Duffy Nipped in Playoff

Loser in 1-0 Decision

In a pitchers duel that ends 1-0 somebody has to lose.

Unfortunately in the Carolina League semi-final Thursday night in Lynchburg, Virginia it was Lompoc’s DANNY DUFFY.

The Lynchburg Hillcats nipped Duffy’s Wilmington Blue Rocks by virtue of two second-inning singles and an infield out which scored a run.

On Lynchburg’s second single, to right field, Hillcat baserunner Jamie Romak alertly went from first to third. The infield bouncer that followed allowed him to score.

Duffy was untouchable otherwise.

Three of his six innings went 1-2-3. One was marred only by a harmless single, one by a base on balls. He struck out seven and walked two. Lynchburg managed just three singles off of him.

In his last 32 innings Duffy has allowed just four earned runs. That represents an ERA just slightly north of 1.00.

Duffy was bested by Rudy Owens who was making his first appearance in the CL after winning Most Outstanding Pitcher honors in the South Atlantic League. Owens gave up more hits (4) and more total bases (5) but he did not give up a run.

The best of five series is now tied 1-1 and returns Friday to Wilmington.

Here’s hoping Duffy gets one more chance.

Thursdays Local Prep Schedule

Girls Volleyball

Lompoc
Varsity vs Righetti 6:30 pm
Junior Varsity vs Righetti 5:30 pm
Frosh/Soph vs Righetti 4:30 pm

Cabrillo
Varsity vs SLO 6:30 pm
Junior Varsity vs SLO 5:30 pm
Frosh/Soph vs SLO 4:30 pm


Girls Tennis

Lompoc
Varsity vs Mission Prep 3:30
Junior Varsity @ Mission Prep 3:30

Cabrillo
Varsity vs. Nipomo 3:00 pm
Junior Varsity @ Nipomo 3:00 pm

Girls Golf
Cabrillo @ Alisal vs. SY & Righetti 2:30 pm

Boys Water Polo

Cabrillo
Varsity vs Atascadero 2:40 [COLAC]
Junior Varsity vs Atascadero 3:40 [COLAC]

Football

Cabrillo
Freshman @ Righetti 3:30 pm

Lompoc
Junior Varsity @ Santa Ynez 4:30 pm
Freshman vs Santa Ynez 4:30 pm

Shipman, Duffy, LPL Golf

Andy Shipman

Andy Shipman was named Northern League Relief Pitcher of the Year during the Railcats initial playoff series against his old team (KC T-Bones), which is when the press release below was written.

Since then he also saved Game 5 of that series and Game 1 of the Championship Series versus the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. In that 6-4 victory, Shipman faced 3 batters and retired them in order - a flyout to rightfield, a grounder to short, and a fly to left field.

The Gary Railcat Press Release [Partial]

Andy Shipman Named Relief Pitcher of the Year

» Shipman Bio

GARY, Ind. — Gary SouthShore RailCats closer Andy Shipman, who led the Northern League with 14 saves during the regular season and has saved the ‘Cats first two postseason wins, has today been named the league’s Relief Pitcher of the Year.

Shipman, 27, was waived by the Kansas City T-Bones in late May and almost immediately scooped up by the RailCats. Shipman pitched in 36 games for manager Greg Tagert this summer and saved 13 of the RailCats league-leading 57 wins while posting a 1.85 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .210 average. Shipman struck out 34 in 39.0 innings with the RailCats, finishing with a minuscule WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) of 1.03.

Named to the Chicagoland squad for the Northern League All-Star Game in July, Shipman first made his mark on the league late last year when he pitched in 10 regular season games for the T-Bones in August and was nearly perfect against the RailCats in the league finals, which Kansas City won three games to one.

This postseason, Shipman saved games one and three for the ‘Cats against his former club as the RailCats sit on the precipice of a fifth straight Championship Series berth.Hardly a stranger to success, Shipman was an All-Star closer in the Florida State League (A) in 2004 and Southern League (AA) in 2005 with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs organizations.

Shipman spent the 2006 season at Triple-A Iowa for the Cubs and posted a 3.81 ERA before he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the Rule Five draft after the year. Shipman worked in Double-A for the A’s in 2007 and 2008 before being released. Undrafted out of the University of Missouri, Shipman has logged more than 400.0 innings in a seven-year professional career and has 49 lifetime saves with over 350 strikeouts.

