May 26: Bats Boom, Goldeyes Light Up JackHammers 8-4

Vince Harrison figured Joliet JackHammers lefty reliever Sean Teague was going to try to bust him inside.

“Dee (Brown) just hit the double and drove in two runs and I figure he’d try to throw something inside to make me hit it on the ground,” Harrison said. “I was looking fastball inside and he got the ball elevated. It was a good pitch to hit.”

Indeed. Harrison took Teague’s pitch into the trees over the left \field wall for a two-run homer that put an exclamation point on a six-run fifth inning that carried the Goldeyes to an 8-4 victory over the visiting JackHammers in the second game of a four-game series at Canwest Park.

One night after the Goldeyes were drilled 7-0 in a rain-shortened game the night before, the Fish came out and pounded five JackHammers pitchers for eight runs on 12 hits. All nine Goldeyes batters had at least one hit while Wes Long, Jeremy Hamilton and Harrison all had multi-hit games.

“That’s the great thing about baseball,” said Harrison. “We weren’t very good on Monday, but we get to come back every day and play again. We mess up one day, we get to come back and make up for it the next day. It’s tougher for football players. They play badly and lose, they have to wait around a week before they play again. That’s one of the great things about being a baseball player.”

Harrison is now hitting .350 with two runs, two doubles, a homer and three RBI early in this 2010 season, but interestingly, his scouting abilities might have as much to do with the Goldeyes early success as his bat.

It was Harrison who brought 23-year-old first baseman Jeremy Hamilton to town and on Tuesday night Hamilton went two-for-two with two runs scored and took over the batting lead in the Northern League. Hamilton is now hitting .500 (seven-for-14) in his first week with the Fish.

Meanwhile, Canadian starter Matt Kniginyzky (1-0, 5.00 ERA) got his first Northern League win. Kniginyzky went five complete innings and allowed three runs on seven scattered hits to earn the victory.

Wednesday night, the Goldeyes and JackHammers play Game three of this four game series. Come and enjoy a TV game at the ballpark and then go home and watch yourself on Shaw’s replay at midnight. Game time is 7 p.m. and yes, the midnight TV replay is at 12 midnight.