Friday, July 31, 2009

7/31, Cougars 12, Lansing 4

The Cougars hammered the Lansing Lugnuts 12-4, to finally have the offense come alive. Hopefully its not just for one game, and they can keep the momentum up.

12 runs on 13 hits for the Cougars, they walked four times and struck out six. The Cougars started off the scoring in the fourth inning with one run. Dusty Coleman led it off with a triple to left. Steve Parker then grounded out to second, Coleman would score on the play.

Four runs in the fifth inning really helped. With one out, Petey Paramore, Dusty Napoleon, and Chris Berroa all walked which would load the bases. Leonardo Gil then doubled to left to drive in Paramore and Napoleon. One out later, Parker singled to left to drive in Berroa and Gil.

Five more runs in the sixth really put the game away. Jeremy Barfield led it off with a double to left. Franklin Hernandez then flew out to right, Barfield would tag up and get to third. Paramore would be intentionally walked, he would then steal second. Napoleon singled to right to score Barfield and Paramore. Chris Berroa then flew to left, Napoleon tagged up from first and went to second. Gil would single to left to score Napoleon. Coleman reached on a fielder's choice, on the play the third baseman would mishandle the ball, Gil would get to second on the error. Parker then tripled to center to score both Gil and Coleman.

Kane County added another run in the seventh inning. Barfield led it off with a single to right. Hernandez then singled to left. One out later, Napoleon would ground out to short, on the play Barfield would score. One more run for the Cougars in the eighth, Gil led it off with a single to center. The newest Cougar, Tyler Landendorf pitch hit for Coleman and doubled to left to score Gil.

Murphy Smith went the first four innings, because of how short his outing was last time, due to being hit in the arm by a liner. He would pitch well, giving up one hit, one run, one walk, and striking out four. The one run he gave up was in the fourth inning. With two outs, Brian Van Kirk walked. Johermyn Chavez then tripled to center to score Van Kirk.

Josue Selenis followed Smith, he would go one inning, giving up one run. With one out, Justin McClanahan doubled to left. A.J. Jimenez then singled to center to score McClanahan.

Jose Guzman would follow Selenis, he gave up two runs, but neither of them should've been scored. With one out, Van Kirk singled to right. Chavez then singled to center. On the play the centerfielder Berroa didn't see the ball. One out later, and the Cougars should've been out of the inning. Mark Sobolewski then doubled to center to score both Van Kirk and Chavez.

Trey Barham and Daniel Thomas both pitched one inning with out giving up any runs. Leonardo Gil drove in three runs, and Steve Parker drove in five runs. The good thing about the game is, yes the bottom of the order only had two hits, both by Napoleon. They also got on base with four walks, and scored five of the runs.


Tomorrow at Lansing @6:05
Kenny Smalley (8-3, 1.88) vs Henderson Alvarez (7-5, 3.42)


Cougar roster moves
Tyler Ladendorf was the player the A's got from the Twins for Orlando Cabrera today. He has been playing in Beloit. Trey Barham came off of the disabled list. Chad Lee went on the disabled list.

Alumni News
Claudio Vargas was traded from the Dodgers to the Brewers. Cliff Pennington was recalled to Oakland. Marcus McBeth was recalled to Boston.


I will be in Lansing for the weekend, so this should be fun


7/30, Cougars 1, Cedar Rapids 4

One bad inning from Shawn Haviland, and that is all the Cedar Rapids Kernels would need to defeat the Cougars 4-1. The Cougars would get one run on five hits and leave six runners on base.

Haviland pitched well for six innings, In those six innings he gave up one hit and struck out three. Unfortunatly the third inning was not kind to Mr. Haviland. Jon Townsend started the inning off by being hit by a pitch. Jeff Jones then singled to left. Matt Crawford would single to center to bring home Townsend, he would get to second on the throw home. Alexia Amarista then tripled to right to clear the bases. Gabe Jacobo would hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Amarista.

Shawn Haviland would retire the final 15 Kernels he faced. Scott Deal gave up a hit in the eighth.

The offense, or lack thereoff. Well they managed to get one run in the ninth inning. Before that they had their chanced. In the first inning Leonardo Gil led off the game with a single to left. Dusty Coleman then grounded into a double play. In the second inning, Mike Spina led off with a walk, he would be stranded at first. Gil had a two out single to left in the third, then stole second. Coleman then struck out to end that frame.

