Playoff ready? Bandits take fourth straight

By Robert Edmonds -- sports@nvdaily.com

NEW MARKET -- Woodstock continued its hot streak Thursday night against New Market. The River Bandits stormed Rebel field using a four-run first inning to give another blow to the Rebels' playoff hopes in a 5-2 victory.

New Market ace Steve Owens entered the night with a 6-1 record and built drama in a matchup that pitted the overpowering hurler against the hot bats from Woodstock. Owens didn't make it out of the first inning as Evan Kehoe and Stephen Hunt hit a pair of two-run homers to send Owens to the bench.

"I'll take that every night of the week," River Bandits manager Donn Foltz said.

"It was nice to get some early momentum going," Kehoe said. "We were able to give our pitcher good run support and he could feel comfortable. He was able to do a great job for us and carry us from there."

After Gerardo Caceres led off the inning reaching base on an error, Kehoe stepped to the bat and started the scoring with a blast over the Rebels' bullpen in leftfield. After allowing Matthew Blow to reach on a double, it appeared Owens was settling in as he recorded the next two batters on strikeouts.

Hunt then jacked the first pitch he saw from Owens over the rightfield fence to give Woodstock a 4-0 lead before New Market manager Lucas Jones trotted to the mound to replace his starter.

Mike Graham entered the game for the Rebels and silenced the Woodstock bats for the next seven innings, but the damage had already been done.

The New Market offense could not generate any offense against Woodstock starter Alex Burkard, who pitched six flawless innings before leaving the game in the seventh after fatigue began to set in. Burkard allowed four walks in the sixth to give the Rebels their first run.

The Rebels inched closer on an RBI single by Seth Kivett to leftfield. After Sanchez Gartman and Zak Messer reached base, the Rebels had the bases loaded with only one out.

The New Market offense squandered its opportunity, however, as the next two batters could not come through, allowing Woodstock to maintain its lead.

"Alex gave us a great starting effort tonight," Foltz said. "Alex, [Douglas] Wagner and Guido Knudsen all pitched great tonight."

The River Bandits added an insurance run in the ninth when a double by Blow scored Derek Vigoa. The run was the first given up on the season by Rebels' closer Brian Burgess.

Woodstock now looks forward to a couple days rest before gearing up for the playoffs.

"These guys earned this rest," Foltz said. "It is well deserved. We had the best regular season in franchise history and all the credit goes to these guys. They got the job done when they had to do it."

"We get to take a day off and get back to work on Saturday," Burkard said. "We just want to stay hot and keep battling. It's better to be hot this time of year than at the beginning of the season."

The home run by Hunt had a larger significance as he thought about his teammate Jonathan Koscso, who remained in the hospital after a broken orbital bone ended his season earlier in the week.

"Jon is a great guy and has been big in the clubhouse for us this year," Hunt said. "He's been my best friend since high school. We wish he could be here but he is rooting us on. He wished us good luck before the game and into the playoffs."