By Tomasz Kamien / NewJerseyHitmen.blogspot.com
April 11th, 2012: Charleston, WV - Making the second stop on their road trip, the Hitmen found themselves in Charleston, West Virginia to play the Coal Sox. And boy did the teams deliver in this one. All three games were decided by one run in what came out to be great early season series.
Game 1 was Otis Watts game. The first baseman took over starting duties for the injured 'KFP' who went down two games earlier in the Trendsetters series with a strained hamstring. Watts has now hit three home runs in two games. One in the finale with New Orleans, then he went yard twice off of starter Samuel Reed. Watts numbers for game one were 2-2 with two home runs, four RBI, and he was walked three times. Starter Jian Du would pick up his first win of the year with the 7-6 nail biter.
One player to keep a watch on this year is rookie first baseman Ronald Harmon for the Coal Sox. Going 2-5 in game 1, the rookie is hitting .458 for the year. He launched his 3rd home run of the season off of Du in the 5th inning which is Du's first home run given up for the year.
Game 2 was another murky day, posting a chilly and cloudy 52 degrees in Allegheny Field at game time. The match was set for a pitching duel between veterans Jerry Jones and Harumi Yamamoto. Both pitchers gave up only one run, but Jones won out in the end as Yamamoto's pitch count was on the rise all game with the amount of walks he issued, five compared to Jones zero. Coal Sox reliever Ken Cates would give up the winning run to ex-teammate Ching-hsia Chin. Chin came up in a big way for the Hitmen against his former team.
Pinch hitting for short stop Lee Kohler in the 8th inning, Chin would come in with the bases loaded to face Cates. He would foul off ball one with a wicked swing. You could tell that Chin wanted to send a statement to his former team for trading him for just a 5th round pick to the Hitmen. The second pitch would put Chin behind 0-2 against Cates. Chin would not be forgotten however as he slammed the 0-2 pitch hard on the ground up the middle and it would find it's way into the outfield bringing in Brett from third which would be the winning run of the game.
It was a smart move by the Coal Sox pitching staff to put the runner on first in hopes of the double play. Hoping the inexperienced Kohler would get the out, they did not expect Chin to come in so intent to make a statement against his former team. After the game, Chin was quoted through an interpreter as saying, "I just wanted to show my worth is all." The back up catcher for the Hitmen certainly has.
Riding a four game winning streak, the Hitmen were hoping to be able to walk away with the sweep against a tough West Virginia team. But once again it was just not starters Xiong Ci's day as he could not garner much run support in this hard fought match up. Coal Sox starter Flobert Hoeks would out duel the Hitmen today as he struck out eight hitters and giving up only two runs. Designated hitter Matsusuke Nakayama would double in the run in the bottom of the eighth to get his team the win.
This was definitely an intensely close series and we can all look forward to the next match up between these two teams which will be at the end of May in New Jersey.
Continuing the long road trip, the Hitmen next open up a four game series against the Manchester Maulers tomorrow.
Game 2 was another murky day, posting a chilly and cloudy 52 degrees in Allegheny Field at game time. The match was set for a pitching duel between veterans Jerry Jones and Harumi Yamamoto. Both pitchers gave up only one run, but Jones won out in the end as Yamamoto's pitch count was on the rise all game with the amount of walks he issued, five compared to Jones zero. Coal Sox reliever Ken Cates would give up the winning run to ex-teammate Ching-hsia Chin. Chin came up in a big way for the Hitmen against his former team.
Pinch hitting for short stop Lee Kohler in the 8th inning, Chin would come in with the bases loaded to face Cates. He would foul off ball one with a wicked swing. You could tell that Chin wanted to send a statement to his former team for trading him for just a 5th round pick to the Hitmen. The second pitch would put Chin behind 0-2 against Cates. Chin would not be forgotten however as he slammed the 0-2 pitch hard on the ground up the middle and it would find it's way into the outfield bringing in Brett from third which would be the winning run of the game.
This was definitely an intensely close series and we can all look forward to the next match up between these two teams which will be at the end of May in New Jersey.
Continuing the long road trip, the Hitmen next open up a four game series against the Manchester Maulers tomorrow.
Tomasz Kamien is a beat writer for the New Jersey Hitmen. This story was not subject to the approval of Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance or its clubs.
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