Cleveland Sports Forum

Clips go down to Knights again, 5-4. They are just happy to be leaving that cesspool and get back to the best minor league ballpark in country as voted on by fans. ... Merritt 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. ... Yandy 0-3 with 2 walks. ... Naquin 2-5 with a triple. ... Ronny Rod 2-5 with another homer.

Ducks lose again to RumblePonies 3-2. ... Lineras a scoreless 9th, 2 K. ... Bradley 1-3 a double and a walk. ... Chang 2-3 with double.

Hillcats went down to Keys 13-5. ... McKenzie with maybe his worst start ever. 5 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. ... Castro 1-4. ... Collins 1-5.

Captains lost big too, 15-2. ... McKenzie's buddy Hillman was killed too. 5 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. ... Longo 2-4. ... Tinsley 1-4 a triple. ... Chu 0-4 ... Ice 1-3 with walk.

Scrappers were off.

AZL TRibe beat Rangers 5-3. ... Sam Hentges 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Nice to see him striking guys out. Hopefully his stuff is still good. ... Gabe Mejia 1-3. ... Freeman 0-4. ... Holmes 1-4 a triple.

DSL main Indian team was off today.

DSL Dodgers 5 Indians/Brewers 0. ... Cedeno 3(IP) 3H 1R 0ER 3BB 0SO. ... Palacio 0-2 2BB. ... Ramirez 0-3 BB

BA on the same games:

CLE AA Allen, Greg PR 0 0 0 0 .231
CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 3 0 1 0 .242 2B (16), BB (41)
CLE AA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 3 1 2 0 .230 2B (17), BB (36), CS (2)
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler 2B 3 0 0 1 .218
CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy 3B 3 0 0 0 .329 2 BB (40)
CLE AAA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 0 0 0 .151 [no longer the worst-hitting Rodriguez]
CLE HiA Castro, Willi SS 4 0 1 2 .291
CLE LoA Ice, Logan C 3 0 1 0 .229 BB (29)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik 2B 4 0 2 2 .300 CS (2)
CLE MAJ Zimmer, Bradley CF 4 2 2 2 .281 2B (11), HR (7), BB (18)
CLE R Fermin, Jose 2B 3 0 1 1 .169 2B (3)
CLE R Freeman, Tyler SS 4 0 0 0 .328
CLE R Holmes, Quentin CF 4 1 1 0 .204 3B (2)
CLE R Lopez, Angel C 2 2 1 1 .167 2B (2), BB (6)
CLE R Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 2 0 0 0 .122 [he's now the trailing Rodriguez, but he's only 17 since he has an excuse]
CLE AAA Merritt, Ryan 3.2 5 2 1 0 3 3.33
CLE HiA McKenzie, Triston 5 5 7 7 3 6 3.31 L (9-5)
CLE LoA Hillman, Juan 5 10 8 8 2 2 5.17 L (5-5)
CLE R Draper, Zach 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 5.19 [must be a draftee I dont' recall]

They are just happy to be leaving that cesspool and get back to the best minor league ballpark in country as voted on by fans.

LOL Hillbilly. I am just thrilled to be able to go to a professional game and have great seats. Any or all Tribe Forum members are welcome to come to Charlotte an watch our team play.

I was just kidding with ya, UD! Love ya, man!

I wish I had an upper level team nearby to watch regularly. I have a rookie league team here in Great Falls. ChiSox affiliate. There are a bunch of rookie league teams out here in Montana. Frontier League. The only thing my local ballpark is famous for is a video that was shot by a team employee that shows a UFO hovering above park during game. You can find it on YouTube. Even aliens love baseball.

Civ ... Draper was a later pick, a lefty out of College of Idaho.

Aaron Civale – Engineering Success on the Mound for Lynchburg

David Freier | On 27, Jul 2017

High-A Lynchburg Hillcats starting pitcher Aaron Civale got started in baseball by following his older brother.

“I wanted to do everything he did, compete at what he did,” he said. “He played baseball, basketball, and soccer. I did the same.”

In grade school, he rotated through the three sports – soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Baseball was the sport that captured his attention and affection, even when he was playing other sports.

As he advanced through little league and other organized levels of baseball, he remained both a hitter and a pitcher. Eventually, as the right-hander found a comfort zone on the mound, pitching began to be the object of his baseball attention. It was not until college that he shifted to pitching full time.