The had two really good chances before finally scoring. In the fifth inning, with one out, Jeremy Barfield singled to center. Carlos Arrieche grounded out, moving Barfield to second, he would get to third on a wild pitch. Chris Berroa walked. Berroa would be caught off of first base by Kernel starter Ryan Chaffe. Berroa ended up getting into a rundown. Barfield broke for the plate, and ran over the catcher. The catcher Beau Brooks held onto the ball to end the inning.

In the seventh inning, Franklin Hernandez led off with a single to right, he would get to second on a passed ball. Petey Paramore then walked. Barfield flew to right, Hernandez would tag up and get to third. Arrieche then grounded into the inning ending double play.

It was a strange ninth inning. After Steve Parker struck out, the lights somewhere above home plate went out. So they had a 19 minute power outage delay. On the first pitch back Mike Spina launched one to deep center for a homerun.


Tomorrow at Lansing @ 6:05
Murphy Smith (0-1, 4.76) vs Chris Holguin (1-0, 4.02)


I will be in Lansing for the games on Saturday and Sunday.



With the results we have had recently, maybe I should put this out to the Cougar fans. Only 251 More Days Untill Opening Day 2010!!!, April 8th, 2010

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

New Cougar Notebook

New Cougar notebook on scout.com http://athletics.scout.com/2/882802.html

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

7/28, Cougars 5, Cedar Rapids 4

Two in a row, feels so good after losing six in a row. Well the Cougars beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the first game of the long road trip 5-4.

The Cougars would get on the board right away in the first. With one out, Dusty Coleman singled to left. Steve Parker then followed with a single to right center. Mike Spina then singled to right to score Coleman. Franklin Hernandez would reach on a fielder's choice, Spina broke up the double play at second, and Parker scored.

Cedar Rapids did come back to tie the game in the second inning. Beau Brooks led it off with a single to right. Angel Castillo then singled to left. Matt Crawford would single to right to drive home Brooks. Dwayne Bailey grounded to short to allow Castillo to score.

Hernandez led off the fourth with a singel to short. Petey Paramore then walked. Two outs later, Chris Berroa singled to left to score Hernandez. In the fifth inning the Cougars scored their last two runs of the game. Coleman led off with a walk. Parker then singled to right. A double steal put both runners in scoring position. One out later, Hernandez walked to load the bases. Paramore then singled to right to score Coleman. The Kernels would then make a pitching change. Jeremy Barfield hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Parker.

The Kernels did score twice more to make it a close game. In the sixth inning, Gabe Jacobo led off by reaching on an error by third baseman Spina. Brooks singled to right, with Jacobo getting to third, and Brooks to second on the throw. Castillo hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Jacobo. One out later, Bailey doubled to center to score Brooks. Anel De Los Santos then hit a single back to the pitcher. The Cougars would bring in A.J. Huttenlocker to replace starter Anvioris Ramirez. Huttenlocker got Darwin Perez to pop up to the catcher to end the inning.

The final two innings got interesting. In the eighth inning, Brooks led off with a wlak. Huttenlocker would be able to strand him at first after a pop up and two strikeouts. In the ninth Justin Murray came in, After two strikeouts, Tyson Auer walked. Alexi Amarista then singled to center. Winning run on first with two outs. Gabe Jacobo would fly to center to end the game.

Tomorrow at Cedar Rapids @ 6:35
Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier (2-4, 5.33) vs Buddy Boshers (0-0, 10.80)



Monday, July 27, 2009

7/27, Dayton 2, Cougars 3

Three runs on five hits, that what the Cougars got today. Unlike the rest of the homestand, it was enough to score a victory. The would beat the Dayton Dragons 3-2 in the final game of the six game homestand.

Kenny Smalley pitched another good game, eventhough he gave up six hits. He only gave up one unearned run, the thing is that he walked three Dragons. He had runners on base in every inning.

Josue Selenis and David Thomas pitched scoreless frames for the Cougars. Selenis gave up two hits in his two innings. Justin Murray pitched the ninth to get the win.

The Cougars fell behind in the third inning, with two outs, Carlos Mendez singled to right. Byron Wiley then singled to right. Rigth fielder Jeremy Barfield would make an errant throw to allow Mendez to score and Wiley to get to second. Smalley then would be able to get Cody Puckett to fly out to end the inning.

Two runs for the Cougars in the next half inning, helped. Steve Parker led off by drawing a walk. Mike Spina then took one deep to left field for his third homer of the year.

