Paints Rally To Win Third Straight

Chillicothe 7, Richmond 3

The Chillicothe Paints won their third consecutive game to start off the 2010 baseball season the right way so far, and although it is still very early in the season, you do have to be impressed by how well this team has played. It's very surprising but it's pleasantly surprising. Going into the start of this season, I clearly had no idea what to expect from this new batch of players, but I have been very impressed so far. Paints field manager Brian Mannino has these young men playing tough and playing well, and for this game in particular, the Paints had to come back from behind to win.

Through just three games in this year, the Paints have averaged 7 runs per game, and that's an interesting stat to keep track of already. The Paints on offense have done a tremendous job and it seems as though things will keep going as they have been going because in this game, the Paints have been using their muscle to try to drive the ball clear out of the ballpark, and needless to say, the Paints used their muscle at Don McBride Stadium, the home of their natural baseball rivals Richmond. Oh, and before I forget and talk about the stats of the Paints players, I have to say that I usually get thrown off track when it comes to the team name of the Richmond team. I should remember to call them the River Rats and not the Riverrats or any other variant of the name because River Rats just looks better when read. Chalk that one up as a "my bad."

Starting pitcher Andrew Richardson only pitched three innings for this game, and there was a legit reason for that. Andrew was having an off night as he gave up three runs to the hometown River Rats. He would give up five hits and two walks, but he would record a couple of strikeouts. Kyle Schepel and the rest of the Paints' bullpen arms did a really great job giving Richardson some help as Schepel would pitch three innings of relief. Schepel wouldn't give up any runs at all and he would go on to strike out two batters, giving up just one walk and one hit. For the rest of the way, the Paints bullpen basically shut down the River Rats after Richmond got out to an early 3-2 lead, and therefore the bullpen let the offense get back in it....

...and get back in it the offense did.

For the offense, second baseman Torsten Boss had an RBI single. Centerfielder Cody Elliott had a single. First baseman Ian Nielson had three hits, and two of those hits were homerun shots. Nielson went deep twice for two solo homeruns. Right fielder Jeff Holm went deep for a two-run homerun shot back in the first inning. Left fielder Anthony Wieber had a single. Catcher Payton Bieker had an infield single. Designated hitter Brandon White had a hit and run single. Shortstop Grant Goodwin, a player from Division III Wittenburg University, joined the Paints earlier in the day and he did make an impact on his first day as a Paint. He successfully pulled off a suicide squeeze that scored a runner in the sixth inning.

Overall, this was yet another good game played by the Paints, and this is a good wave of momentum to have. It never hurts to generate early momentum in the season, so let's hope that this keeps going for a little bit longer. I am currently enjoying what I'm hearing from the radio broadcasts. It has been a treat to listen to the Paints play hard against their opponents.