*Cards, Rebels have game suspended in ninth inning

By Dennis Atwood

sports@nvdaily.com

NEW MARKET - In a game the rains couldn't leave alone, the Front Royal Cardinals and New Market Rebels, two of the Valley Baseball League's hottest teams, met in a game postponed by rain on July 1.

A heavy rain started falling in the ninth inning and, after a 15-minute rain delay, the game was suspended with the Cardinals leading 5-4 and the Rebels having the bases loaded with one out.

The Cardinals had won 12of their last 14 games, including a pair of five-game winning streaks, to surge to the league's top spot with a 21-13 record.

The Rebels (18-15, 9-6 Central) had won seven of their last 11 games, including a current three-game winning streak, and closed to within one-half game of division-leader Luray.

The precipitation held off until ninth inning, when a misty rain started and the score was tied at 4-4.

It's a commonplace that lead-off walks in close games tend to be costly, and that case was made when the Rebels fourth pitcher, Kyle Hoffmann, entered the game and issued a lead-off walk to third baseman Kevin Krantz. Kevin Brashears sacrifice bunted Hoffman to second and he went to third on Brandon Brewer's ground out.

Rarely done with two outs, Front Royal's Jesse Henry executed a perfect suicide squeeze just inside the third base line, and Krantz barely beat Seth Kivett's crisp throw to the plate to score the go-ahead fifth run. Henry continued to second on fielder indifference as no one was covering the bag.

"[The squeeze play] is something that I learned about last year coaching at Tennessee-Martin," Cardinals manager Joe Scarano said. "A gentlemen came down who had played several years ago at South Alabama and he talked about how important the short game is for a lot of players. And one of the ways he talked about having bunts be more productive was the two out bunt.

"He said a lot of times the two-out bunt will be there because the defense plays so far back. So this year, with the Cardinals, we've found that one of the easiest ways to score is just lay a bunt down the first baseline. In amateur ball it can even be effective when the infield is expecting a bunt. Then we expanded that to use a bunt down the third base line with a runner on third and two outs."

Anthony Ottrando then singled to right and Jesse Henry (3-for-5) was cut down at the plate on a rifle-arm peg by rightfielder Matt Townsend. Henry had missed 15 of 16 games due to an injury, but returned last week to hit 7-for-13 for a .538 average.

"The injury was a bone bruise on my glove hand index finger, and every time I caught a ball or swung the bat, it hurt, so I just needed to rest it," said Henry. "[On the suicide], coach just game me the sign and it's the first squeeze I executed this year."

The rain got heavier as the Rebels came to bat in the bottom of the ninth, with Rossignol still on the mound.

Rufus reached on an infield hit to third, followed by Seth Kivett's infield hit to first. The two then executed a double steal, moving to second and third.

Sanchez Gartman struck out and Carroll was intentionally walked to load the bases. Perhaps to gain time to let the rains further deteriorate the field, Ross Speed was brought in to pitch to Zach Helgeson.

A rain delay was called and 15 minutes later the game was suspended.

In addition to playing the league's first place team toe-to-toe, the Rebels gained a wild card up their sleeve with the suspended game. It will be resumed only if needed to resolve standings and playoff eligibility at the end of the regular season.

Rebels starter Joe Hammond pitched shutout ball through the first three innings, yielding three hits and a walk while striking out two looking and issuing a walk. But he survived a first inning threat mainly due to a Cardinals base running error.

He survived a first inning threat as Henry led off with a single to center. Henry was out at second as Ottrando hit into a fielder's choice. Leftfielder Jared Simon smacked a solid liner to right for a double but Ottrando was thrown out easily at the plate, 9-5-2.

Designated hitter Steve McQuail (2-for-4) then smashed a liner to right field, but right at Townsend to end the threat. McQuail regularly hits the ball hard. He stroked a first pitch double into the center-left gap and scored the Cardinals first run in the fourth, then bashed a 3-1 pitch for triple to right in the fifth, driving in two runs to give Front Royal a 3-1 lead.

"I've been seeing the ball well, but, especially today, I just told myself to slow things down and not get the front foot down early and see the ball a long way," McQuail said. "It really helped me -- I was hitting the ball all over the place."

New Market managed only one run off Cardinals starter Greg Van Sickler in the first five innings.

In the second frame, George Carroll and Helgeson struck out looking, then Zak Messer bashed a first pitch double 10 feet up the right field wall, and was plated by a one strike double to center by Townsend.

Otherwise, Van Sickler scattered three singles, stuck out seven and walked one in that stretch.

The Rebels had a break-out sixth inning, sending eight batters to the plate to score three runs and take a 4-3 lead, and chasing Van Sickler from the mound.

Carroll drew a one out walk on six pitches, then Helgeson reached on an error, and Messer reached on an infield single to short stop, loading the bases.

Zach Chastain relieved Van Sickler and struck out Townsend. But he then hit Richard Gonzalez with a pitch, which pushed Carroll across the plate.

Leftfielder Kenny Mickens, (2-for-4, improving his fourth in league average to .374), launched a hit over the third base bag, down the line for a two RBI double, scoring Helgeson and Messer.

Central Division position player of the week, New Market's Kevin Rufus, appreciated the honor by going 3-for-5, two hits being infield singles.

"At the beginning of the year, it's tough, because the wooden bat is little bit heavier [than the metal bats in college play]," Rufus said. "Just reaction time is tough to gain and I was one of the slower ones staring off. The first two weeks I was batting around .150.

"I've kept with it, and in the last 10 days to two weeks I've been getting two or three hits a game. I get a lot of infield hits because of my speed -- you gotta' use your tools. Not striking out and putting the ball in play has helped me get a lot of hits."

Another lead off walk proved significant, this time in Front Royal's favor as Brewer led off the seventh with a free pass issued by Rebel reliever Matt Burnside, and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Henry reached on an infield hit to first base, moving Brewer to third. Henry was caught stealing second. Ottrando then bashed a fly ball to deepest center field, where it was caught against the wall for a sacrifice fly, plating Brewer with the tying fourth run.

Mickens also figured in a controversial call in the eighth inning.

The Cardinals' third pitcher, Dan Rossignol, struck out Messer and Townsend. Gonzalez then stroked a single to center. With Mickens at the plate, Gonzalez ran for a steal of second. Catcher Jim Jacquot let loose what appeared to be a clean throw, which went wide of second base and Gonzalez advanced to third. But, Mickens was called for batter interference with the catcher, to end the inning.

"It's been fun to go from worst to first," Scarano said. "It's been a fun process. I had a lot of liberty in putting the team together and so I brought in a lot of people I know and trust."

"We went 8-3 in the third quarter of the season, now we're in the last 11 games, or the fourth quarter," said Rebels head coach Lucas Jones. "We talked from day one about improving with each quarter. We started 4-7, the second was 6-5, now we're 8-3 and we've gotten better as we've progressed.

"Tonight was a mysterious one. It's part of the Valley League and its mystique. They worked their tail off to get the field ready and finally got it in shape and it looked like we had a window to complete the game, but it wasn't quite enough, but what can you do."