Two home wins and fireworks conclude the Tri-City Chili Pepper Opening Weekend - Progress Index

-

The Tri-City Chili Peppers are 2-0 after an Opening Weekend that puts them first in their division and no celebration or mark of success is complete without a firework celebration on Saturday night to conclude the events. 

"It's early, but I feel good about kind of what we've put on the field so far," said Head Coach James Bierlien. 

The opening pitches to the Holly Springs Salamanders were quick and easy outs, including an out at second on a stolen base attempt, but it was not the same for them when the Salamanders took the field. The two Chili Peppers ground out, and the next batter, Brandon Eike, sends a pitch to left field for a 2-0 lead and the first home run of the season. 

But the Salamanders were able to bounce back to tie the game at two after sloppy fielding. Yet, fly balls were able to get the Peppers out of the inning and back in the dugout to score but the Chili Peppers swinging could not help them find the right pitch to score.  

It was still 2-2 at the bottom of the third after Chili Pepper's defense got them out of the inning quickly. With Ethan Ianuzzi on first base on a walk and Hunter Gilliam finding his way to the bases, the two worked together to steal bases to get in a better scoring position. Conner Butler sent a single to the right-field for Ianuzzi to score to make it 3-2. 

With the score 3-2 at the top of the fourth inning, the defense kept fielding balls and pitching to places where it could lead to easy fielding. This worked for the Chili Peppers all game because no Salamander crossed the home plate again. 

"I think our defense played great today... I think we had two errors, but nothing crazy that really hurt us...," Bierlien explained. 

While the Salamanders were having no luck on offense, the Chili Peppers were fearless swinging at pitches they could hit in hopes it can generate scoring opportunities on offense. Innings were quiet and scoring opportunities were close but Chili Pepper batters struck out swinging leaving runners on base still. 

But, at the bottom of the fifth, Gilliam was on third. Butler fouled a pitch but it gave Gilliam enough time to try and steal home. He slid into home plate feet first and was able to avoid the tag to make it 4-2 Chili Peppers and energize the crowd. 

All the Chili Peppers pitching had to do was stay ahead with good pitching and Nick Woolfolk came into the game to take over. He started with a strikeout, walked two batters, but finished striking out the rest. Feeling invigorated by the energy from Gilliam stealing home Michael Dolberry sent a home run ball deep into center field that had yet to be recovered. 

A 5-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning and there were only nine more outs to go. The defense put in work as back-to-back pop fly took to the outfield and to make sure that there were no more chances of home run swings, there was a pitching change for Connor Schuman for Alec Riles to enter the game. 

"I thought it was a good place to kind of bring in a new look for the other team," Bierlien explained. 

It did not start out great because the next batter was hit and he went to first. But, Gilliam had his pitcher back by getting the tag when the runner got a little too excited and had to return to first after trying to steal. He could not beat the throw and Gilliam's catch ended the inning. 

For the rest of the game, both squads were striking out batters and using short fair balls to play defense in the infield. The Chili Peppers finished the game by striking out three of the last four batters to become 2-0. 

When the game was over, spectators were invited to join the players and coaches on the field for a fireworks celebration to celebrate the start of the season and Memorial Day weekend. 

"This is pretty cool," one of the Chili Peppers said aloud. 

It is a cool way to start the season and the Chili Peppers are on the right track with a 2-0 start. 

Zoe Collins Rath (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Sports Columnist and Investigative Reporter. She is the Sports and Education reporter for The Progress- Index. For times email her at ZCollinsRath@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @zoe_jordan99. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All In The Family: Maine Mother & Son Charged in Massive Drug Bust

-
Image
corso dog :: Article Creator Woman Hospitalized After Attack By 2 Dogs At Same Edmonton Home Where Boy Died: Lawyer UPDATE: On April 15, 2024, the City of Edmonton provided an update on the fatal attack. It said that prior to the deadly incident on April 1, "the city had no lawful basis to remove the dogs from the home." The city added that "all prior complaints about the dogs involved in this incident were investigated thoroughly and appropriate action was taken in accordance with the applicable legislation." The city also said a review found that its staff "acted appropriately in accordance with our standard practices and in compliance with the relevant legal constraints given the nature of past complaints and reports." A woman was hospitalized after being attacked in February by two large Cane Corso dogs at the same home where an 11-year-old boy was killed last week, the woman's lawyer told Global News. "I
Read more

Rare Frogs And Illegal Drugs - Palisades Hudson Financial Group

-
Image
Colombian conservationist Ivan Lozano has hit on a brilliantly promising strategy to protect his country’s rare and endangered amphibians. His plan: Flood the market with them. Lozano is not hunting rare frogs in Colombia’s Andean forests. He is raising them himself and selling them at prices designed to undercut poachers and smugglers. If he can raise the frogs cheaply enough, and in large enough numbers, he might manage to drive down the market price to the point that poachers no longer find it worthwhile to harvest and smuggle the creatures onto the black markets. Lozano told The Associated Press that his company also encourages collectors to breed their own frogs. Picture yourself as a poacher. If the government toughens the legal penalties and steps up enforcement, you will shrug your shoulders; legal risks are a basic cost of doing business. Since the demand for your product already exists among foreign collectors and other buyers, tougher enforcement merely reduces supply a
Read more

Burn scars, winter storms threaten rare and endangered species in San Gabriel Mountains - The Bakersfield Californian

-
Image
LOS ANGELES — Up until a few weeks ago, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River was one of the most abundant wildlife habitats in Los Angeles County, a secluded and rugged area defined by its steep peaks, lush canyons and mixture of rare and endangered species. Recently however, a team of federal biologists and forest rangers was aghast when it visited the stream following the Bobcat fire, which has burned more than 115,000 acres in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Terrain that once resembled a High Sierra granite gorge now looked like ground zero after a nuclear explosion, and the usually clean mountain air was sharp with the stench of smoke. Particularly unsettling were the bare and ashen slopes that were now primed to dissolve under pounding winter storms. A heavy mudslide, experts said, could reverse decades of conservation efforts by inundating the last outposts for such federally protected species as the Santa Ana sucker fish and Southern California m
Read more