07/03/2007

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Kalamazoo outfielder Jeff Grose slides in before the tag of Traverse City second baseman Jeff Brown.

Bums crown Kings

TC has scored 25 runs in last 2 games

BY JEFF PEEK

jpeek@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Beach Bums starter Phil Tognetti went for innings.

TRAVERSE CITY — Scott Fogelson has had enough of the Traverse City Beach Bums.

The Beach Bums, on the other hand, can't get enough of Scott Fogelson.

The Bums roughed up the 6-foot-2 Kalamazoo left-hander for the third time this season and cruised to a 13-5 victory over the visiting Kings in front of 3,758 fans on a damp Monday night at Wuerfel Park.

In three games against Traverse City, Fogelson is 0-3 with a 14.09 earned run average. He is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA against the rest of the Frontier League.

"Hitters remember pitchers, and we knew he had control problems before,” said TC manager Jon Cahill. "We made him throw a lot of pitches and we never let up offensively. We took advantage of walks and errors, which is the kind of team we want to be — the kind that makes other teams pay for their mistakes.”

Justin Holmes, Sam Orr and Curtis Ledbetter led a season-high 19-hit attack for the Bums (15-24), who defeated Kalamazoo for the second consecutive night following five straight losses. Holmes had four hits; Orr had three hits, including two doubles; and Ledbetter singled twice and doubled.

The Bums actually trailed 1-0 in the first inning, but Jeff Vincent knotted the score with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half — one of his three sacrifice flies on the night.

Then Traverse City broke it open with five unearned runs in the second with the help of a pair of errors by the Kings. Collecting key hits for the Bums were Zack Kalter (RBI double), Brad Vericker (RBI single), Ledbetter and Orr.

Vincent's RBI single in the third increased the Bums' lead to 7-1.

TC starting pitcher Phil Tognetti couldn't hold off Kalamazoo, however. The Kings collected six consecutive hits to chase the right-hander in a four-run fourth.

But the Bums' bullpen combined for six scoreless innings after that.

Jeff Williams came on for Tognetti with the bases loaded and no outs, but he got out of the fourth with a strike out and two fly outs, the first of which plated a run and cut the lead to 7-5.

Traverse City answered in the bottom of the frame when Jeff Brown's RBI double scored Orr and increased the Bums' advantage to 8-5.

Orr doubled again and eventually scored on an error to make it 9-5 in the sixth.

Vincent's sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 10-5, and Steve Young's RBI single — in his first at-bat at Wuerfel Park since returning from a shoulder injury — highlighted a three-run eighth.

Williams (4-1) earned the win with three innings of hitless relief. He struck out three.

Bryan Rembisz followed and tossed two scoreless innings and newcomer Jared Locke worked a perfect ninth.

Locke, a 6-foot-5 lefty who was in the Texas Rangers organization this season, was signed after Nick Pepper was placed on injured reserve.

The teams will play again tonight at 7:05. Fireworks will follow the game.