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Extra inning affair for Cache Valley rivals By
Wade Denniston
PROVIDENCE--After pounding the Smithfield Blue Sox by 19 runs at Richard V. Hansen Park (on June 27), the Wolverines knew they'd be in for a tougher battle once the two teams squared off again. Such was the case Friday night at Max L. Johnson Memorial Field as it took extra innings to decide the outcome between the two valley rivals in Northern Utah League Action. "We knew they'd come gunning for us," said Providence starting pitcher Ryan Reisbeck, after helping lead his team to a 5-4 victory in eight innings. Reisbeck threw seven and two-thirds solid innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits, while striking out six and walking two. "(Ryan's) tough," said Wolverine right fielder Evan Hoge, who also played a key part in the victory. With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eight inning, Hoge came to the plate with the score knotted at 4. It didn't take long for the left-handed batter to end the game. Already 3 for 4 in the game off of Smithfield starting pitcher Jason Jarvis, Hoge needed just one offering from the Blue Sox ace in the eighth. "He threw a curve ball. I wasn't really looking (for) anything," said Hoge, who drove the down-and-away breaking ball to the gap in right-center. "I was just looking to get a pitch I could drive in the gap." And Hoge did, which gave the Wolverines their second straight win over the Sox. The loss drops Smithfield to 27-4 overall, but had it not been for a couple of costly errors and mental mistakes, the game could've gone the Blue Sox's way. Sporting a 1-0 lead after a leadoff home run by shortstop Reggie Bingham to begin the game, Smithfield allowed Providence to take its first lead of the game in the bottom half of the first. Wolverine leadoff hitter Dave Simmons hit what could've been the first out of the inning, but the Texas-leaguer single dropped in between three converging Sox players. Hoge followed suit with a perfectly placed bunt for a hit, and Simmons scored a batter later when Smithfield second baseman Rick Thorne committed an error on a ball hit by Chris Shelton. With the scored tied at 1, Hoge put Providence in front when he stole home as the right side of the Smithfield infield was busy in a rundown with Chris Shelton, who was trying to steal second. Shelton was eventually tagged out, but the throw home was a second too late. The Wolverines added two more in the last of the fifth as Jarvis got things going for the opposition by beaning the leadoff batter with two outs in the inning. The No.1 batter scored a batter later on a nicely timed hit-and-run double by Hoge, who scored Providence's fourth run on Shelton's RBI-single to right. But, Smithfield wasn't about to give in easily. Bingham led off the top of the sixth with his second homer of the night, a shot to left field that hit the road on the fly. Three batters later, Blue Sox first baseman Todd Wilson tied the game with a two-run round tripper to center field. "Each one of those home runs (the pitches) were right down the pipe," Reisbeck said. "I tend to have a problem in the sixth inning, though. That's my toughest inning." Hoge agreed. "Sometimes when we get a big lead he'll kind of coast," he said. "But, he came back tough, that's for sure." That Reisbeck did as he retired the side in order in the top of the seventh, then two straight batters to begin the eighth, before giving up two consecutive singles and turning the game over to reliever Nick Bott. Bott didn't let his mates down, though, as he ended the Sox rally by striking out Darrin Cooper to end the inning. "Bott's tough," Hoge said. "He was tough closing it." Hoge was 4 for 5 in the game with two runs and two RBI. Wilson led the way for Smithfield with a perfect 3 for 3 outing, and a walk. BOX SCORE: WOLVERINES 5, BLUE SOX 4 (8) Friday at Providence Smithfield 100 003 00--4 9 2 Providence 200 020 01--5 8 0 Ryan Reisbeck, Nick Bott (W-8) and Derek Waddoups. Jason Jarvis (L) and Craig Miller. 2B--P Evan Hoge. HR--S Reggie Bingham (2), Todd Wilson.
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