Baby Bombers Shutout By IronBirds

STATEN ISLAND, NY- Good pitching and defense will always win ballgames. That's precisely what happened when solid Aberdeen pitching and D silenced the Staten Island bats- shutting them out 2-0 to take the three-game series before 2,563 at RCBP Wednesday night.

The tone was set in the first inning when shortstop Todd Davison took away a Mitch Hilligoss hit which would've put runners on the corners with only one out. Instead, he dove to his left and started a spectacular 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

"We hit some balls hard but they made all the plays and we didn't have much luck," skipper Gaylen Pitts pointed out. "We took a lot of fastballs in hitter's counts. We got to be a little more aggressive early in the game."

"We came out in a lowscoring game and took advantage of our opportunities and got the W," Aberdeen third baseman Robert Marconi said after also turning in a gem of his own in the win.

"Every single pitcher that threw today- Morris, Josh and Lebron- all of them threw the ball well and kept it down. We played good defense out there and got the outs."

A trio of Ironbird (5-3) pitchers combined on the six-hit shutout, which was also the first time in nine games the Baby Bombers (5-4) didn't score a run this season. Starter Cory Morris went four solid innings allowing one hit and striking out four before giving way to reliever Josh Tamba, who tossed four scoreless to improve to 1-0. Closer Luis Lebron pitched the ninth, picking up his third save.

"I felt fine. I felt great....Just go out and try to mix my pitches up. Get ready to go back to Ottawa and just hope to get it right," Morris said.

Despite a strong second outing from George Kontos in which he allowed just one run on five hits and fanned eight, Staten Island couldn't string together a big inning to support the hardluck loser who fell to 0-1.

"I felt good warming up and had all my stuff working," the Northwestern product said after striking out seven of the last nine batters he faced. "I was locating my fastball, was throwing my breaking ball for strikes which is all you can ask for. Just felt good."

Aberdeen centerfielder Danny Figueroa's one out double which scored Angel Avila in the third proved to be the difference.

That along with some nifty glovework by the Ironbirds kept the Baby Bombers at bay. Particularly the fifth when they threatened to tie the score.

Only some clutch D allowed Tamba to escape his first inning of work. It started when Marconi turned in the play of the night with a diving backhand stop of a Francisco Cervilli hotshot. "There's always hard luck but I made a nice diving play and got up, threw him out and got him," said the third baseman.

But the threat wasn't over. After Seth Fortenberry singled, another key play was turned in by Davison who robbed Wilkins DeLaRosa of a hit, getting a 6-4 force. After Wilmer Pino singled for the second time to put runners on first and second, Tamba got out of trouble by inducing Mitch Hilligoss into a 1-4 fielder's choice.

The Ironbirds tacked on an insurance run in the sixth off SI reliever Paul Patterson thanks to Corey Shafer's runscoring single to center which plated Brandon Snyder.

"Just trying to stay back. Less than two outs man on third, that's what we got to do. We want to a high percentage on that. Put the ball in play and see what happens," Shafer said after going 3-for-4.

"The pitching was outstanding today. We just gave them two runs and got the win."

Another Baby Bomber rally was thwarted in the seventh when they stranded first and second with one out. After consecutive hits by Cervelli and Fortenberry, Tamba got DeLaRosa to fly out to center and Pino on a comebacker.

After receiving two scoreless innings from setup man Justin Keadle, the Baby Bombers' last chance was erased quickly in their final at bat. After third baseman Tony Roth reached on an infield hit, he was thrown out trying to steal second by Aberdeen backstop Snyder 2-6. Lebron followed that up by getting Brian Aragon to chase a ball in the dirt and then got Cervelli on a fly to right to end the ballgame.

"Give them the credit. They made all the plays," Pitts added. "We had our chances. We left men on base."

Notes: The game took only 2:15 to play. ... Staten Island Yankee pitchers struckout 13 Ironbirds in the loss. ... After entering with just four hits in 23 plate appearances, RF Fortenberry was 2-for-2 on the night. ... Both teams combined to leave 30 runners on base. The Baby Bombers stranded 17 while Aberdeen left 13. ... Staten Island begins a three-game series at Hudson Valley tonight before returning to St. George Friday.