Tagged: ryan rieger

West Virginia’s Power Surge was a bit much for the Hoppers

Tonight was a very rainy and dreary night for baseball.  It was spitting drizzling rain all afternoon and into the evening.  In the past, statistics would show that the Hoppers generally do good and come away with a win on days that it rains, or has rained that day.  Tonight, the West Virginia Power just couldn’t let the Hoppers flip their circuit.  

Right out the gate tonight, West Virginia comes surging out to put two men on base, first and second.  Then Gregory Polanco shocked a three run homer to give the Power the early 3-0 lead.  That homer would barely roll over the fence for Polanco.  That would be his 13th home run of the season for the Power.  Josh Adams would then answer in the bottom of the second with a homer of his own.  Which by the way, I now possess!!!  I’ll be getting him to sign his home run ball later in the week.  Josh is one of my favorite players so to get his home run ball is rather exciting!  This was Josh Adams 13th home run of the season as well.  This would be one of the Hoppers only three hits of the night.  With the Power surging tonight, Greensboro had their hands full!

 

Starting pitcher on the night was Josh Hodges.  He threw 7 innings, allowed 8 hits and 4 strikeouts.  He would be relieved by James Nygren who would sling the final two innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 strikeout.  Click for a Full Recap and Box Score of tonights game.  West Virginia pitchers would have a combined 7 strikeouts and would only allow 3 hits on the night.  The Hoppers put forth a valiant effort, but West Virginia would cut the power to Greensboro winning by a score of 5-1.  This would drop the Hoppers to 60-41 on the year and 14-17 in the second half.

I dodged the rain quite a bit tonight but I did manage to take advantage of Money Off Monday, purchasing dollar sodas and dollar hot dogs!  The Hoppers do a great job with the promotional nights and between inning games.  Tonight the crowd was a little thin, but to those of us that waited out the rain, it was worth it.  Because win or lose, THERE IS NO QUIT in our boys.  That is what makes me proud to be a Hopper, and that’s also why IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOPPER!

-jordan

(Note:  Don’t forget to click here for ALL pictures taken at tonights game)

Senne “In The City” Goes 4-4, Not Enough To Take Care Of Crawdads

Between the threat of thunderstorms, a hundred degree heat, and the holiday weekend the stands sat a little empty today.  If they had been there they would have witnessed Aaron Senne hit a perfect game at four hits and four at bats.  They would also have witnessed Wooster’s superman catch over the Mercedes sign in midfield for the 3rd out in the 9th.  Had that hit not been caught out of the sky the game would have been over in nine, with the Hickory Crawdads on top.

Aaron Senne had a phenomenal game today with four hits at four at bats.  A Ryan Goetz homer out to right field looked like it made a u-turn at the sun, before coming back down.  John Shultz had a good day as well, having 3 hits on 6 at bats and sliding in to score a run in the second.  Between Ryan Goetz homer in the first and Shultz score in the second, the Hoppers would not be able to mount anything for another 10 innings.  The Hoppers would go down 4-2 to the Hickory Crawdads.

Starting pitcher on the mound today was Jose Urena.  He would sling six innings, allow five hits and 3 strikeouts.  He would be relieved by Daniel Oliver who would pitch two innings, allow no hits and two strikeouts.  Greg Nappo would start out the  ninth inning and pitch three innings, allowing one hit and three strikeouts.  Losing pitcher on the day was Chris Shafer.  He allowed four hits, no strikeouts, and the two winning runs.

With the loss today the Hoppers drop to 51-30 overall and 5-6 in the second half.  The Hoppers are still only 3 games back courtesy of some other losses around the league this week.  The Hoppers will be back at home tomorrow night facing the first place Hickory Crawdads.  Hope to see you out there, and remember, WIN OR LOSE, IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOPPER!

-jordan

(Photo Courtesy of Don Moore)

Crawdads Prove To Be Too Hot For The Hoppers

With an on field temperature of 102 degrees at the first pitch, to say it was hot was an understatement.  Spaz always does a seat upgrade during every game promoting LAZY-BOY recliners.  He has dubbed this “the best seats in the house”.  These “best seats” consist of four recliners at the top of the seating bowl behind home plate.  Tonight, the “best seats in the house” clearly was out in the SUNBRELLA zone located in right field.  Sitting there underneath umbrellas with an ice cold Mountain Dew, a great friend, and baseball.  What’s better than that?  Yeah. A win would’ve capped it off, but when you have secured the northern division playoff spot, I’m okay with just enjoying games for the sake of enjoying them.