Shipman is the first RailCat to be named Relief Pitcher of the Year and the first RailCat to win an individual award this season. Starter Tony Cogan was named to the Full Season All-Star Team earlier this week as the league’s top left-handed pitcher. The Northern League’s postseason awards are voted on annually by general managers, managers, coaches, radio broadcasters and veteran players representing the league’s six teams.

The remainder of the league’s 2009 awards, including Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Manager of the Year and Organization of the Year will be announced in the coming weeks.

http://www.railcatsbaseball.com/

Danny Duffy

The Wilmington Blue Rocks are in the Carolina League Northern Division Championship against the first half Champ Lynchburg Hillcats. Danny Duffy, who was named Carolina League "Pitcher of the Week" on August 20th is slated to pitch Game 2 of the series on Thursday, September 10th (7:05 pm) at Lynchburg City Stadium. The opposing starter is expected to be LHP Rudy Owens (1-1, 3.86 ERA).

LPL Girls Golf

At Hunter Ranch [9/9/9]
Danielle Gilaspy is a very nice young lady, but she has been quite greedy lately: three tournaments - four wins !!! After winning the opener last week, she took both the individual & team titles at Santa Ynez on Tuesday, and was the Medalist again in this 4-way meet. The Pirates Maddison Shean was the runner-up.

Appropriately playing 9 holes on the 9th day of the 9th month in '09, Gillaspy carded a 36, Maddison Shean scored a 39, Ashley Levanduski,the Bearcats leader shot a 47, and Kyleigh Jensen's 51 paced the Greyhounds.

Team & Individual Scores [5 cards count]
St. Joseph : 224 - Danielle Gillaspy-36, Marissa Gutierrez- 40, Danika Cochiolo-49, Kelsey Wong-45, Chloe Dunn-(55), Megan Cruz-54

Santa Ynez : 235 - Maddison Shean-39, Kristin Henno-42, Meredith Stewart-44, Christiana Layman-53, Elena Hererra-(59), Sine Kelly-57

Paso Robles : 268 Kim Bergin-58, Tori Sepulveda-48, Ashley Levanduski-47, Kelsey Highnote-55, Niki Todaro-60, Kaitlyn Bedell-(66)

Atascadero : 288 - Danyele Rampone-59, Cynthia Shannon-60, Kyleigh Jensen-51, Joelle Clay-63, Corie Bruno-55, Candace Young-(67).

Dynamic Duos

Girls Golf
[See Story]

The Alisal River course was the scene of the most unusal local event of the girls golf season, the annual Santa Ynez Two-Player Best Ball Tournament. Best ball is an infrequently used scoring system at the prep level, but is often used in international competitions like the Ryder & Solheim Cups. Each golfer plays a ball on each hole but only the team's best score is counted on each hole. The team with the cumulative low score at the end of the round wins.

On Tuesday, 22 teams from 16 High Schools throughout the tri-counties took on the challenge, with St. Joseph's #1 team, Danielle Gilaspy & Marrissa Gutierrez, coming out on top. Gilaspy also shared Medalist honors (best individual score) with Remy Lee Molyneux of Oaks Christian. Both carded rounds of 73 for the 18 holes.

Cabrillo's Morgan Salm & Mariah Hall finished just off the podium in 4th, but Morgan Salm of was third individually at 78. Maddison Shean (Santa Ynez) and Emily Fox (Dos Pueblos) each shot 81 to tie for fourth.

Team Scores

St. Joseph [A Team] - Danielle Gillaspy & Marissa Gutierrez 70-----1st place
Oaks Christian - Remy Lee Molyneux & Tiffany Meinert 73---- 2nd place
Dos Pueblos [A team] - Nicole Bullemer &Emily Fox 75--------3rd place
Cabrillo - Morgan Salm & Mariah Hall-76
Righetti [A Team] - Dani O'Keefe & Kelsey Nolan 77
Santa Ynez [A team] - Maddison Shean & Sarah Sanger 78
Righetti [B team] - Mareon Smit & Alexis Rodenberger 79

Dos Pueblos [B team] - Vanesa Villa & Grace Jeores 82
San Marcos - Alexandria Peretiako & Lise Anderson 83
Arroyo Grande [A team] - Sydney Johnson & Kristina Hansson 84
Santa Ynez [B team] - Meredith Stewart & Blake Colvin 84
Santa Barbara [A team] - Olivia Fanaro & Haley True 85

