Sox Come Out on Top in Battle of Unbeatens
April 29, 2007 Cardinals 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 4 9 2 Red Sox 2 2 0 0 1 1 x 6 8 3 WP- Hepler (3-0) LP- Hobbs (3-1) HR- Yaniszewski (2), Freivogel (1) West Charlotte HS-----The Charlotte Red Sox (8-0) defeated the Charlotte Cardinals (5-1) 6-4 on a pleasant Sunday afternoon at West Charlotte High School. With the win, the Sox became the only team in the NABA with an unblemished record. Also, they handed Cardinals starter Pem Hobbs his first NABA loss in his last 16 starts. The Cardinals jumped on the board in the first, with an Ed Dickson double followed by a Josh Costner single. Dickson would later score from third with smart base running when Costner was caught in a pickoff run-down attempting to steal second. Eventually both runners would be safe, with Dickson scoring and Costner advancing to second. The Sox would waste no time overtaking the lead in the bottom half of the inning, touching Cardinals starter Pem Hobbs for two runs. Brian Freivogel drew a walk and with two outs, Scott Yaniszewski crushed a Hobbs fastball to left-center field for his second homerun in as many games giving the Sox a 2-1 lead. A quite top half for the Cardinals would allow the Sox to add to the lead in their half of the 2nd. Joe Maione led off the inning reaching on an error and would end up on third after a wild pitch and stolen base. With 2-out, Mike Marconi drew a walk followed by a Matt Rosner HBP, loading the bases for Sox shortstop JD Vidal. Vidal laced an RBI single through the left side to score Maione. With the bases still loaded, Freivogel drew another walk scoring Marconi to push the lead to 4-1. After a silent 3rd, the Cardinals would plate another run in the 4th with a lead-off single from Costner. He would advance to second on a wild pitch, steal third and score on an errant throw on the stolen base attempt making the score 4-2. The Sox added another run in the 5th when Freivogel parked a 3-2 pitch from Hobbs over the right-field fence extending the lead to 5-2. The Cardinals answered back in the 6th with a single from Seth Gordon who would eventually score from third off an error on a routine ground ball with two outs. The Sox would get that run back in their half with a lead-off bunt single by Keith Kraemer who was sacrificed to second in the very next at-bat. Kraemer would score from second after two consecutive wild pitches to round out the Sox scoring and run the score to 6-3. The Cardinals would attempt a rally in the seventh with yet another lead-off single, this time off the bat of Jim Rice. With one out, Rice would score from second on a two-base error off a ground ball to the right side that ricocheted to right-field. Sox starter Wes Hepler (3-0, 1.17) fanned the next batter and ended the game with a ground ball to second. Hepler (3-0, 1.17) notched his third win of the young season with a gritty performance. He went the distance, striking out eight, scattering nine hits (seven of which were singles), allowing only one earned run in the 1st and not issuing a walk the entire evening. Offensively, the Sox were led by Yaniszewski (2-3, HR, 2 RBI, RS), Freivogel (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 RS) and Vidal (2-4, RBI, SB). Dowd Maye added a double and Maione and Kraemer rounded out the Sox offense with each collecting a hit. For the Cardinals, Costner led the way with two hits on the game. Ed Dickson and Marc Forniciari had the only extra base hits while five others added a hit as well. The Sox are back in action Thursday night with another divisional match-up against the Charlotte Braves.