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Tonights game was enjoyable from a Hoppers standpoint as well.  I got to witness Austin Barnes slam his 4th home run tonight!  Which I love seeing guys like that perform well.  Aaron Senne and Austin Barnes hit homers tonight.  Both great guys doing great things in the diamond.  Tonight was Aaron’s 3rd homer in four nights.  That is quite the accomplishment!  Hoppers were facing the Hickory Crawdads, which coming into tonight were 7-2 in the second half, and are currently in first place.  Needless to say, the heat wasn’t the only struggle our boys were going to have to overcome.

Pitchers tonight were the newly acquired Scott Lyman, who pitched 5.2 innings, allowed 8 hits and four strikeouts.  Greg Nappo threw 1.1 innings, allowed 3 hits and 4 strikeouts.  Nappo would be relieved by Jose Rodreguez would pitch 1 inning, allowing 1 hit and 1 strikeout.  Brad Mincy then came up to finish off the night, allowing 2 hits and no strikeouts.

The big hitters of the night were, Aaron Senne with a two run homer to right field.  Austin Barnes slamming his homer in the bottom of the ninth.  Aaron Senne went 3-4 tonight and Austin Barnes went 4-1, with his home run being his lonely hit on the night.  Ryan Goetz also went 3-1 on the night.  Hoppers fell to the Crawdads to a score of 11-4.  With this loss the Hoppers drop to 4-5 in the second half standings and currently three games back.  Come and check out your Hoppers tomorrow for another scorcher.  Temperature tomorrow is predicted to be around 105.  Maybe, it’ll be just hot enough to steam some Crawdads.  As always, this is Jordan Stowe, and IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOPPER!

-jordan

First no hitter of the season belongs to Greensboro!

Yep, you read that right! First no hitter of the minor league season belongs to the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Jose Fernandez pitched 6 straight innings allowing NO HITS. He was relieved by Greg Nappo, who allowed NO HITS. Finally to close out the game was Kevin Cravey, allowing NO HITS! Hoppers win tonight over the Hickory Crawdads by a score of 6-0. This win placed them alone at the top of the standings in first place. This win also improves the Hoppers to 13-5 on the year! Aaron Senne slammed a home run almost all the way back to Greensboro on a solo run home run in the 2nd inning for the first run of the game. The Hoppers crossing home plate tonight were Brent Keys, Ryan Rieger, Aaron Senne, James Wooster, Wilfredo Gimenez, and Austin Barnes! Way to go Hoppers! Since it was an away game I was not in attendance tonight, but thank you to the Radio Broadcasters at Greensboro Sports for keeping me informed on the game! As always, I echo the sentiment, IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOPPER!

-jordan

Rain Delay… Hoppers Okay!

Maybe it was the sound of the popcorn popping. Maybe it was the smell of a juicy Milwaukee Brat sizzling on the grill. Maybe it was that the first pitch was throw out by a seven year old girl with her teammates cheering her on, on the field. Maybe it was the 93/95 mph fastballs that Adam Conley was slinging tonight. But something was magical.  In the first three innings, Adam saw 10 batters, struck out 1, and allowed no hits. His arm was flawless tonight. Seeing him in person, he totally worth the hype. We’ll be seeing him in Miami before too long. The Hoppers were all tied up at zero when the heavens opened up. And when I say they opened up, THEY OPENED UP! The tarp hit the field and the game was delayed for the better part of 2 hours.

Providing the entertainment for those 2 hours was the always popular, BBoy McCoy, the dancing Bat Boy. Stay tuned, I got some video of his moves… Once the rain delay lifted, Omahen started pitching. Omahen saw 14 batters, 3 strikeouts, and only 2 hits. In the third inning, Ryan Rieger sent a sacrifice fly out to center field sending Ryan Goetz home to make it 1-0. Josh Adams, also sent a sacrifice fly to left field, sending Brent Keys home, to make it 2-0. And while Ryan Goetz was up batting in the fourth a wild pitch was thrown and Ryan McIntyre ran in to score, making it 3-0. But that didn’t make the hoppers out of the woods yet. In the 7th inning, Michael Planeta homers on a fly ball to left field. Making the score 3-1. And in the top of the 9th, the Shorebirds slammed another Homer, making it 3-2, hoppers lead. The last play of the game, FULL COUNT, 3-2 (3 balls, 2 strikes) Hoppers up by one, Shorebirds have runners on first and second. The batter swings, hit the ball straight to Austin Barnes at 2nd base, for the first out, and slings it to Ryan Rieger at first base for the double play!!! HOPPERS WIN!!! With this win the Grasshoppers hold on to 1st place in the Northern Division and improve to 12-5 on the year!

Shorebirds, Glynn Davis, at bat

Hoppers, Adam Conley, slinging 95 mph fastballs toward the plate!

Be sure to check out the complete box score and game recap for all the details.

Hope you enjoyed the blog tonight, as this was my first one, feel free to comment. It was a wet and soggy one, but I still echo the sentiment, IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HOPPER!

-jordan