The game would stay that way untill the ninth inning. Justin Murray would give up a two out solo homer to Josh Fellhauer. In the bottom half of the inning, Jeremy Barfield led off by being hit by a pitch. Dusty Napoleon then bunted him over to second. Chris Berroa drew a walk. Leonardo Gil then singled to right to drvie home Barfield to give the Cougars then win.

The game really could've gone either way, as both teams had a lot of opportunities throughout the game to break it open. In the first the Dragons had Fellhauer lead off the game with a single to left. Miguel Rojas then walked. Smalley would then get two fly outs and a ground out to end the inning. In the second inning with one out, Humberto Sosa doubled off the centerfield wall. One out later, Jordan Wideman walked. Fellhauer then lined one to right. Barfield leaped up and took away a homer to end the inning.

In the fifth, it was one of the bigger moments in the game. Rojas led off with a single down the right field line. Alex Oliveros then walked. Smalley would be able to get a double play, it almost was a triple play, but Spina at third, couldn't get the tag on the runner. The seventh inning was another big moment in the game. Fellhauer led off with a double down the right field line. Rojas then popped up a bunt to the catcher Napoleon. Dusty caught the ball then tried to double off Fellhauer at second. The throw went into center and he went to third. Cougar reliever Selenis then would be able to get two groundouts to the left side to end the inning.

The Cougars also wasted some chances. In the first inning, Leonardo Gil led off with a walk, he would be caught stealing second. Dusty Coleman then walked. Steve Parker singled to right. Spina would line out to a leaping second baseman. Franklin Hernandez then struck out. In the second inning, Petey Paramore led off the inning with a single to center. One out later, Napoleon walked. One more out later, Gil walked to load the bases. Coleman would fly out to right. In the seventh inning, Chris Berroa led off with a single to right. Gil bunted him over to second. Coleman popped out to short and Parker would be caught looking.


In the celebration of the Cougars breaking their five game losing streak, Nick the bat boy got run over by the celebrating Cougars. At least he wasn't doing the chicken dance or the ymca at the time.


Alumni News
Former Cougar Tommy Everidge has been called up to Oakland. He would be the 106th Cougar to make it to the show. Plus the eighth member of the 2005 team to make it.


Tommorrow at Cedar Rapids @6:35
Anvioris Ramirez (0-0, 0.00) vs Manaurys Correa (6-5, 3.96)


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Melon Metric , Plano, IL

I rode the Melon Metric ride in Plano this morning. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning to get out of here by 5:30 to be there by 6:30 is exhausting. I got up after about two hours of sleep last night, because my legs were sore, so I wasn't able to sleep very well.

The Melon started out pretty well, I felt good the first ten miles, which is odd for me, as I usually feel horrible the first 20 miles of any ride. Then I hit two big hills on Griswold Springs road, I believe it was on that road. But those hills were very steep and killed me. I am happy though I did not get off the bike and walk it up the hills like I have done in the past. I paid for it leg wise as I barley made it to the rest stop in one piece it felt. The last five miles to the rest stop felt like it took forever.

The rest stop was nice, they had banana's, fruit and most importantly water, much needed water. I stayed there about a half hour because I was exhausted.

The second half of the short ride (30 miles) wasn't as far as the first, so that helped, but there were two nice sized hills, that hurt pretty badley. I was so happy when I saw the lights of the stadium at Plano high school (Home of the Reapers)

I saw a cow farm, a horse farm, a pig farm, and lots and lots of corn.

I rode 30.1 miles in 3:14:16,

I will ride this one again, as this is the first one that I have done a second time, since this one last year was my first one ever.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

7/25, Dayton 4, Cougars 2

The Cougars would get behind early and try to play catch up and not be able to. They lost 4-2 to the Dayton Dragons. In the begining of the game it looked like this could be a blowout, as Cougar starter Shawn Haviland had nothing.

The Dragons got a great pitching performance from Matt Fairel. He went seven innings, giving up six hits and one run. He walked one and struck out six. Haviland had a really rough first three innings, but his last two were not bad.

The Dragons opened up the game with Josh Fellhauer and Kevin Coddington both getting hit by pitches. Haviland would then be able to get a liner, a fly ball and a caught looking to end the inning without anything coming across the plate.

In the second inning the Dragons would score twice against Haviland. With one out, Mike Konstanty walked. One out later, Miguel Rojas doubled down the right field line to get Konstanty to third. Fellhauer then singled to right to score both Konstanty and Rojas. Coddington would follow with a single to left to get Fellhauer to second. Bryon Wiley then singled to right, Jeremy Barfield would come up throwing and throw out the runner Fellhauer at the plate. I don't think he was out as catcher Dusty Napoleon caught the ball behind the plate, then Fellhauer crashed into him.