Oxnard - Katie Rice & Drew Thomas 86
Paso Robles - Kim Bergin & Tori Sepulveda 88
Rio Mesa - Stephanie Hall & Michelle Blemker 88
Santa Barbara [B team] - Lexi & Saralisa Ortega 88


Arroyo Grande [B team] - Brooke Bennett & Karissa Mattimoe 91
St. Joseph [B team] - Danika Cochiolo & Kelsey Wong 93
Nipomo - Sara Clarke & Amy Isola 95
San Luis Obispo - Caitlan Guy & Gillian Johnson 95
Camarilllo - Chloe Colon & Jennifer Swanson 107
Atascadero - Cynthia Shannon & Danyele Rampone 118

Lompoc did not participate, partially due to budget considerations.


Girls Tennis

The tennis squads became the 3rd fall sport to play games that counted on Tuesday -

@ St. Joseph 12, Atascadero 6
Singles
Frankie Eszes, won her only set at #1, and Ellie McPike won twice at # 2 singles.
The Knight's #3, Moana Kawatachi, swept all three sets, winning 7-5, 6-0, 6-0 over the Greyhounds’s Kristen MacBride, Marissa Jordan and Rhiannon Dudley.
Doubles
St Joseph's top pair, Whitney Bouquet and Sammy White swept (6-4, 6-1, 6-1) at #1 doubles, while the #3 duo of Paige Jaeckels and Chelsea Pudwill won twice. Tori Contreras and Bre Nothstein won two of their three doubles matches for Atascadero.

Mission Prep 15, Templeton 3
Singles
Rachel Ronca won three singles matches (6-4, 6-2, 6-2) Tuesday to lead Mission Prep as they won eight of nine singles matches. Danelle Grassi picked up the sole singles win for Templeton.
Doubles
Mission Prep’s # 1 team of Jenna Dunbar and Sophie Seid won 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Templeton’s top doubles team, Gabby Franklin and Katie Anselmi, defeated Mission Prep’s Grace Casola and Ricquel Santos 6-3. Templeton’s No. 2 doubles team, Summer Seismi and Elena Torres had Templeton’s other doubles win with a 7-6 victory.

Shipman Saves Series, Named Reliever of the Year

Andy Shipman

Lompoc's Andy Shipman slammed the door on his old Kansas City T-Bones team as the Gary (In.) Southshore Railcats advanced to the finals of the Northern League Playoffs. The top-seeded 'Cats won the series 3 games to 2 with Shipman saving all 3 wins.

In the opener on September 2, Andy was called into the game with Gary clinging to a 4-3 lead. They had crawled back into the game after giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning by scoring single runs in 4 different stanzas. He faced 4 batters, inducing 2 ground balls and a flyball to left for the outs, but allowing a two-out double.

He didn't pitch in Game 2 (3 Sep), a 7-4 loss, with the T-Bones scoring 6 runs in the first 6 innings, but was classic in Game 3 (4 Sep). Called to save a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th, he was flawless. Tossing only 11 pitches (9 strikes) he set down the 'Bones on a grounder to the pitcher, a pop-up to short, and a grounder to 1st base.

September 5th was a day of contrasts for The 'Ship. He was named the Northern League Reliever of the Year and then had his only blown save of the series. Tied 1-1 in the ninth, Shipman was called on to "hold 'em" in the top half of the inning. He got the first two batters on a pop-up & a line out - both to 3rd base, but then gave up his only walk of the series, followed by two hits. That scored the only run run he would allow in the series, but it was enough for him to take the 2-1 loss, since the Railcats couldn't score in the bottom half.

In the rubber game of the semifinals, on the 6th, the real Shipman was back. Twelve pitches (8 strikes) - groundout to 2nd, pop-up to short, ground out to short to seal the 5-2 victory. For the series: 4 games, 0-1, 3 saves, 3 hits & 1 run allowed (unfortunately all with two out) and a series win against a team that gave up on him --Priceless.

The Railcat open the finals today against the Fargo-Morehead Redhawks.

meanwhile....

Chris White

White's Erie Seawolves dropped their last 5 games to fall out of playoff contention. Just as Chris began to get his bat heated back up - he was 3-9 (double) with 2 RBI & a run scored in the last two games. In his short stint with the Seawolves after his call-up he played in 15 games and went 7-37 at the plate, with 5 RBI & 6 runs scored, but of those 7 hits 3 were doubles and two were home runs. Most of the players on the team are 3-4 years older than Chris who is the youngest member of the squad by 10 months.

