Busting Out The Big Lumber

Chillicothe 7, Richmond 2

What can you say about a day that was filled with emotions about honoring the troops and having a nearly packed crowd on hand at the V.A.? The answer is simple. Most likely, you'll end up seeing a game that has a different feel to it. When there's something else on the horizon that can pump you up, you allow that thing to pump you up and you get some more motivation. This day at the ballpark was a fun one, make no mistake at all. By now, the crowd in Ross County has gotten used to the fact that the Paints are playing in a college wooden bat league, and in fact, they enjoy watching that kind of baseball. The support that the Prospect League is getting, in my opinion, is becoming fascinating.

Let's talk about what the home team did for this game. On the mound for the Paints to make his first start for the game was a pitcher who I had no recollection of at all. He wasn't listed on the roster as I checked on the scorecard that I usually get for each game. I found out that the starting pitcher for Chillicothe was A.J. Achter, and this guy did an outstanding job in his debut as a member of the Southern Ohio Stampede. Achter pitched seven innings, and he looked really impressive throwing some good looking pitches, and those pitches really got to Richmond's batters. Achter recorded 8 strikeouts, and gave up two runs. The Riverrats got in hardly any hits against Achter.

Krist Linster, the sidearmer from the bullpen, came in relief and pitched the last two innings of the game. He gave up a walk and struck out a batter. Here's one thing that I would like to note. The Paints have done a solid job of keeping the amount of pitchers playing in a single game down to a reasonable number considering all of the games that have been played that were very close. The amount of pitchers that you have available in the bullpen does play into the strategy making aspect of the game at hand. Now under Prospect League rules, the pitchers are going to be held to a certain pitch count, so don't be surprised if new pitchers come in because of the high and limited pitch count.

The offense was there once again for the Paints, and even though they had a slow start in getting the runs in, they eventually did get enough runs to win the ballgame. The key here is to string the base hits that you make, and the Paints did a good job of busting out the big lumber to get the 7 runs in their win. Third baseman Kyle Galbraith went deep for a 2-run homerun in the third inning and came back to drive in two more runs on a double in the seventh inning. Galbraith had a fantastic game, getting 4 RBI's. Right fielder Eian Banks had a single and a triple. Matt Abro went deep for a solo homerun shot in the seventh inning. Center fielder Zach Frentsos got an RBI off a sacrifice fly. Tim Krofcheck had two singles, with one of them coming off a bunt.

This has been the third game against Richmond that the Chillicothe Paints have performed well. I can't quite put my fnger on it, but I'd have to say that the Paints feel comfortable whenever they play the Riverrats. That's big since you need to find your comfort spots against a team that plays in your own division. Thankfully for the Paints this year, the Eastern Division is the lighter division of the two as it has only five teams. One thing about divisional games would be this, they're always important in some shape or form. Last I checked, the Riverrats were in third place in the East in this still young season going into this game, so this was a good win to have.