More runs for the Dragons in the third. With two outs, Alex Oliveras singled to left, then stole second and went to third on an errant throw by Napoleon. Konstanty and Jordan Wideman both walked to load the bases. Rojas would then bloop a double to right to score both Olvieras and Konstanty. Barfield bobbled the ball a little in right, no error was charged. Fellhauer then walked to reload the bases with two outs. Coddington would ground out to let Haviland off the hook in the inning.

After that the Cougars pitching staff did a nice job. Haviland would give up one more hit in his last two innings. A.J. Huttenlocker then came in and pitched two good innings, he would give up a hit and strike out three. Daniel Thomas pitched very well. He went two innings and gave up one hit.

The Cougars would score twice but the could've easily had more runs. In the third inning with one out, Leonardo Gil doubled down the left field line. Dusty Coleman then singled to left center to score Gil. The other Cougar run came in the ninth. They were down 4-1 going into the inning. Franklin Hernandez led off with a triple to right center. Petey Paramore then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Hernandez. Napoleon would reach on a dropped third strike. Carlos Arrieche then reached on a fielder's choice, Napoleon took out the second baseman to advoid the game endning double play. The throw from the second baseman went into the dugout, so Arrieche went to third. Gil would then ground to short to end the game. I think Gil was safe on the play.

The only other major chance the Cougars would have came in the sixth inning. With one out, Barfield singled to center. Coming into the inning Fairel had thrown 55 pitches, he really only had two long at bats, both five pitches so far. Mike Spina then did a nice job of fouling off pitches. He would see 13 pitches and draw a walk. Hernandez then grounded one sharply back to the mound. It would knock the pitchers glove off, he recoverd and three Hernandez out at first for the second out. Paramore then grounded out to second to end the inning stranding two runners in scoring position.

Tomorrow vs Dayton @2
Curtis Partch (7-7, 4.68) vs Murphy Smith (0-0, 0.00)


Tomorrow for my will start at 4:30 in the morning as I will ride in the Melon Metric in Plano at 6:30. To follow me in the event please go to my twitter page, http://twitter.com/davidmalamut


{To the Theme from the show M.A.S.H.}
Well another day more injuries to report, this is really getting old. David Thomas is done for the season with a broken pinkie. Mike Hart and Thomas both went home to rehab their injuries. Brett Hunter was sent to the Arizona A's. Jose Guzman was sent back to the Cougars from Vancouver. The roster is at 23 players, 2 shy of the limit.

7/24, Fort Wayne 4, Cougars 2

The Cougars scored a run for the first time in 34 and 2 thirds innings today. In the fifth inning they would score an unearned run. In the eighth inning they scored an earned run. Meanwhile they would lose to the Fort Wayne Tincaps 4-2 to get swept in a series for the first time this year.

Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier had three bad innings in his five innings of work. His first inning was just horrible with the only bright spot being able to induce a double play and only giving up one run in the inning.
In the first he would give up a leadoff single to Blake Tekotte to center. Daniel Robertson then walked. Poirier then got Jaff Decker to ground one back to him, so he could start the double play. Allan Dykstra then walked. On ball four to Justin Baum, the ball got away from Petey Paramore to allow Tekotte to score. Cole Figueroa would ground out to end the inning.

Decker then hit a two out homer to center in the third inning. In the fifth inning Poirier would give up another run. With two outs. Robertson walked. An errant pickoff throw sent Robertson around to third. A wild pitch would send him home.

The last run of the game for the Tincaps came in the eighth, with one out Decker reached on an error by second baseman Leonardo Gil. It was a play were the pitcher was covering first on a grounder in between the fielder's, Gil's throw was high and bounced into the dugout, to get him to second. Cougar reliever Josue Selenis then balked him to third. Dykstra would hit a sacrifice fly to right to allow Decker to score.

The Cougars on the other hand, at least in the begining of the game, looked like they had the previous few days. In the second inning, Jeremy Barfield singled to right, he would be thrown out at second trying to get a double. In the fourth inning, Gil led off with a walk. A ground out moved him to second, and a wild pitch moved him to third with one out. Steve Parker then struck out. Barfield walked. Paramore would be out on a nice play by the second baseman to end the inning.