Football Fumbles

Local High School

Lompoc vs Nipomo

Varsity Lost 35-25

See Story

The Braves played hard in the season opener for both squads, cutting the lead to 29-25 with 4:18 to play in the 4th quarter, but a 36 yard kickoff return, 10 yard run, and 34 yard pass had the Titans back up 10 points just 44 seconds later.

Lompoc's biggest problems were turnovers and an inability to move the ball on the ground. They accumulated just 51 yards on 33 carries (10 carries for 9 yards in the second half). They turned the ball over at their own 33 yardline in the first half when the snap on an attempted punt zoomed past the punter's feet for a 20 yard loss. They also lost 2 interceptions in the 2nd half.

JV Lost 20-0

The Braves had some of the same problems as the varsity. 1) Rushing difficulties: They had 34 carries for 58 yards (1st half - 15 for 15 yards ). 2) Turnovers - 2 fumbles. One turnover on downs.

Lompoc was actually in this one until late in the 2nd quarter. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty helped set up an 8 yard TD run for the Titans, but their 2pt conversion attempt failed with 3 minutes left.

The Braves ensuing possesion consisted of two plays - a nine yard SAC and a lost fumble. Nipomo scored 3 plays later, turning a 0-0 tie into a 12-0 lead in 71 seconds.

The Titans final score came after a Lompoc fumble in their own territory resulted in an 8 play TD drive & 2pt conversion.

Frosh

Nipomo only has a frosh/soph team which played the Braves JV.

Cabrillo

The Conquistadors scrimmaged against San Marcos at all three levels. CIF policy prohibits the score,etc. being kept.

College

Nevada [Vai Taua, CHS]
Vai replaced 2007 WAC rushing champ Luke Lippincott last year after Luke tore his ACL in the second game of the season. He then won his own WAC rushing title (1521 yards) and posted 18 TD's (15 rushing). Both return this year, but the junior Taua won the starting job over the 6th year senior. Expect both to play a lot - sometimes in the same backfield, for the Wolfpack who are considered to be the WAC's #2 team behind Boise State.

Their initial outing, however, was not a success. Several tipsters had Nevada pulling an upset in South Bend against Notre Dame , but it was not to be. The Fighting Irish won 35-0, behind the passing of QB Jimmy Clausen (15-18 315 yards, 4 TD including 70 & 88 yarders), who Braves fans may remember from Oaks Christian. ND had their offense in high gear, but they also shut down the Wolfpack offense. Except, of course, for Vai Taua. He ran for 114 yards on 18 carries (6.3 ave.), his 9th 100 yard game, and caught 3 passes for another 38 yards. His 152 yards were nearly half of the teams 307 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Ohio [Boo Jackson, LHS]

The Ohio Bobcats dropped their opener against UConn 23-16. Theo Scott had been named the starter last week [See Story], but Boo got in the game.

Interesting comparison from the News & Observer of Athens Ohio -
"Ohio had opportunities but squandered most of them. Patrick Tafua had intercepted in the first quarter, returning it to Connecticut's 6-yard line. But Scott turned the ball over three plays later, which led to the first touchdown of the game for the Huskies, putting them up 7-0.

Frazer's second interception of the game was tipped by a defensive player, as Ohio linebacker Melvin Payne came down with the ball. On the ensuing drive, Jackson rolled to his left on a third-and-14 and found Price in the end zone to make the score 7-7."

So who would you start next time out at North Texas in Denton ?

Passing

Jackson, Boo 8-16-0 / 117 yds / 1 TD /Long 44 / Sacked 1

Scott, Theo 7-12-1 / 69 yds / 1 TD / Long 23 / Sacked 2

Rushing -----No /Gain /Loss / Net /TD /Lg /Avg

Jackson, Boo 7 Carries [+28 & -8] = 20, Long 10, 0 TD, 2.9 ave.

The Bobcats leading rusher in the game by the way.

Scott, Theo 7 Carries [+ 19 & - 28] = ( -9), Long 9, 0 TD, (-1.3) ave.

Upper Iowa (Div II) [Justice Clegg, LHS]
The Upper Iowa Peacocks opened their season last week with a 65 - 6 shellacking of Lincoln (Mo.) University in Jefferson City. RT Justice Clegg and the O-line had a big game as UIU rolled up 440 yards total offense with 261 yards and 8 TD's on the ground (51 attempts).