Not getting the attention of scouts while coming out of Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, he sought a college experience with strong academics and an opportunity to play baseball. He found both at Northeastern University under head coach and alumnus Mike Glavine (brother of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine).

“I wasn’t on the radar for the pros at that point,” said Civale. “Northeastern was a good program and I was looking for schools that had good baseball and good academics.”

A mechanical engineering major, Civale pitched in a relief role during his freshman and sophomore seasons, getting only a single start. The thought of a professional career in baseball was not yet the focus of his future.

That would change. First, he had the opportunity to pitch an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at their spring training home, JetBlue Park in Florida. Second, he spent the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

Civale had not started a game all season long for the Huskies, but on this spring day, he would go out and pitch against some of the most well-known names in Red Sox history, including David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia.

“I found out the night before, at a team dinner,” he said about when he knew he would get the starting nod. “We had a game the day before and I was in the bullpen possibly ready to go in the game. We scored six or seven runs in the seventh inning. So I wasn’t needed for that game, I was available for the next day.”

Being rested, coach Glavine offered him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Coach Glavine asked me at the dinner, ‘So you want to start tomorrow?’. Absolutely!” said Civale.

Reflecting back on this game, he describes the experience as surreal.

“Being there, taking it all in beforehand, it seemed as big a deal as it was. Once I got on the mound, it was about baseball again.”

Facing Big Papi (Ortiz) was an experience he will never forget.

“I grew up a Red Sox fan, following his whole career. He is one of my favorite players, still. A bigger-than-life personality, both on and off the field. The opportunity to pitch against him was an honor.”

Ortiz was one of four strikeouts Civale tallied against the Boston lineup that day. Red Sox manager John Farrell was impressed with him. According to comments in the Boston Globe, ‘He had a good late cutter and attacked the strike zone.’

That summer, he would go on to pitch for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks as he prepared himself to be a starting pitcher for his junior season.

“I’d been to some of the games as a kid up to the Cape for a weekend,” Civale shared. “It was a big summer, learning and experience wise. I went into it as a temp, and was fortunate enough to pitch well early and gain the trust of the coaches and earn a full contract.”

Civale did more than just earn a contract. He was named the top New England prospect for his summer efforts. Civale also participated in the summer league’s All-Star game, pitching a single inning with one strikeout. Even with this success, he took nothing for granted.

“Every day I went into it that this was my last day, that temp contract still in my mind.”

This changed his path toward baseball as a professional. Cleveland selected him in the third round, the 92nd position overall, in the 2016 First Year Player Draft, making him the top pitcher drafted by the Indians that year.

After signing, he got 13 starts for rookie level Mahoning Valley, building on his college experience. This earned him the number 20 organizational prospect spot in the Cleveland farm system as determined by Baseball America. He has not slowed down in 2017.

Unlike many pitchers, Civale has five offerings he can deal out to opposing hitters. He features a two-seam fastball, and mixes that up with a cutter, a slider, a curveball, and his most recent addition, a change-up.

“The goal this season is development of that change-up,” he said. “As a reliever for two years, I didn’t really need a change-up. I relied on my fastball, cutter, and slider. In high school, I didn’t throw the change-up, so it’s not a pitch I’m familiar with.”

Working on the change-up with Hillcats pitching coach Rigo Beltran gives him an off-speed offering that can mix-up hitters and keep them off balance. Since entering the Indians farm system, Civale has worked as a starter, taking the mound every fifth day. In 34 starts as a professional, he has 138 strikeouts and only 21 walks – all in just a shade over 160 innings.

Promoted from Low-A Lake County on June 1, Civale won his Advanced-A debut with a 3-1 victory over the Potomac Nationals. In ten starts since, he has a 5-2 record and a 3.04 ERA. Along with teammate Triston McKenzie, the two look to continue their success as the Hillcats pursue the second half Northern Division title in the Carolina League.

His continuing success hinges on learning to adapt to the longer season and to maintain his conditioning and endurance through August and the playoffs.

“Staying healthy is a big goal of mine,” said Civale. “My first full season, just gaining nuances, understanding everything your body goes through. Learning what you need to push through on and what you need to pull back on.”

