs. Joe Canova singled to center field but Conlon stopped halfway to home when he saw a throw was coming and went back to third. Canova slid safely into second after being caught on a pick-off attempt and "pickle." The Warhawks had runners on second and third with two outs but the Panthers escaped damage as Arman Moniri grounded out to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Brletic walked and was sacrificed to second by Vaughn whose bunt was fielded by Jason Farley for the first out. Cartwright grounded out to Rich Conlon for the second out and Arman Moniri made a nice unassisted put-out to retire Okey and end the inning. Madison had one more at bat left and trailed 3-0.

In the top of the seventh, Kevin Healy grounded out for the first out. Brian Smith reached second on an error. David McIntyre pinch ran for Smith. The Warhawks had a runner on second and needed more base runners to keep the game going. With a full count, McIntyre broke for third base attempting to steal and the Panthers retired Jason Farley on a strike-out and ended the game throwing McIntyre out at third for a double play.

The Warhawks pitched well and played good defense in their debut but faced a good Florida team well into its season. Neither team's offense could solve the pitching (each had only three hits). The Panthers drew four walks and made them count while Madison had one walk and one hit batsman. Base running separated the teams in this game. The Panthers aggressively manufactured runs on the base paths while the Warhawks made several base running mistakes.

Brian Eck took the pitching loss. Brian pitched well in the loss, striking out four while surrendering only three runs, three hits and two walks in four innings. Jason Farley allowed no hits and walked two batters in two excellent shut-out innings of relief. Madison will play at 10:00 AM Tuesday at McCracken field for its second game of the tourney.

"This is a good tournament with good teams. Eustis was a little ahead of us today," said Warhawks Coach Mark Gjormand. "We are disappointed to lose our opener. Our pitching and defense was good which is what we expected. Both Brian and Jason threw well and everyone fielded well. Our hitting was where we thought it was also. We need to keep working on it and we will get better. Our base running was poor today and we need to do a better job at that. Overall, Eustis is a good team and they were a little ahead of us at this point."

Read More »»