Last Saturday, in their second game, they didn't fare quite so well. The offense play was spotty, and the 'D' couldn't hold 'em. The University put it this way :

"For the second week in a row, the Upper Iowa football team played as the visiting team as they travelled to Bismarck, North Dakota and battled the Marauders of the University of Mary in the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game for both teams of the 2009 season. Although UIU took a 24-20 lead into the halftime break, the Peacocks couldn't hold on and dropped the contest 48-31 to U-Mary."

"After halftime, the Upper Iowa offense went silent as U-Mary posted 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take the lead going into the fourth, 41-24. Upper Iowa tossed back-to-back interceptions in the quarter, the first by backup quarterback Kirby Hovden, who replaced Curran after an injury, and the second by Curran on the next UIU possession.

UIU scored just once more the rest of the game which came early in the fourth quarter when the Peacocks drove 100 yards on 9 plays which was ended when running back Kinon O'Neal punched in a one-yard score to pull the Peacocks back within 10 points at 41-31.
However, UIU wouldn't get any closer as a late fourth quarter U-Mary touchdown finalized the scoring at 48-31."

At 1 p.m. next Saturday, September 12, Upper Iowa will host the Northern State Wolves at Eischeid Stadium in Fayette. The Wolves 0-2 (0-1 NSIC) after a 52-17 home loss to Winona State, were defeated in Aberdeen last season 36-31 by the Peacocks.


Menlo (Div. III) [Robert Sherman, LHS]
Menlo College fell 17-0 at home in Atherton, CA to #23 ranked Occidental. The Oaks, under new Head Coach Fred Guidici, had a few chances against the Tigers, but couldn't convert [See Story][See Pics]. Sherman (#88), is a 6-0, 170 lb sophomore wideout for the Oaks. No Stats are reported for Robert.

The game was notable because of Head Linesman Terri Valenti and Line Judge Catherine Conti - the first time two female officials worked the same college football game in the western half of the United States.

Menlo travels to Orange to play Chapman next Saturday.

Allan Hancock (Junior College)
The Bulldogs defeated SBCC 42-6 [See Story] but have yet to post an official roster. It is not known how many Lompoc valley players are on the squad, but defensive back & CHS grad Greg Watson ran an interception back for Hancock’s third score. He also apparently recovered a kickoff. There are no area athletes on the SBCC roster.

Duffy Blanks Keys

Lowers ERA to 2.98

DANNY DUFFY made his final regular season appearance Saturday night in Wilmington, Delaware a memorable one.

The Lompoc lefty shut out the Frederick Keys on four singles over six innings. He struck out eight and walked just one. He departed leading 2-0, and yet did not receive credit for a victory.

His relief, to put it nicely, collapsed, giving up six runs in the seventh inning to allow Frederick an 8-3 victory.

But Duffy was magnificent.

He retired the Keys 1-2-3 in the first and second. He gave up two harmless singles in the third, and a two-out double in the fourth. In the fifth he relinquished a single and a two-out base on balls. The sixth went 1-2-3.

For the second consecutive start Duffy came one strikeout shy of his season-high. The left-hander fanned eight on August 30 against the Salem Red Sox.

Duffy has been primo since returning from his strained back injury in mid-August. In five starts he is 1-0 with a 1.01 earned run average. After tonight’s performance his season’s ERA had sunk below the 3.00 mark to 2.98.

Duffy’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is now a bluer than-blue chip 125-41. In 126 innings, the most of his three-year pro career, he has allowed just 108 hits. He ranks #5 in the Carolina League in ERA and #3 in strikeouts and is at least a year younger than any of those with better ERA’s or strikeout totals.

The left-hander did say after the game that his back was bothering him throughout his final frame. Duffy was clearly attempting to stretch it out on the field in the sixth. But he also explained that it was just a case of simple tightness and he already felt better in the clubhouse afterward. He was positive he would be fine for his next start.

Duffy will no doubt further action in the Carolina League playoffs which begin on Wednesday against Lynchburg. If the current pitching rotation holds and the skies remain clear Duffy may pitch on Thursday.

Swinging Misses

St Joseph's Danielle Gilaspy, 2008 LPL Indiviual Champion



Girls Golf

The 2009-2010 High School sports season teed off on thursday with a few JV/frosh football games and several girls golf matches.