So far he has pushed and pulled successfully in a Hillcats uniform.

Like many of his teammates, he enjoys golfing and video games, but there is not too much down time during a 140-game minor league season to pursue those activities. As Civale continues to toe the rubber every fifth day, he aims to be balanced and maintain a consistent level of performance.

“I just take pride in making sure I’m 100% every fifth day.”

Did College of Idaho make it as far away as Great Falls for any of their road games?

Founded 126 years ago in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college, with an enrollment of 1,140 students. Wikipedia
Address: 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID 83605
Undergraduate tuition and fees: 24,955 USD (2015)
Acceptance rate: 92.9% (2014)

OK: so it's 600 miles from Caldwell to Great Falls. You have pretty long distances out west! 600 from Eastern Ohio gets you well beyond NYC and Chicago and Nashville: probably a couple dozen states; while Montana the last I knew bordered Idaho.

Oh yeah, people don't realize how huge Montana is. I live in the middle of the state. It takes me over 5 hours to drive to Miles City, MT, which is in the southeast portion of the state. Takes me 4 hours to drive to Kalispell, MT, which is northwest portion of state.

It used to take me 5 hours to drive from Gallipolis, OH to Charlotte, NC!!

That's why there was no speed limit out here for long time. Wide open straight roads and long distances between towns. People still drive like there isn't.

I've set foot in your state during one trip, we snuck in from Yellowstone, drove up to Anaconda [worst Chinese dinner in history], Butte [mining museum I think], up through some river valley [Blackwater?] maybe that got us to Kalispell, there was a buffalo reserve somewhere along the way, and then beautiful Glacier NP. Then we escaped to Idaho for a few days. Awfully pretty country. Not sure why I haven't been back. I guess it must be because it's so far away.

If you drove from Butte to Kalispell then you may have went through the Flathead Valley, which is gorgeous.

I rent a cabin on the Clearwater River just outside of Seeley Lake from time to time. It's in that area too and nice.

I've had an opportunity to do a lot of traveling and in my opinion Glacier National Park is the most beautiful area of the mainland 48 states. Hawaii too. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the 12+ years we've lived in Montana. We still go often, take new hiking trails each trip, and still get wowed each time.

Haven't been to Alaska yet but we're in early process of planning a trip there. Looking forward to that.

Well the Clippers finally managed a win against Charlotte, 5-2. ... Yandy 1-4. ... Naquin 1-4 with double.

Akron's game suspended after 3 due to rain. They're finishing it tomorrow.

Hillcats beat Dash 4-2. ... Pasquale was demoted from Akron but had a great start here. 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. ... Also Ben Krauth was promoted to Lynchburg today. But he didn't have as good a beginning. He gave up a 2 run homer and had 4 K in 2.1 IP. ... Castro 1-4 with a solo homer. ... Collins 1-3 with a double and walk. ... Carter 1-2 with 2 walks.

Lake County beat South Bend 9-7. ... Brady with another good outing on his road back from injury. 1 run and 3 hits in 4 innings. ... Siri struck out side in 9th for the save. He may really be one to watch. As I posted before, he supposedly has a dominating major league slider. ... Longo 2-5 with a double. ... Chu 2-4 with a double and a walk. ... Tinsley 1-2 with a walk.

Scrappers beat Crosscutters 2-1. ... I misspoke last night, I said Scrappers were off. They were scheduled and Plesac was supposed to start as I had mentioned earlier, but got rained out. So Plesac started tonight and was great again. 3.1 IP till he reached his pitch count limit, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. ... Plesac has 29 K in 24.1 IP and 0.74 ERA now. ... Eli Morgan continues to kill it out of the pen. 5 K in 3 scoreless innings. 0.73 ERA now. ... Berardi 2-4. ... Oscar 0-3 with walk. ... Lucas 1-2.

AZL Tribe off today.

DSL Indians 14 Astros 4. ... Marmol 2-5 2R HR RBI ... Diaz 2-5 2B 3RBI ... Montero 2-4 4R BB SB

DSL Indians/Brewers 8 Dodgers 4 ... Ramirez 4-5 3R 3(2B) 2RBI ... Jimenez 2-5 R 2(2B) 3RBI ... Palacio 0-3 R BB

Plesac, bullpen help Scrappers win pitchers’ duel
Two-run eighth powers Scrappers


By Steve Ruman sports@vindy.com
NILES

Thursday’s game between the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Williamsport Crosscutters featured a pitching matchup between two of the best starters in the New York-Penn League. The Scrappers (22-14) sent right-hander Zach Plesac to the mound, who entered the night without a decision, but with an 0.86 earned run average.