Finally the Cougars scored a run in the fifth inning. With one out, Franklin Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Dusty Napoleon then singled to right. The throw home got away, and allowed Hernandez to score and Napoleon to get to third with only one out. Carlos Arrieche then popped out to short. Gil would pop out to second to end the inning.

In the sixth inning, Dusty Coleman led off with a single up the middle, he would be picked off of first. The eighth inning is when the Cougars got their other run. With one out, Coleman singled to right. Parker then doubled to left center to drive home Coleman.

Carlos Arrieche made a couple of nice plays in centerfield. He took some good route to the ball. David Thomas' season is over due to a broken finger.


Tomorrow vs Dayton @6
Daniel Fairel (7-5, 3.04) vs Shawn Haviland (6-6, 4.21)


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

7/22, Fort Wayne 3, Cougars 0 (10)

The Cougars have not scored a run in 21 innings, as they lost again in ten innings. This time they lost to the Fort Wayne Tincaps 3-0. They spoiled a great outing by Kenny Smalley.

Smalley went seven innings, giving up two hits and two walks. He also struck out six. He threw 100 pitches. He was only really in trouble once, that was the fourth inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Blake Tekotte, the first hit of the game off of Smalley. Smalley then picked off Tekotte from first. One out later, Jaff Decker singled up the middle. Justin Baum would then walk. Smalley got Allan Dykstra to line out to right to end the inning.

On the other hand, Tincaps starter Mike Watt, pitched well also. He went six innings, giving up four hits and striking out six. He Cougars really never had a good rally against him, as he never gave up more than one baserunner in an inning.

Fort Wayne's bullpen was equally as good, as they went four innings and gave up one hit, while striking out four.

After Smalley left, the Cougars really didn't do much right, it seemed, but they got lucky on a few things. Brett Hunter came in to start the eighth. He would give up a single up the middle to Cole Figueroa, who then stole second. One out later, Adam Zornes walked. That would be the end of the night for Hunter. Unfortunatly Cougar manager Steve Scarsone came out to take out Hunter, motioned for the change. Then realized that new pitcher Daniel Thomas had just gotten up and was just long tossing, plus still had his sweatshirt on. Daniel Robertson greated Thomas by drawing a four pitch walk off of him. The bases were loaded with one out and no score in the game. Thomas would get Tekotte to pop up to the shortstop. Kevin Hansen then struck out to end the inning.

The tenth inning is when most of the action in the game happend. A.J. Huttenlocker came in to make his Cougar debut to start the inning. He would strike out the first hitter looking. Yefri Carvajal then singled up the middle. Zornes then doubled down the left field line to score Carvajal, he would make third on the throw home. On the play at home, I thought he was safe, It was basically a bang, bang play, catcher Petey Paramore did not have enough time to catch the ball and bring it down to tag Carvajal. Paramore then got in the umps face after Carvajal was called safe. Thankfully he wasn't ejected as the Cougars only have eight warm bodies who can play the field.

After the play at the plate things started to really fall apart for the Cougars. One out later, Tekotte doubled down the right field line to drive home Zornes. The pitcher Colin Lynch then blooped a single down the right field line to score Tekotte. Brayden Drake would pop out to end the inning. The pitcher had to bat because of an earlier ejection in the eighth, and two double switches.


The Cougars made some roster moves today. Anthony Capra was promoted to Stockton (A+). Nino Leyja was placed on the disabled list, after taking stitches on the road trip to close a gash on his left elbow. Trey Barham was also placed on the disabled list due to back spasms. Anvioris Ramirez was sent to the Cougars from Arizona and will start tomorrow. Anthony Huttenlocker was also sent to the Cougars.


Tomorrow vs Fort Wayne @6:30
Simon Castro (6-4, 3.84) vs Anvioris Ramirez (NR)


Monday, July 20, 2009

7/20, Cougars 0, West Michigan 1 (10)

Great game by both the West Michigan Whitecaps and the Kane County Cougars. It remained scorless through nine and a half innings. The final would be a 1-0 Whitecaps win, but wow, a great game.

Casey Crsoby and Shawn Haviland started and both pitchers were great. Crosby, went five no hit innings, giving up two walks, while striking out eight Cougars. The Cougars really only had one good scoring chance off of him. In the third inning, Dusty Napoleon led off with a walk. One out later, Carlos Arrieche reached on a fielder's choice, Napoleon would be out at third on a nice play by the third baseman. Arrieche would be caught trying to steal second to end the inning.

