The Hawaii Tropics travel to Valencia for a two game series against the surprising Stars in a Pacific Division matchup.
Game 1- The Valencia Stars make Hawaii Ace Alaric Wullenweber look pedestrian as they take the opener from the Tropics.
Wullenweber pitched six innings surrendering five runs (four earned) on five hits and a walk. He struck out nine batters but gave up three homers and falls to 3-2 with a 2.23 ERA.
SS Larry DeCourteney was 2 for 3 for the Trops with a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.
Valencia wins 5-3.
Game 2- The Tropics get three homer on offense and the pitching allows a run on three hits as Hawaii earns a series split with the Stars.
Manny Garcia, Tony Hernandez and Jose Camacho all hit the long ball for the Trops.
Garcia was 2 for 5 with a solo shot in the fourth, Hernandez was 2 for 4 with a solo shot in the sixth and Camacho was 2 for 3 with a three run bomb in the third.
On the mound, Niccolo “Notorious” Destefani pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up just a run on three hits. He walked four and struck out eight to improve to 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA.
Felipe Lopez came on in relief giving up just a walk in two innings of work. He was followed by Ronnie Sprinkles who pitched 2/3 of an inning getting both outs via the K.
Hawaii wins 5-1.
The Tropics take the long flight to Madison for a four game series against the Wolves.
Game 1- The Madison Wolves ambush the Tropics in the series opener getting ten runs on sixteen hits. Bob McConnell was the first victim of the Wolf Pack giving up four runs on five hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and falls to 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA.
The next man on the firing line was Alberto Castaneda. Castaneda walked two and allowed four hits that resulted in three runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
Tropics Manager Antonio Sanchez brought in recent call up Kusuma Djojohadiksumo to try to keep the Madison offense at bay. The Wolves hitters stayed patient drawing two walks off of Djojo and coupling them with two hits to score another run. Djojo ended his day after an inning and a third of work. Finally, RJ Davis came on in mop up duty and gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out one in 1 2/3 innings.
SS Larry DeCourteney continues to be the only Tropics hitter producing any offense. DeCourteney was 2 for 3 with two RBI.
Madison wins 10-3.
Game 2- The Topics commit three errors and the Wolves take advantage to take another game off of Hawaii.
SP Jesus Gonzalez pitched 5 1/3 innings getting hammered for ten hits. He walked two and gave up four runs (three earned). He did strike out two batters.
Tony Hernandez was 2 for 5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
DH Ernest McBride was 3 for 4 with a double, a runs and an RBI.
DeCourteney was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Madison wins 7-3.
Game 3- The Wolves fall behind the Tropics early but their offense kept at it to come back for another win.
SP Zak ‘Hitman’ Johnson had a decent start for Hawaii going 6 2/3 innings giving up three runs on five hits, walked one and struck out three.
The offense is struggling for Hawaii and it is looking like they have lost their balance of runs coring and run prevention. Jose Camacho is one bright spot for Hawaii as he was 1 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. He is hitting .329 with 4 homers and 14 RBI this season.
Madison wins 5-2.
Game 4- The Madison Wolves put a bow on their series sweep of the Hawaii Tropics with a win over Hawaii Ace Alaric Wullenweber. The Tropics defense didn’t help their starter committing two errors to hurt their cause. Wullenweber went six innings giving up three runs (one earned) on eight hits, walking one and striking out nine. He falls to 3-3 with a 2.14 ERA.
The Tropics offense produces ten hits but can only push across one run across the plate.
RF Mike Campbell was silenced for the majority of the series but was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored in this game.
Madison wins 6-1.