Williamsport starter Kyle Young entered the evening with a perfect 5-0 record (8-0 in his professional career) and a 1.59 ERA.
oth pitchers lived up to their billing. However, the Scrappers’ bullpen was equally effective, while their offense broke through with some clutch eighth-inning hits. The result was a 2-1 win for the Scrappers in front of 4,490 enthusiastic Buck Night fans at Eastwood Field.

Ernie Clement and Jesse Berardi each collected RBI singles to give the Scrappers a 2-0 advantage in the eighth inning. Williamsport first baseman Austin Listi hit a home run to lead off the ninth, but that was all the offense the Crosscutters were able to muster against Plesac and three relievers.

Plesac retired the first batter in the fourth before being lifted after throwing 63 pitches. Plesac gave up just one hit and recorded four strikeouts, but three walks and a hit batter elevated his pitch count.

Eli Morgan was sensational in relief, giving up two hits while striking out five. Jonathan Teaney (2-0) worked the final two innings to get the win.

Young was very efficient, scattering three hits while recording six strikeouts through five innings. Young, who was drafted out of high school by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 22nd round of the 2016 draft, is just 19-years-old and stands seven feet tall.

“I knew this one was going to be tough,” said Scrappers manager Luke Carlin. “We knew what we were getting into, we expected a low scoring game.
“Zach has been solid all year. Eli, it was great to see him fight back after having a tough outing in Auburn. This entire staff has really stepped up night after night.”

Carlin missed the second half of the game after being ejected following an argument with the umpires. Carlin’s dispute came an inning after Samad Taylor was called out for being out of the batter’s box while trying to bunt in the bottom of the fourth.

A similar play happened to lead off the bottom of the fifth.

“Honestly, I thought he got the call right, but we were just arguing over the logistics of the play, of [home-plate umpire] Ben [Rosen] not asking for help,” Carlin said. “These guys do a really good job. A lot of the rules are subjective, and these guys have a tough job. We were just arguing over the logistics of how you make a call.”

The Scrappers wiggled out of several jams to keep the Crosscutters off the board through five innings. With one out in the fourth, a drawn-in infield erased a baserunner trying to score from third. One inning later, Williamsport put runners on first and third to start the frame, but a 5-2-6 double play erased the threat. The game remained scoreless until the eighth, when the first two Scrappers reached base on a walk and a hit batter, which set the stage for Clement and Berardi.

“I was just trying to fight off pitches and find something I could handle,” Clement said. “I had some fastballs blown by me, and I was just fouling them off. Fortunately I got something off-speed and I was able to poke it into left. It was awesome to get the job done for the team.”

Clement was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the June draft. While at the University of Virginia, he was the toughest player to strike out in all of college baseball. He now owns a 12-game hitting streak. “I’m a little guy, I gotta put the ball in play,” Clement said. “When I get up there, I just have to do anything I can to stay alive.”

The Scrappers and Crosscutters continue their three-game series tonight

Of all people, look who makes the Hot Prospect List.


13. Logan Ice, C, Indians (22) Low Class A Lake County (South Atlantic)

The Indians second-round pick a year ago got off to a tough start in his first full season, but has been a different player since the All-Star break. In the first half, Ice hit .201/.310/.295 in 44 games. In the second half, the Oregon State product has hit .288/.360/.538 in 23 games.

AVG OBP SLG XBH BB SB
.467 .579 .867 5 5 2

I went to the Clippers Knights game last night at Charlotte's crappy stadium (LOL HB). The Clips won, but I really wanted to watch Naquin. He misplayed a ball in Right Field that could have been due to positioning and the awkward wall alignment, but mostly I wanted to sense his attitude. Hw seems sullen, doesn't have that spring in his step as he did last year. I recall the attitude of his inside the park homer last year. Our outfield appears to be log-jammed for him. I would not be surprised to see him traded at the deadline.