Shawn Haviland got into a little more trouble than Crosby but was good. He went six innings, giving up three hits and three walks. He would strike out six. Haviland got into trouble right away, in the first inning, Brent Wyatt led off with a single to left, he would then get caught trying to steal second.

In the second inning, Haviland walked Billy Nowlin to lead things off. Jordan Lennerton then hit one to the wall in center that David Thomas caught. Bryan Pounds followed with a single to left. That would make it first and second with one out. Joe Bowen then lined to center and Avisail Garcia struck out to strand the runners.

The next time Haviland got into trouble would be the sixth. Brandon Douglas led off with a double down the left field line. Ben Guez then bunted him over to third with one out. Haviland would then jam Nowlin and get him to ground out to short, holding the runner at third. Lennerton then struck out to end the inning.

After that it was up to the bullpens the rest of the way. Josue Selenis came in and went two innings, giving up two hits and strike out one. In the seventh he got the first out, then Bowen singled to right. Garcia would then single to left. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Second and third with one out and no score. Hernan Perez popped up foul to third. Wyatt would ground out to second, with the pitcher covering to end the inning.

Meanwhile the Cougars really didn't get much going against reliever Anthony Shawler. He would go four innings and give up one hit, one walk and strike out three. He walked Thomas with two outs in the sixth, Thomas then was caught stealing second. In the seventh he gave up a one out single to Dusty Coleman. It would lead to nothing.

In the ninth inning, there was still no score. In the Cougars half they started hitting the ball hard. Carlos Arrieche almost had his first career homerun, the ball would be caught at the track in left. Thomas then lined one to left, Wyatt caught that on a dive. Leonardo Gil followed with a liner to short.

Justin Murray came in for the ninth. With one out, Pounds grounded one to short. The ball hopped up and Coleman knocked the ball down, and picked it up and threw to first. The throw was wild, and Napoleon wasn't able to keep his foot on the base. Coleman was charged with an error. Bowen then struck out. On a pitch out the Cougars would get Pounds trying to steal second to end the inning.

Murray came back out for the tenth. Garcia greated him with a single to short. Perez would pop up a bunt attempt, that Napoleon would dive and catch. Wyatt then singled to center. First and second one out. Murray would be able to get Douglas on strikes. Ben Guez then singled up the middle to drive home Garcia for the game winner.

Carlos Arrieche at second made a great play. He grabbed a grounder in the middle, he was heading towards left field. He flipped the ball to Coleman in his glove. Coleman then threw to first for the out.


Nino Leyja was takin out of the game yesterday after being spiked. He had stitches and is said to be out 10-14 days. Chris Berroa has a strained quad and is said to be out 7-10 days. This all leaves the Cougars with eight position players.



Wednesday vs Fort Wayne @6:30
Mike Watt (5-2, 3.86) vs Kenny Smalley (8-3, 2.15)



Web Statistics and Counters

Cougar Notebook on scout.com

A new Kane County Cougar notebook is on scout.com, 7/13-19/2009

http://athletics.scout.com/2/880441.html

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Biking with Beanzie , DeKalb 7/19

Rode the biking with Beanzie ride today, man my knees hurt right now. I only survived 32.8 miles, I want to do the 42.1 but ran out of steam. I rode for 3:32 minutes, which was way longer than it should've takin. Im slowing down some how, I need to find more speed. I was barley able to do 9.5 miles an hour, which sucks. I was doing 10.5 mph in May, now ive lost a whole mile an hour. I guess its back to training real hard. I have the Melon Metric coming up next Sunday, and that should really be fun. Last year was my first year riding, and the Melon was my first ever event.

The Beanzie, well I liked the way the rest stops were, as the first one was 13 miles in, then the second one was 23 miles. The course itself was hard, yes I have trained on much of the course before, but the hills, and yes there are hills in Illinois, were murder on my legs. The part leading up to the second rest stop was hell. The hard part started coming into the Shabbona Forest Preserve. That was a lot of steep hills, and painfull. The hardest part of it was the rest stop was on the other end of the forest preserve, so we had to go 3 miles or so into the place. It was mostly hills, the stop itself was kool, the main problem was by the time I got there, there wasn't much to choose from food wise. So thankfully I packed a couple of power bars in my bag just in case. Plus I refilled my water and gatorade. It was a nice sight seeing the lake there, I took a picture it is on my facebook page.

