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Hemberger stifles Silver Creek
Tri-City's Dan Hemberger looks like
prime beef with his 2-hitter in an 8-0 win.
SPRINGTOWN -- There is an old baseball adage that good pitching stops good
hitting.
Well since Silver Creek can be classified as a great hitting team and since they
play at a hitter-friendly ballpark, then apparently you would need great
pitching to stop great hitting.
Now if you take it a step further and throw in the fact that Tri-City's Dan
Hemberger just threw a two-hit shutout against Silver Creek in their home
ballpark on Saturday, then it is safe to say that there simply are not too many
adjectives in Webster's Dictionary that can do that kind of performance justice.
The 8-0 Fleetwings victory ties this best-of-five Semifinals series at a game
apiece.
Hemberger, a southpaw, was dazzling with his change of speeds, movement and
location.
And this stellar performance apparently was no fluke.
Hemberger came in relief against the Raiders on July 15 at Tri-City and tossed
four innings of hitless relief to earn the victory in a 6-3 Fleetwings' win.
So the math becomes mind-boggling: 11 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs in his last two
appearances vs. the Creek.
Jeremy Bartha had a two-out single to left in the first and John Stezenko had a
two-out single to left in the third.
That is it. I am done talking about the Raiders now.
As for Tri-City, there is plenty to talk about.
They didn't seem to be fooled by the Raiders' Rob Medlock, who pitched
brilliantly in the regular season, sporting a 5-0 record against four playoff
teams and the occasionally hard-hitting Cetronia squad.
No such luck for Medlock on Saturday.
Tom Williams hit a blooper that fell down the right-field line with one out in
the second inning. He was thrown out at second base on the play, but it didn't matter as
base-runner obstruction was called, so Williams did get his double. After a
groundout advanced him to third base with two outs, Williams hustled home on a
wild pitch to make it 1-0 Fleetwings.
Scott Garger nailed the third pitch he saw in the third inning for a leadoff homer to
left and it was 2-0 Tri-City. Matt Marcks singed to right, stole second and
stayed put when Justin Godusky drew a walk. Marcks didn't have to stay put for
long as Matt Godusky followed a fly-out with a three-run homer to dead center
and it was quickly 5-0 Fleetwings. After another fly-out, Williams launched a
tape-measure shot well out of the park to left and it was now 6-0 Tri-City.
As if Hemberger didn't have enough runs already, Tri-City would tack on two more
in the fourth.
Garger drew a one-out walk and scored on a Marcks' triple down the right-field
line. Tri-City 7, Silver Creek 0.
Exit Medlock. Enter: Jose Medina.
After a strikeout, Ben Swatsky singled to left to plate Marcks and it was 8-0
Fleetwings. That would be the only hit Medina would allow in 3 2/3 of dominant
relief, keeping the game somewhat respectable.
But it was the dominant performance of Hemberger that stole the show.
The series returns to Scherersville at 5:00 on Sunday for Game Three.
Garger was 2-for-3 with a homer, Marcks was 2-for-4 with a triple, Swatsky was
2-for-4, Williams was 2-for-4 with a homer and Matt Godusky had a three-run
homerun for Tri-City.
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