At Cypress Ridge [AG] FRONT NINE

New Cabrillo Head Coach Dave Schoeder took 7 girls up north to take on both AG and Santa Ynez. The Conqs played well, but not well enough to overcome the two golf behemoths. The Pirates Madison Shean posted a 40 to claim the Medal. Returning Cabrillo ace, Morgan Salm, didn't make the trip but is expected to team with fellow sophomore Mariah Hall on Tuesday at the Santa Ynez 2-Player tournament.

Santa Ynez [237]: Madison Shean 40, Meredith Stewart 45, Blake Colvin 48, Christina Layman 49
Arroyo Grande [255] : Kristina Hansson 47, Sidney Johnson 48

Cabrillo [297]: Mariah Hall 52, Paige Hurlbut 54, Jade Stevens 58, Isabel Tejada 67, Marrissa Merrick 67. Samantha Tsau shot a 65 in JV action.

Rancho Maria

2008 LPL Champion Danielle Gilaspy led the LPL runner-up St Joe Knights to a 237-306 win over the PAC-7 stalwarts SLO Tigers. Gilaspy birdied the first hole, bogeyed the last one, and played an even par 35 on the day. SLO graduated 6 seniors from last year, had one player unable to make the trip and an exchange student waiting for eligibility clearance.

St Joe scorers : Danielle Gilaspy 35, Danika Cochiola 47, Marissa Gutierrez 49, Kelsey Wong 51, Chloe Dunn 52.
San Luis Obispo: Morgan Hamilton 55, Gillian Johnson 62, Anna Talmage 63, Caitlin Walker 63, Sam Lopez 63.


The Righetti - Dos Pueblos match was cancelled due to scheduling problems.

Morro Bay Golf Course

Paso Robles used Co-Medalists to earn double dual wins over Atascadero and Morro Bay.

Paso Robles [263]: Kim Bergin 46, Tori Sepulveda 46
Atascadero [274]: Danyele Rampone 49, Cynthia Shannon 53
Morro Bay [291[: Jill Steinman 55, Jessica Haney (? 64).


JV FOOTBALL
Lompoc JV lost to Nipomo 20 - 0. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. More after the varsity game.

ANNNNNNNNDD!!!! Remember to catch the Lompoc @ Nipomo Varsity Game on TAP-TV channel 23 (7 pm).

Post Graduate Work

Ryan Church

The Atlanta Braves have pulled to within 4 games of the National League wild card lead. Church has shown some signs of life after a lengthy slump. In the last 4 games, he has scored 2 runs and recorded 3 hits (2 doubles) in 8 AB's. He drew 1 walk & struck-out once.

Danny Duffy

The Wilmington Blue Rocks pitcher looks to get one more regular season start this weekend as the team takes on the Frederick Keys for four games. Wilmington has locked up a play-off berth already, but the Keys are fighting for a spot. In his last outing (30 Aug) Duffy had an excellent 5 & 2/3 rds [2 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks, 8 K's] and dropped his ERA to 3.13.

Andy Shipman

The Gary Southside Railcat nailed down another save (his 15th) in the Northern playoff opener against his old squad - the Kansas City T-Bones. KC, the '08 League Champs, jumped out to a 1st inning 3-0 lead, but the 'Cats came back with runs in the 4th, 6th, 8th, & 9th.

Workhorse starter Tony Cogan settled down and pitched shutout ball through the rest of his 8 frames, and Andy allowed just 1 hit in an otherwise clean bottom of the 9th.

Shipman in his regular season time with Gary was 5th in the Independent Norther League in ERA (1.85), 3rd among those with more than 10 innings. He was also 1st in saves with 14 for the full season.

In 36 appearances (39 innings) for Gary he was 4-3, allowed 11 runs (8 earned) on 29 hits & 11 walks. Three of the hits were home runs. He struck out 34, did not throw a wild pitch but hit 1 batter, and opposing batters hit .210.

On the year, he was 4-4 with 44.1 innings in 41 games. His 3.45 ERA was 15th among all pitchers, including some with only 1 inning of work. 43 hits, 1 hit batter & 13 walks led to 21 runs (17 earned). He struck out 40 and hitters recorded a .259 average against him.

Kansas City finished the year with one hurler with an ERA under a 4.00 (3.16) and only 5 under a 5.00 ERA. Their team ERA was 4.77. Maybe should have kept the 'Ship.

Chris White

Chris has struggled since his promotion to AA Erie, with only 4 hits in 12 games. He may be pressing a bit - 3 of his hits were for extra bases, a homer and two doubles.

