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  • First baseman Jeff Malm makes the catch on a foul ball near the Rays’ dugout during Princeton’s 2-0 loss to Johnson City on Friday evening at Hunnicutt Field. Staff photo by Eric DiNovo

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August 21, 2010

Swept away

Cardinals take two from Rays

By TOM BONE The Associated Press

PRINCETON — After an unexpected three-day break, the Princeton Rays looked rusty in their return to Appalachian League play on Friday night.

The Rays fell below .500 on the season again, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the Johnson City Cardinals by scores of 2-0 and 13-2 — committing seven errors in the second game.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said manager Michael Johns of Princeton (27-29). “Guys are going to make errors at the beginning level. I didn’t think, mentally, we were really prepared in the second game. We fought hard in the first game, even though we didn’t execute there either.”

The pair of seven-inning games were the result of a Thursday postponement. The Cardinals (35-20), the top-hitting team in the Appy League, had not played since Sunday.

It didn’t show.

In the first contest, Cardinals starter Kevin Siegrist allowed just two hits in his first six innings. In the final frame, he surrendered a double to Todd Glaesmann and then walked Scott Lawson, and left the contest just short of a complete game.

Before Hector Corpas even threw a pitch, he was assessed with a balk, putting the potential tying run into scoring position. But the game ended with two quick groundouts by Bryan Fogle and Ruben Contreras.

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said, “Siegrist was outstanding. He threw his fastball to both sides, he mixed in his secondary pitches, and got ahead of hitters. ... We tried to get him to finish the game, and he gave us everything we had.”

Princeton starter Eliazer Suero kept the Rays in the contest, but ended up with another hard-luck loss. He gave up just three hits and one earned run, and struck out four batters, walking three.

Johns said, “He did an outstanding job. I just told him that in front of the whole team. ... He really kept them off-balance. For him to do that to that kind of lineup, that gives a lot of credit to him.”

The second game was as different from the first as night and day.

Johnson City smacked nine hits and Princeton made six errors — all in the first three innings — as the Cardinals flew out to a 10-0 lead. The Cards’ Oscar Taveras scored three runs, one in each inning.

Princeton started Chris Rearick, usually a reliever, on the mound.

Johns said, “We wanted to make sure we kept our rotation intact, starting (Saturday). We were able to do that with him coming out of the ’pen. He’s done a nice job for us; he deserved that spot start. I wish he had a little better luck.”

“Rearick gave up some hard-hit balls, but for the most part ... it seemed like everything they hit, fell in, and when we should have been making plays, we didn’t. We could have limited the damage a little bit, if we had made plays.”

Johns said, “That wasn’t our game. That’s not Rays baseball. That’s not how we do things.”

Shildt said the Cardinals had gone four days without a game this week, but prior to Friday’s contest, “I felt good about it. Guys just went about it really well.

“It’s just a good group. Every day, they show up and prepare. I felt like we’d be OK with the layoff.”

Johnson City ended the second game with 16 hits. Both Romulo Ruiz and Roberto Hayes batted 3-for-4.

The Rays got a solo home run from Fogle in the fourth, and scored their other run in the sixth on a double by Glaesmann followed by an RBI single from Geno Glynn. In the nightcap, Jeff Malm was 3-for-3 with a double.

Shildt said, “We’ve got guys who can swing the bat. ... We had good at-bats the first game. The (Princeton) starter, Suero, did a very nice job. ... The second game, we stayed with our approach, and put some good swings, and found a lot of holes, in that second game. So, we’ll take ’em, any way we can get ’em.”

This evening, the Rays finish their regular-season home schedule with a single 7 p.m. game against the Cardinals. The Princeton fans’ voting for most popular player will be revealed.

Free admission will be offered to education employees – teachers and service personnel from the elementary, secondary and higher education levels – by showing their school ID.

Johns talked to the team about “fixing what we did wrong,” he said. “You talk to the team after a game like this and it’s tough to do, because you don’t want to bury them.

“But at the same time, they need to konow what they did wrong. It’s not one of those situations where we can just pat each other on the back and say, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ We need to fix what’s wrong — and I think we’ll do that.”

“I think you’ll see us play a little better focused tomorrow (Saturday).”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com



At Hunnicutt Field

Game one

Johnson City.........................001 001 0 — 2 4 0

Princeton...............................000 000 0 — 0 3 1

Kevin Siegrist, Hector Corpas (7) and Cody Stanley. Eliazer Suero, C.J.Riefenhauser (7) and Kyle Holloway. WP – Siegrist (2-3). LP – Suero (1-4). HR – none.



Game two

Johnson City..............145   110   1 — 13  16  2

Princeton....................000   101   0 —   2    7  7

Charllan Jimenez, Francisco Guzman (6), Iden Nazario (7) and Travis Tartamella. Chris Rearick, Justin Hall (4) and Gerardo Olivares. WP – Jimenez (1-1). LP – Rearick (3-1). HR –  Pctn, Fogle (4), 4th, 0 on. JC, Garcia (3), 5th, 0 on.  Att – 820.

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