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SPRINGFIELD, IL – June 30, 2008 –
The Springfield Sliders
clinched the CICL 1st Half Title by defeating Quincy, 6-2,
in front of a crowd of 1,227. Jimmy Swift, Ryan Ashe and Bo
Kinder drove in two runners apiece helping to seal a playoff
berth for Springfield during their inaugural season. Brian
Behnke earned the win in his first start of the season. The
Heartland CC southpaw tossed five complete innings, struck
out four and walked one without allowing a run. Tyler
Choate picked up his fourth save of the season by throwing
the final four innings.
In the bottom of the 4th inning the Sliders broke a
scoreless tie. Ashe started the inning with a bunt single
followed by a nearly identical Vincente Cafaro bunt single.
After Andrew Quinnette advanced the runners with yet another
bunt, this time a sacrifice, Quincy's starting pitcher
Christopher Conner struck out Denny Vaughn for the second
out. With the bases loaded Jimmy Swift laced a two-out,
two-strike fastball through the left side to give the
Sliders a lead that they would not relinquish.
In the 6th the Sliders pushed across four runs on three hits
and one Quincy error. Two Springfield outfielders, Ashe and
Kinder, stroked two-out singles to centerfield to give the
Sliders the eventual winning run and the insurance runs that
they would need.
Quincy's Jon Myers hit his sixth homerun of the season to
give the Gems their two runs in the top of the ninth.
Oliver Palmer and Thomas McCormick each stroked two hits
apiece.
The Sliders now stand at 17-4 overall and the Gems are
8-12. Quincy plays host to Danville tomorrow while
Springfield is idle. The Sliders will host DuPage on
Wednesday with the first pitch being thrown at 7:05 CDT.
Wednesday the Sliders will host a Pre 4th of July Fireworks
Celebration courtesy of County Market. Kick off the
celebration for our nation's 232nd birthday with the Sliders
as they host DuPage at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield.
~ Jay Gundy
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