I will do this ride again next year hopefully, and will complete whatever I can

Saturday, July 18, 2009

7/18, Cougars 1, West Michigan 7

The Cougars wasted a great outing by Anthony Capra tonight, as they would score only one run and get three hits. While Capra pitched six innings, giving up three hits and one earned run. He did not walk anyone and struck out nine Whitecaps.

The first run of the game was in the first inning and caused by two errors. Brent Wyatt led off by grounding one to Capra. He rushed the throw and it went low. A wild pitch would get Wyatt to second. Two outs later, another wild pitch got him to third. Billy Nowling then grounded one to third. Leonardo Gil had the ball go under his glove to allow Wyatt to score.

In the third inning Capra was able to get out of some trouble. Hernan Perez led off with a bloop to left, he would steal second and get to third on a wild pitch. Capra would get out of the inning with two strike outs and a line out to left. The line out was a great diving catch by Chris Berroa.

The other run Capra gave up came in the fourth inning. Nowlin led off with a single to left. One out later, Joseph Brown singled down the right field line to get Nowlin to third. Alden Carrithers then grounded one to second. Nino Leyja tried to tag Brown on the way by, but the ump ruled that he didn't tag him. Leyja threw to first to get Carrithers out, Nowlin would score on the play.

Daniel Thomas came in for the final two innings and gave up five runs. In the seventh inning, Carrithers led off with a single to left. Avisail Garcia then singled to right. Hernan Perez would put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners along. The Cougars then walked Wyatt intentionally to load the bases with one out. Mike Gosse grounded to first, on the play Carrithers would score. Thomas got Ben Guez to ground to short to end the inning.

It only got worse for Thomas as he gave up four runs in the eighth inning to blow the game wide open. Nowlin led off with a double to left center. The Cougars then intentionally walked Jordan Lennerton. Brown would double to right center to bring home Nowlin. Carrithers would then be intentionally walked to load the bases. Thomas struck out Garcia for the firs tout. Perez would single down the left field line to bring home both Lennerton and Brown. Carrithers went to third and Perez to second on the throw home. Wyatt grounded out to second, on the play Carrithers would score. Thomas would get Goose on strikes to end the inning.

The White Caps pitcher Mark Sorensen was fantastic tonight, the Cougars really did not have much of a chance. He went eight innings, giving up two hits and a walk. He struck out six, and got eleven ground ball outs. David Thomas had a two out single in the first. Steve Parker walked to lead off the second, but would be caught stealing. Leyja had a two out single in the sixth. He retired 13 in a row at one point, and the final seven he faced.

The Cougars advoided a shutout in the ninth with one run. Gil led off by popping one up near short. The shortstop should've caught the ball but didn't get any leather on it, so it ended up as a double to short. Leyja then grounded one off the pitcher to second, while Gil went to third. Dusty Coleman then grounded out to second to score Gil.


Roster Move
Jason Christian is on the disabled list with a seperated left shoulder. Murphy Smith is a pitcher and now a Cougar.


Tommorrow at West Michigan @ 1
Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier (1-3, 5.60) vs Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.50)


Tomorrow is the third bike event of the year for me, the Biking with Beanzie event in DeKalb in the morning, I hope to be finished by the time the game starts but I don't know. I will have updates on my progress from the events on my twitter page, http://twitter.com/davidmalamut

I have also started a blog, which is about, just about anything and everything http://davidmalamut.blogspot.com



Bike

Is there a reason why as a biker, you get constantly barked at by dogs. Especially while riding the Illinois Prairie Path. That plus the traffic of getting past Farnsworth, and Route 25 is nearly impossible. Then riding down the Fox River Trail, is fun seeing the Fox River is great. I just wish the trail went further south past Washington st in Oswego. That would be great.

Plus riding on Plainfield road east of Aurora on the two lane road that is busy. Thankfully there is just enough shoulder so I can survive the ride. Then you get to what the maps say is Stewart rd. All the signs and stuff say Ridge rd. It becomes Naperville-Plainfield road eventually. There is a lot of confusion on that one though. Then just west of Plainfield I get a 10 minute or so downpour. It said there was only supposed to be a 30% chance of rain today at 3pm. Do the rain clouds have radar and find me.

Oh well I went 38 miles of fun, soak and wet. It was training for tomorrow's Biking with Beanzie ride in DeKalb. This is my third event of the year. Next Sunday I have the Melon Metric in Plano. I need a lot of training between now and them I guess

Friday, July 17, 2009

East coast ESPN

Is there a reason why ESPN has to show just Red Sox and Yankee highlights when it comes to baseball. They endlessly hype that series, and anytime either of the team play that is the lead on Sportscenter. It really gets annoying and is a major reason my I turn to Major League Baseball Network now for my highlights. Everytime there is news of any sort from either of thsoe teams they are all on it.

