The Hawaii Tropics make a long trip for a short series. The Trops play a three-game series against the Wolves in Madison.
Game 1- Hawaii starter Elvin Hilliard and reliever Juan Martinez combine to shutout the Madison Wolves. Hilliard pitched 6.1 innings giving up just four hits, walked three and fanned three. He earned the win to improve to 9-7 with a 3.27 ERA. Martinez relieved Hillard in the 7th with one out and pitched 2.2 innings. He gave up just a hit and struck out two batters for his 6th save.
CF Angelo Lucchesi was 1 for 3 with a double, a walk and scored two runs. Russ McHaney was 3 for 5 with two RBI. Vicente Mendez was 2 for 5 with an RBI.
Hawaii wins 3-0.
Game 2- The Madison Wolves turn the table on the Tropics as they use three pitchers to shut out Hawaii on four hits. Rookie Hawaii starter Utbah ‘Crawdad Me’ bin Muta allowed six runs on seven hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out one as he falls to 0-2. Troy ‘Teddy Bear’ Reynolds pitched well allowing just three hits and walked one with three Ks in 2.2 innings of work. Phil Thompson also pitched 2.2 innings allowing three hits with three Ks.
Lucchesi was 2 for 4 with a double and had half of Hawaii’s total hits on the day. McHaney was 1 for 3 with a walk and Mitch Wareham was 1 for 3.
Madison wins 6-0.
Game 3- Hawaii used solid pitching and timely hitting to get a series win. The Trops started Semih Gurani who pitched 2.1 innings allowing a run on five hits and a walk with a K. The Teddy Bear took the ball and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave up a hit with a walk and a K to earn the win. He improves to 9-5 with a 3.55 ERA. Chih Kuang pulled out of this doldrums to throw two clean innings with a strikeout. John Moore followed with a scoreless inning issuing a walk and striking out a batter. Luis Perez finished the game off with a clean 9th with a K.
On offense, Karunamaya Makarand was 2 for 5 with a solo homer. He scored two runs and drove in one. DH Adam Backhouse was 1 for 4 with a three-run homer in the 5th inning. Mitch Wareham was 2 for 4 with a solo homer, scored two runs and had an RBI.
Hawaii wins 7-1.
The Tropics win the series 2-1.
