05/26/2006

Beach Bums earn franchise's first victory

Parker pitches six strong innings for TC

by james cook

jcook@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Fans under umbrellas watch the game a rain and thunder showers threatened the area during Beach Bums' second home game Thursday evening.

TRAVERSE CITY — After a slip-up on opening day, take two for the Traverse City Beach Bums was a keeper.

The Beach Bums topped defending Frontier League champion Kalamazoo 6-3 in front of 3,038 fans at Wuerfel Park for the team's first-ever victory, helping ease the sting of Wednesday's 10-2 loss in the team's inaugural contest.

After a 47-minute rain delay midway through the fourth frame, starting pitching Shaun Parker came back out and worked through the sixth inning. He ended up collecting the first win in franchise history, going six innings and giving up six hits and two walks while striking out four.

"We didn't let that concern us," Parker said of the delay. "Hopefully we can keep playing like this for the rest of the season."

Mike Reese smacked a seeing-eye double down the third base line to plate Nathan Gravley and Justin Holmes in the sixth inning for a 4-3 advantage.

Traverse City added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Gravley and a sacrifice fly by catcher Clay Blevins.

Hunter Davis made his TC debut in relief in the seventh, getting the side out on four pitches and three pop outs on six throws in the eighth and Jordan Thompson came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

The Bums took a brief 2-1 lead in the fifth on a Nick Batkoski RBI single to score Kevin White, but Kalamazoo came back in the bottom of the sixth for a pair of runs on an RBI single by Joe Ramos and an error by TC shortstop Justin Holmes.

Reese and Gravley recorded the franchise's first multiple-RBI games and Batkoski and Gravley each had two hits.

TC took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Gravley that plated Batkoski, who had singled and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches.

The Bums threatened in the third, leading off the frame with back-to-back walks by Reese and Steve Young, but couldn't capitalize.

The Bums got out of the first inning due to a lineup error by the Kings. Parker had recorded the first two outs on grounders back to the mound before a grounder from Casey C. Baker was misplayed by Batkoski and Baker reached base. But after a challenge by Bums manager Jeff Isom, Baker was ruled out for hitting out of order.

Parker then worked out of a jam in the second, as the Kings has runners on second and third with none out after a walk, a hit batsman and a wild pitch.

But Parker, after getting a new rosin bag on the mound, regained his control and got out of the inning with a pair of weak groundouts back to the mound sandwiched around a strikeout.