Great Falls White Sox story

[elrockinMT]

Sorry I don't have the box but I'll try and get it for those interested.

 

Full house enjoys stellar Sox debut

By MIKE TOWNE

Tribune Sports Writer

 

 

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Great Falls White Sox manager Chris Cron was grinning from ear to ear, and for good reason. "We played an outstanding game. It was a pleasure to watch. It was a blast!" he said.

Combining outstanding pitching with errorless defense and balanced hitting, the White Sox whipped the Billings Mustangs 8-1 in their debut Tuesday night, before 4,168 fans at Legion Park.

 

Righthander Brandon McCarthy gave up a first-inning home run to Joey Votto, but quickly settled down and turned in six solid innings. He allowed just three more hits, all singles, and struck out seven while not allowing a walk.

 

Both Jeremy Johnson and Fernando Hernandez pitched well in relief, combining to hold Billings to three hits.

 

Eight of 10 White Sox batters combined for nine hits, third baseman Micah Schnurstein leading the effort with a solo home run and a single in three at-bats. Seven players scored at least one run.

 

"We got all three aspects of the game ... pitching, defense and hitting," Cron said. "Usually when you get just two of the three, you win a lot of games.

 

"McCarthy got us off on the right foot. He had command of the strike zone. He set the tone for the game," he added.

 

"Our defense was outstanding. We made the routine plays."

 

Schnurstein tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning, ripping Camilo Vasquez's first pitch off the scoreboard in left field.

 

Left fielder Chris Kelly put the White Sox ahead to stay in Great Falls' half of the fourth, bringing home center fielder Clinton King with a double that sailed over the head of Billings center fielder Phil Gentry. King had reached on an infield single with one out.

 

After Gentry made a nice running catch, robbing first baseman Brandon Bounds of a base hit, Schnurstein lashed a single to right to score Kelly and extend the White Sox's lead to 3-1.

 

Great Falls sent nine men to the plate in the seventh inning, pushing across five runs on four hits to break the game open.

 

Schnurstein was plunked in the back by a Jeff Groeger pitch with one out, and catcher Charlie Lisk and designated hitter Carlos Lee ripped back-to-back singles to load the bases. Billings third baseman Walt Olmstead then dropped a routine ground ball off the bat of pinch-hitter Ricard Nanita, allowing Schnurstein to score from third and give the White Sox a 4-1 lead.

 

Shortstop Mike Myers followed with a double down the left field line, scoring Lisk, Lee and Nanita. Second baseman Antoin Gray's single plated Myers, completing the scoring.

 

"We knew we would have great pitching and defense," said Schnurstein, a seventh-round pick in the 2002 amateur draft. "It was only a matter of time before we got going with the bats. We have the ability to explode in any inning, like we did tonight in the seventh.

 

"Someone will step up. We can count on each other."

 

Of his second-inning home run, Schnurstein said, "He (Vasquez) left a changeup over the plate. I was just hoping to hit something hard.

 

"It was great. It was the first pitch I saw," he added. "I couldn't have started any better."

 

Schnurstein had nothing but good things to say about McCarthy, who struck out five of the first nine batters he faced. "I played with him last year (at Phoenix in the Arizona League), and that's how I expect him to pitch every start. He's one of the most consistent pitchers I've ever met," he said.

 

With two outs in the second inning, Billings right fielder Manuel Paula singled and stole second base. But McCarthy got Miguel Perez to pop out to Bounds.

 

Gentry singled and was awarded second base on a balk with one out in the third inning. Both Habelito and Votto grounded out, however.

 

Paula got as far as third base in the Mustangs' half of the fifth, on a bunt single, stolen base and a ground-out by Rusty Beale. McCarthy then got Gentry to fly out to King in center.

 

Olmstead tripled off Johnson with one out in the seventh. But he was thrown out trying to score on Paula's grounder to Schnurstein.

 

NOTES: The White Sox and Mustangs meet again tonight, starting at 7. It will be Pizza Hut/Insty Prints night at the park. Fraternal Night is on tap Thursday, when Great Falls begins a three-game homestand against the Missoula Osprey ... Right-hander John Russ, an eighth-round pick in this year's draft, is scheduled to start tonight's game vs. Billings. Corey Wachman is scheduled to start for Billings, with relief help from Orlando Escorcha. Both saw action for the Mustangs last summer, each winning one game.

[Rex Hudler]

The boxscore has already been posted in the Minor League boxscores thread.

[elrockinMT]

The boxscore has already been posted in the Minor League boxscores thread.

Thanks Rex, I saw that afterwards. I won't worry about the boxes.