16
2011
Sand Gnats Win Pivotal Game Three
An article by 
In Savannah, the Sand Gnats won the third game of the SAL Championship Series Thursday night by a score of 4-3, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Sand Gnat 1B Joe Bonfe broke a 3-3 tie with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning when he singled with the bases loaded to drive in CF Darrell Ceciliani with the winning run.
The pitching was the real story in the game with both starters throwing very well. Greensboro starter RHP James Leverton went 6 IP, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8 and walking 1. Sand Gnats starter RHP Taylor Whitenton hurled 6.2 IP giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, striking out 8 and walking none. The Gnats bullpen was spot on, with three pitchers tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in relief, surrendering just 3 hits, and 1 walk. LHP Chase Huchingson pitched a perfect 11th to earn the victory.
The Gnats scored first in the bottom of the 2nd inning when with two out and the bases loaded, Leverton threw a wild pitch with Darrell Ceciliani at the plate allowing Bonfe, who was on third, to score the first run of the night.
Greensboro tied it in the 3rd, when after a lead-off triple by 3B Ryan Fisher, SS Daniel Black drove him in on a sac-fly to LF. Score tied 1-1.
Savannah took the lead again, this time in the 4th, when DH Albert Cordero doubled to lead-off the inning. He moved to third on a ground out. Then, after a strikeout by 2B Luis Nieves, LF Alonzo Harris singled to LF to score Cordero. Gnats up 2-1.
The Grasshoppers evened the score again in the fifth on back-to-back doubles to start the inning by DH James Wooster and C Jacob Realmuto. Whitenton then struck out the side, to staunch the bleeding. Score tied 2-2.
Greensboro would take the lead in the 7th inning on a lead-off single by 1B Mark Canha. After Whitenton struck out the next two batters, Ryan Fisher doubled to bring home Canha. Score 3-2, Greensboro.
Greensboro LHP Grant Dayton replaces Leverton in the 7th. And this time it was Savannah who came back to tie the score in the bottom half of the inning. Darrell Ceciliani led off the inning with a single. Then with one out, RF Rafael Fernandez doubled to score Ceciliani all the way from first. Score tied 3-3.
The score remained at 3-3 until the bottom of the 11th inning. RHP Jordan Conley, who had pitched a perfect 10th for Greensboro, stayed in to pitch the 11th and after Alonzo Harris grounded out leading off, a walk to Ceciliani, followed by a SS Wilfredo Tovar single, and an intentional walk to Fernandez, loaded the bases with one out. After C Blake Forsythe popped out to 1B for the second out, Joe Bonfe singled to RF, to bring in the game-winner, and make a loser of Conley, and the Grasshoppers.
The hitting stars of the game for the Gnats were: Ceciliani, who was on base five times, going 3-4 with 2 walks, and 2 runs scored. And of course, the hero Joe Bonfe who went 3-6 with a run scored, the game-winning RBI, and a double.
The series continues with Game Four, Friday night in Savannah. Pitching will be: RHP Rett Varner for the Grasshoppers, and RHP Erik Goeddel for the Gnats. Savannah now needs to win just one of the remaining two games to become 2011 SAL Champs.
Go Gnats!
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 6.5 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Great to see the Met Minor League affiliates playing and winning playoff games. That bodes very well for us down the road.
Thanks Pete.
Yeah you have it all planned out with your All Mets farmhand lineup for 2013 that you listed before. The only one that wasn’t a farmhand was the Reds minor league catcher you wanted to trade Jason Bay and Daniel Murphy for..and pay Bay’s salary. Your ALL Mets farm team in 2013 means that the Mets will make NO moves in the ensuing 3 off seasons. No trades, No Free Agent signings, nothing. And the only guys over 30 on this “t agee all Home Grown” team are Reyes and Wright.
Like I said before and you denied it on this very board – you have this fantasy of an ALL Mets homegrown team and now you put it out here.
Nice.
A good farm system is always good for the big league club. No reason to be a meatball. Please come down from the ledge.
no kidding – everybody wants a good farm system so we’re not breaking any new ground here. But to expect your ENTIRE lineup to be home grown? i’m sorry but I only consider reality not fantasy
He wants it to be all homegrown, which is ideal.
But, even t agee has expressed that he knows it’s not too likely.
Yeah and to add to that a free agent ACE, salary dump frontline starter for some excess prospects, trade for a closer/set up man and maybe one position player you couldn’t fill successfully from within or was a major up grade but start with the foundation, don’t take assets away from future teams until you have the foundation, then continue to add to that foundation while OCCASIONALLY adding to it from outside.
Any free agents that cost a draft choice are out for the next couple of years and anyone wanting more than a one year deal will cost you a prospect in the rule 5 draft that could severely hamper your chances down the road. Look how Lagares established himself this year? Want to lose him? How about Gorski? Think no one will snag him next year and stick him the pen for a year as a 2nd LOOGY? McHugh, Ratlif, Cruz, De La Torre, next year Puello, Flores, Gorski, Marte, Familia. It’s hard to know who’s going to take the next big step up. If you want to be able to make some trades you gotta have something to trade. If we lose a prospect or two in each of the next two years in order to put a LOOGY on the roster in November we’ll be right back to square one. We would have squandered some of the good work that Minaya DID do here and we’ll be back to scrounging around the wood shed for scraps when we just might have the pieces that’ll do the job right here, right now. Just gotta let them develop.
Besides free agents and trades aren’t sure things anyway. Schowenweiss and Mota were disaters. Putz was a disatrous trade. Alou only lasted half a season. Bay’s been here too long already, Castillo wasn’t the answer. La Duca had one good year out of two. Church and Schneider didn’t work out. Trades and free agency just aren’t guarantees of anything at all. Some work out but the one’s that don’t cost you the chance to upgrade later because we’re not taking on big salary for two players at the same position. At least if a prospect doesn’t pan out he’s not sitting on a 4 year deal and 25-75 M the Wilpon won’t eat.