Paints Lose A Tough One

Hannibal Cavemen 2, Chillicothe Paints 1 (10 innings)

The Hannibal Cavemen went to Chillicothe, Ohio to take in their very first game at V.A. Memorial Stadium, and while there may have been bumps in the road for them in this ballgame, the Cavemen stuck in there and got the victory in the only extra inning of the game. For both teams, it was close. There weren't many runs scored and the competitive juices were definitely flowing for the Cavemen and for the Paints.

The key word for this game has to be "competitive." Both teams showed the resiliency needed to keep battling away. This was a game that had to be enjoyed by the hometown fans in spite of the less than great result to it. The crowd for this game was just wonderful. I could hear it all around the place that the crowd was into this game, and for good reason. The simple fact that the promotion for this game was Dime-A-Dog Night really brought out the masses. Once again, a new record was set at V.A. Memorial Stadium for the most hot dogs sold in a game. There were over 4,700 hot dogs sold. That just goes to show you that when you have a successful promotional pitch, you would know that you will keep that promotion.

Myself and other family members were on hand to watch this game, and we had so much fun, like always. Rex Ingham tookthe mound for the start. Rex went 8 innings deep in his start, giving up 7 hits and no walks at all, while recording four strikeouts. He only gave up one run in this game, and it was only a solo homerun shot early on. He looked to have great command of his pitches. He did establish some kind of a presence beacuse he did fool a few Cavemen batters during some of their at-bats.

Chadd Steinborn pitched in relief of Ingham and he did a marvelous job in the ninth inning. He struck out a pair of batters and gave up no runs at all. There was a point that seven consecutive pitches thrown by Steinborn in his outing were indeed strikes. In comparison, Mark Williams struggled in his outing in the tenth and final inning of the game. He gave up three hits and the eventual winning run to Hannibal. Of course, this was something that the people of Chillicothe may not have liked to see, but the situation was getting tough, especially for a game in the Prospect League, as we're all aware by now.

For the offense, Kyle Galbraith, making his first appearance back at third base since a while ago, did a good job in this game. He had an RBI double, a single, and a stolen base. Shortstop Ben Allen had two singles, with one of them being of the infield variety, and a stolen base. Left fielder Andy Brouse had a single. Second baseman Tim Krofcheck had a single and a stolen base. To be pretty honest, the lineup was like a roller coaster here. There were some really bright moments for the offense, and then there were at least fairly dull moments for the offense. As hit and miss as they were, the offense did try to get things going in this game, it's just that some of the execution wasn't there.

Now I would like to inform the readers that the Prospect League All-Star Game is just around the horizon, with the horizon being a whole week full. I have been wondering recently about which Paints players should be on the Eastern Division all-star team. I think it's a tough one to call because not many players have pulled away from the pack. I seem to take note of Ben Allen, Clayton Schulz, and Andrew Marshall a great deal during my reports, so I have to believe that those three players will be in the conversation. I hope for the best for our team, because all I want is representation. That's really the only thing I'm looking for. More details about the all-star break are sure to be on the way.