Plus is there a reason that ESPN covers football, college and pro, more heavily than it ever covers baseball. I mean in the offseason especially. Plus they cover Brett Farve around like they are stalking his every move. It is absoulutly ridicoulous, that they have to put so much into one player. Evertime I turn on ESPNNEWS to get the scores its Farve this, Farve that, we dont need to here about every time he goes to the bathroom people, really, we don't need to here about it.

Everytime there is a minor move in football, it is a big story on ESPN, in either college or pro football even in the offseason. They have NFL2NIGHT everynight it seems during the offseason and cover or overcover the sport. During the baseball offseason Baseball Tonight is on only at the meeting in December and just before spring training. Plus they don't cover every little move that goes on throughout the sport.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

7/16, Cougars 0, South Bend 11

Not having scored a run in almost 19 innings, and being shutout for the second straight game, the Cougars lost to the South Bend Silverhawks in the first game of their road trip 11-0. The Cougars had three hits in the game and struck out nine times.

The Silverhawks Taylor Sinclair pitched a good game, he went seven innings, giving up three hits and a walk, while striking out five. The Hawks bullpen also pitched well, in two innings they struck out four Cougars.

The three hits for the Cougars started when David Thomas led off the game with a single to left center, then was picked off first. Steve Parker had a one out single to short in the sixth. Leonardo Gil had a two out single to short in the sevenh. The only other time the Cougars had a base runner was when Jeremy Barfield walked to lead off the second. In the second and the sixth the runners were immediatly erased by double plays.

Now the nightmare begins, South Bend scored in every inning tonight and never scored more than two runs in an inning. In the first, with one out, Victor Esteves singled to second. A.J. Parker then tripled to right center to score Esteves. One out later, Rossmel Perez was hit by a pitch, but would be stranded at first.

Shawn Haviland started for the Cougars and really did not have much of anything. He went four innings, giving up nine hits and six runs. He walked two and struck out three, he also threw and wild pitch and hit a batter.

In the second, Ramon Ramirez led off with a double to right center. Two outs later, Reynaldo Navarro singled to right to score Ramirez. The third inning saw South Bend score again. With one out, Marc Krauss singled to left. He would then be caught trying to steal second. Perez blooped one to center. Nelson Gomez then doubled to the wall in right to drive home Perez.

Two runs for the Hawks in the fourth inning. Alberto Diaz led off with a walk. One out later, Reynaldo Navarro singled to right. He would then steal second. Estevez followed with a double down the left field line to score both Diaz and Navarro. That would be it for Haviland after four innings.

Brett Hunter then came in and didn't fare much better, he would get two outs in the game. He would walk the bases load. Isaias Asencio then reached on a fielder's choice, on the play the Cougars got the out at second and allowed a run to score. One out later, Hunter would walk another Hawks to reload the bases. Josue Selenis came in and got a force out to end the inning.

Marc Krauss blooped a double down the left field line to lead off the sixth inning. Two outs later, Ramirez singled to right to score Krauss. Two runs for the Hawks in the seventh inning. Navarro hit a one out single to left. One out later, A.J. Pollock would hit his first pro homer.

Daniel Thomas came in to pitch the eigth, he would give up a run. Perez led off with a single to second. Gomez then singled to right. One out later Alberto Diaz grounded out to first, Perez would score.

The most fireworks the Cougars would get would come in the seventh inning. Jason Christian would be tossed from the game by the home plate ump after being struck out.

Tomorrow at South Bend @Noon
Kenny Smalley (7-3, 2.32) vs Brett Moorhouse (4-9, 3.58)

Kane County at South Bend

The Cougars have not scored in around 18 innings, they are currently down 11-0 to the South Bend Silver Hawks, and really look pathetic. Shawn Haviland really looked bad in his four inning start, six runs given up. He has not looked good in the last two months on the mound, and his first innings have been horrible.

The Hawks have scored in every inning tonight, this is all after the Cougars lost 8-0 on Monday to the Great Lakes Loons. This is really hard to listen to or watch.

They lost 11-0 having just three hits in the game and striking out nine times. This is back to back games like this, from a team that one the first half title, and is doing fairly well in the second half.