Cane Cutters News

          The Cane Cutters played in Bryan, TX tonight in a one-game series against the Brazos Valley Bombers.  They hoped to get the win and close the gap to third place to one game.

            The Bombers wasted no time in getting on the board when they put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning.  The first batter of the game for the Bombers, Myles Parma, got on base with a walk.  He was sacrificed over to second by the next batter.  Brandon Wood came up next and got on base with a walk as well.  James Wathon came up as the cleanup hitter and cleared the bases with a home run putting the Bombers up 3-0.  The Bombers threatened to bring some more runs home in the inning but the Cane Cutters were able to get out of the inning only down by three.

            The bottom of the second inning saw the Bombers put up some more runs to extend their lead.  Jordan Hammerman led off the inning by getting on second base with an error by the second baseman.  Parma singled next and advanced Hammerman over to third.  Cody Toups came up next and hit a sacrifice fly that scored Hammerman.  A couple of batters later the bases were loaded and Bobby Butvin drew a walk to bring home the second run of the inning that put the score at 5-0 at the end of two.

            The top of the third saw the Cane Cutters go one, two, three in their half of the inning.  In the bottom half of the inning, the Bombers decided they were not satisfied with a five-run lead.  For the third inning in a row, the Bombers got their leadoff batter on base.  Hammerman came up next and singled advancing Nick Smelser to second.  Two batters later, Toups singled bringing home Smelser from second.  The next batter struck out swinging making the second out and with the Cane Cutters hoping to get out of danger with only one run allowed.  The Bombers were not done.  The next batter loaded the bases with a walk.  Smith came up and was hit by a pitch which brought home a run.  Butvin walked bringing home another run.  Braden Mattson also got in on the action as the next batter with a single which brought home two more runs.  The final run of the inning came on a double by Smelser which brought home Butvin.  The Bombers came out of that inning with six runs on the board and an 11-0 lead after three innings.

            The Cane Cutters pitcher got on track in the fourth and fifth innings when they finally able to shut down the Bombers from putting up any runs.  The Cane Cutters also were able to get a couple of hits in the top of the sixth inning that led to one run in the inning.  Adam Seal got on first base with two outs when he was hit by a pitch.  Gabe Woods came up next and doubled advancing Seal to third base.  Ladd Rhodes delivered the RBI as the next batter when he singled driving in Seal for the Cane Cutter’s first run of the game making the score 11-1.

            The Cane Cutters followed up their one run sixth inning by putting two more runs on the board in the seventh inning.  Tyler Kamtz led off the inning with a single.  Two batters later, Rodriguez singled putting a man on first and second with one out.  Kamtz and Rodriguez both advanced on a wild pitch during Mitchell Nau’s at-bat before he was able to draw a walk to load the bases.  Andrew Brown singled as the next batter driving in Kamtz and Rodriguez proving why he is leading the TCL in RBIs this season with 25.  The Cane Cutters loaded the bases again in the inning but were not able to capitalize so they ended this inning scoring two runs and putting the score at 11-3.

            The Cane Cutters continued their comeback by putting three more runs on the board in the top of the eighth inning.  The Cane Cutters started the inning off right when they got their first two batters on base with a single and a RBI double, respectively.  Marse had the single and Kamtz had the RBI double.   Mike Barba came up next and grounded out to the first baseman which advanced Kamtz to third with one out.  Next, Rodriguez doubled bringing home Kamtz for the second run of the inning for the Cane Cutters.  Nau drew a walk as the next batter to put a runner on first and second with one out.  Brown was the next batter and hit into a fielder’s choice which got Nau out at second for the second out, but brought home Rodriguez for his third RBI of the game.  That would be the end of the scoring for that inning putting the score at 11-6.

            The Cane Cutters had the final inning left to try and finish the comeback but were not able to complete the task.  They fought hard the entire game, especially after being down 11-0 early in the game to put the score at a respectable 11-6 defeat for the final score.

            The Cane Cutters had several players that had a two-hit game tonight.  Rodriguez and Woods both went 2-4.  Rodriguez also had two runs scored, one RBI and one walk.  Rhodes and Marse went 2-5.  Rhodes had 1 RBI and Marse had one run scored.  Kamtz went 2-3 as a pinch hitter with two runs scored and one RBI.  Brown had three RBIs and one walk in the game going 1-4.

            The Cane Cutters went through six pitchers in tonight’s game.  Ryan Bergeron got his first start of the season for the Cane Cutters but did not make it out of the first inning.  He pitched two-thirds of an inning giving up three earned runs on two hits, walking three and striking out 1.  He received the loss putting his record at 0-1.  The Cane Cutters had two more pitchers that came in relief and struggled before Kelby Langston came in the game in the third inning and shut down the Bombers.  Langston pitched three and one-third innings giving up one run on four hits, walking one and striking out three.

            The Cane Cutters record is now at 15-16 going into the last game before the All-Star break.  The Bombers record is 18-13.  The Cane Cutters will face the league leading East Texas Pump Jacks on Saturday before having a day off on Sunday and then the All-Star game on Monday.  The next home game will be on Wednesay, July 11 at 7:05 pm which will also be Ladies Night.  We hope to see you at Fabacher Field next Wednesday for Ladies Night when the Cane Cutters take on the McKinney Marshals.

Boxscore:  http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscore.html?gameid=91298