Monday August 4th 2008

Gulls Sweep Silkworms; Dukes Waiting

Newport’s Five-Run Third Inning and a Pair of Homers Ends Series

by Paul Ofria/Silkworm Sports Information Dept

MANCHESTER – Playing the game was probably just a formality.

The heavily favored Gulls scored five times in the third inning and coasted to a 9-3 victory over the Silkworms Monday night at Northwest Park.

“That’s been our season all year,” Al Leyva said after his fist year as the Silkworm manager came to a merciful end. “We cruise along and then all of a sudden a key error that goes into another error. We made two errors that cost us two runs. It’s unfortunate, but hopefully they will learn from it. In this game, you can’t give up four or five outs an inning.”

The Gulls hit a pair of homers - Mike Tamsin with two-out and a runner on in the fifth to make it 7-0, and Joey Manning in the seventh with nobody on.

Newport moves on to the NECBL South Division finals against Pittsfield, who swept North Adams in their series. The Gulls beat Manchester 9-2 Sunday night at Cardines Field in Newport in the first game of the best-of-three series.

“They are a quality team and I think they are going to win it all,” Leyva said of the Gulls, who boast nine players that have been drafted by major league teams. The Gulls tied their next opponent, Pittsfield, with a .281 team batting average and led the circuit with 33 home runs. “They are peaking at the right time, they’ve got the horses, they’ve got everything.”

Jared Prince struck out six over six innings to pick up the win for the Gulls. Kevin Moran Robert Morey and Dan Mahoney each contributed with a no-hit, no run inning. Moran hit a batter for the Silkworms lone base runner over the final three innings.

The 2008 season was a struggle for the ninth year franchise, which qualified for the playoffs for a fifth straight season despite a 16-25 (.390 winning %). The 2008 Worms tied Torrington for the league’s lowest batting average (.218), had the second highest ERA (4.52) and issued 34 more walks than any other staff (222 over 354 1/3 innings).

But the Silkworms stuck together and played hard for each other up to the end.

“20-25 guys, you make great friends,” Ryan McGrath said between goodbyes. “The record didn’t really work out this year, but we had a good time and got our work in and the playoffs was also a good experience for us.”

Silkworm catcher Mike Bourdon was behind the plate in the final game of the season and backed up McGrath’s sentiment. “I think everyone’s goals coming into the summer season was to get better as a player, win a few games, make the playoffs and go as far as we could,” Bourdon said reflecting on the past eight weeks. “I think everyone did get better as a player, we didn’t win as many game as we would have liked, but we won enough to get in the playoffs.”

“Over the course of the summer we had a lot of guys go home with injuries,” Bourdon continued. “We had some new guys come in and had a good team bond. We had a lot of fun playing and hung out on off-days. It was a fun summer and I enjoyed playing with every single guy on the team.”

Bourdon was 2 for 4 and drove in with a single in the fourth. Mark Micowski  (2 for 3) had the lone Silkworm extra base hit, a double in the fifth and scored the third Silkworm run on a Mike Gallic single.

Bourdon’s catching mate, Chris Affinito, was one of those injured players who left the team in mid-July. It would have been easy for him to stay home to rest for the school year, but he came back for the playoffs as promised, despite being just healthy enough to pinch hit. “Part of the reason I came back was the love for the game - I love to come to the ballpark every day.” Affinito, who hit the lone Silkworm homerun at Northwest Park in ’08, said. “I got real close with these guys before I left and I knew their spirits were down and I wanted to come back.”

Manchester starter Matt O’Brien lasted just 2 2/3 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits. McGrath pitched 3 1/3 innings of strong relief despite giving up the Tamsin homer. Tyler Hyde closed out the season with 1 /23 innings of shutout baseball.

The Voice of Northwest Park…And Other NECBL Venues

Keith Lindstrom’s baritone voice has been a constant over the years at Silkworm games, both at home and on the road. Some nights, his bark has been the only sound at an otherwise quiet ballpark.

When Keith is traveling with the team – which is often – fans listening at home on teamline.com find his voice as recognizable as the crack of a wood bat.  On July 9th in a game at Alumni Field in Lowell, Keith’s cheering streamed over the Internet almost as clearly as the broadcaster’s, and may have had a bearing on the outcome of the game. The Silkworms came back to win 4-3 on a Ryan Piacentini home run in the 11th inning.

Keith and his wife Vicki have been a host family for the past eight seasons and rarely miss a game – home or away. This season, the Lindstroms missed only two, which is unusually high - opening night when they were singing with the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the game in Sanford, Maine on June 21st. Over the years, the Lindstroms have been to every NECBL Park – even dormant venues in West Warwick, RI, Concord, NH and Middletown – and bring an entourage of friends or families of the out-of-town players in their seven-passenger van..

The traveling party usually includes staples Tom and Joan Welch, Art and Barb St. Louis and Rich and Karen Andreoli – all members of the host family fraternity.

Keith considers Newport is his favorite NECBL park, “but the home field (Northwest Park) is second,” Keith said during a break from one of his other volunteer positions – getting his second favorite park ready for the next game. “Torrington has to be in there and Keene is a very unique park. Vermont is up there.”

Silkworm Alum Named Tampa Bay Devil Rays Pitcher of the Month

 Jesse Darcy (Silkworms in ’05 and ’06) was named the Tampa Bay Rays organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month for his work in June. Darcy, a right-hander from Levittown, N.Y., went 4-0; posted a 1.53 ERA and notched 20 strikeouts in 29 and 1/3 innings of action for the Class-A affiliate Columbus Catfish. He yielded just four walks while limiting opponents to a .237 batting average.

Darcy was drafted in the 28th round in the 2007 MLB Draft. He began the season as a reliever before moving into the starting rotation full time on May 24. Darcy holds a 4-1 overall record on the season, along with a 2.63 ERA. In total, he has recorded 62 strikeouts and 11 walks over 82 innings of work.

Darcy’s brother Ryan was on the first Silkworm team in 2000 and set the team’s single season mark for innings pitched (68 1/3) and complete games (5).

Notes:

Keith Lindstrom was nearly upstaged by a boisterous group of Newport fans that gave Northwest Park a European Soccer feel. The good-natured loud bunch are college students from Ireland who spend the summer working at Carnegie Abbey, a luxury resort in Newport. …Gulls infielder Cody Grisham is a distant cousin to legal drama author John Grisham. Cody’s great grandfather and the novelist’s Dad were cousins…Attendance for the final Silkworm game of 2008 was 622, which was play in a swift (by 2008 standards) two hours and thirty six minutes.