The SeaWolves [71-66 in their 15th year] are fighting for the Eastern League Southern Division wild card heading into the final weekend of the season. They are a game back of the Reading Phils [72-65] after dropping a 4-3 decision to Harrisburg. They face the Southern Division leading Akron Aeros in their final 4 games (Fri-Mon). Reading takes on the Connecticut Defenders - leaders of the Northern Division.


Forum Notes

Jerrod DeGeorgia hangs it up

Lydell Sargeant is Waived

Boo Who ?

Medical: Richardson, Church, Sargeant, Oestereich

One of the ABA teams that Jay played for - the Georgia (Macon) Gwizzlies.

JAY RICHARDSON [24 May 1979 - 29 Aug 2009]

Jay Richardson, a 1998 Cabrillo grad and basketball standout, died on Saturday, Aug. 29 at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center. He had been on dialysis since March 2006 for the same kidney disease that struck NBA player Alonzo Mourning-Focal Glomerulosclerosis.

Richardson was, at 6-8, an All-League, All-County and All-Section player for coach Mark Tasch. His athletic and emotional post play greatly contributed to deep CIF playoff runs by the Conquistadores, reaching the quarterfinals in his junior year and the semi-finals as a senior.

As a collegian, Richardson earned All-Western State Conference honors at Cuesta College, averaging 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He then played at Sacramento State (2000 to 2002), before moving to the professional American Basketball Association until he was diagnosed with the kidney disease that eventually claimed his life.

Last October, it was hoped that Richardson could receive a kidney transplant from his aunt. But the operation was canceled two days before it had been scheduled to occur, because the final round of pre-op tests found that Richardson was suffering from heart failure. A defibrillator was installed, but they were unable to stabilize his condition enough for the transplant.

Richardson maintained a strong front throughout his battle with the disease, even most of his friends were not aware of the severity of his condition.


RYAN CHURCH

MIAMI -- Nate McLouth received some encouraging news after undergoing an MRI exam on Monday, and RYAN CHURCH experienced enough lower-back relief to gain hope that he could return to Tuesday's lineup. But for now, the Atlanta Braves aren't sure how much their top center-field options will be able to contribute during the season's final month.

McLouth strained his hamstring at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 8 and then aggravated it during an Aug. 15 game against the Phillies. While running at Turner Field last week, it appeared that McLouth be ready to be activated from the disabled list on Monday but he
aggravated the hamstring again while playing with Double-A Mississippi on Saturday night.

With McLouth unavailable, the Braves were counting on Church to handle the center-field duties on a regular basis. But he began feeling lower back discomfort on Aug. 21 and has played just two games since then.

Church, who was scratched from Sunday night's starting lineup after feeling more discomfort during batting practice, said that the anti-inflammatory medication he's been taking seemed to provide some relief on Monday. Thus, he's at least hopeful to play against the Marlins on Tuesday night.

"It's late in the year, you've got to do whatever it takes," Church said.

Church will likely now seek a chiropractor in the attempt to alleviate some of his discomfort.
Because of liability issues, many Major League clubs choose not to provide players with a specific chiropractor. But at the same time, they don't necessarily object to a player's choice to independently find and utilize one.

LYDELL SARGEANT

The NFL's Buffalo Bills made their necessary roster reduction to 75 players on Tuesday prior to the 4pm league deadline. OL Chris Denman and WR Shaine Smith
were waived by the club, and three players, (TE Travis McCall, CB Lydell Sargeant, & DT Marcus Smith) were placed on the waived/injured list.

McCall, Sargeant and Smith all suffered injuries during the course of training camp or the preseason. If they are not claimed by another NFL club they revert back to Buffalo’s roster where they will either be placed on injured reserve or be released via an injury settlement.

Denman and Smith spent last season on Buffalo’s practice squad and could both very well be considerations for that unit again.

Sargeant suffered a serious knee injury (ACL) and is likely to wind up on Buffalo’s injured reserve list as he’s expected to clear waivers.

NIKKI [MANZO] OESTEREICH

Nikki, a Lompoc HS basketball phenom (3-time All-CIF) back in the day, continues to battle cancer. A 6-5 shot-blocking machine and prolific scorer, she helped power the Braves through CIF and into the State playoffs. She then took her game to Rice University, but eventually returned to Lompoc. A teacher at Miguelito Elementary School for a number of years, she is unfortunately no longer able to work , due to the cancer's progression.