Greenville Bats Carry Team to Victory

Greenville scored double digit runs for the first time in four games Monday night as Dustin Swart provide 6 RBIs to carry the team to a 13-5 victory. Swart continues to shine this season for Greenville as he doubled his RBI total for the season by hitting 2 triples in his first two at bats, and then finishing off his night with a homerun. It was his 2nd homerun of the season, and the 3rd team homerun.

You would assume that such a performance would cause a man to get a little cocky, but not this young top prospect. When asked about his tremendous performance after the game, Swart only focused on his throwing error in the 5th inning. On a slow grounder to 3rd, Swart charged the ball and threw it half way into right field. The runner never came around to score, but you could see his frustration as he squeezed his half empty capri-sun in the post-game press conference.

The scoring started for Greenville in the 1st inning. Michael Shivers got on with a single, and he scored later that inning when Swart hit his 1st triple of the game. Greenville would end up stranding Swart at 3rd and settle for 1 run in the first.

The 2nd inning provided two runs thanks to back to back doubles by Grant Glover and Randy Way. The third inning brought on 3 runs when Swart provided another triple to bring in Shivers and Carlson. James Manley also scored in the inning on a Levi Carlson Single.

The 5th inning is where the bats really came out. Greenville scored 6 runs in the inning. Brian Edwards reached on a fielder's choice and scored a run on a Sac Fly by David Strickland. Brokaw singled and scored on a Shivers' single. Manley singled and scored on an error while Levi Carlson was at the plate. Swart brought in himself, Carlson, and Shivers by hitting a line drive over the leaping left fielder that cleared the left field fence. It was his second homerun of the season.

Greenville added one more run in the 6th inning when Spencer reached on a single. He would be driven in by an RBI single by Randy Way. It finished off the highest scoring night for Greenville so far this season.

Greenville strengthened its hold on 2nd place, and the team now stands at 3-1 at the halfway point in the season. "I really like the way the bats are coming around," said Coach Brokaw. "If we can swing the bats like we did tonight, we should win a lot of ballgames. The way Shane (Spencer) has been pitching, if we can put 10 or more runs on the board, we really like our chances."

Spencer finished off his fourth complete game of the season, and he lowered his ERA to 7.67 despite allowing 5 earned runs. All five of those runs came in the 2nd inning when he allowed 3 singles, a walk, and a homerun. It was a great pitching performance once again from the ace of the staff as he proceeded to pitch 5 out of 6 shutout innings.

"My job has been really easy," added pitching coach Mike Mabry. "All I have to do is sit back and watch the games. I have only had to get someone warming up in the bullpen one time this season. Although I thought I was going to have to take him out of the game in the 2nd inning because of an illadvised base stealing attempt."

After hitting a single in the second inning, Spencer tried to steal 2nd base, and he was promptly thrown out as the shortstop waited with the ball for a few seconds for Spencer to get to the bag. After the game, Spencer still maintained that 1st base coach Michael Shivers sent him on the play. Shivers laughed when asked if he sent him.

It didn't seem to matter at the end of the game as Greenville came away with a win. After the game it was oranges and capri-suns for everyone. Even the umpire got in on the action despite a few questionable calls on both sides of the ball.

Greenville heads into next week's matchup with Sons of Thunder hoping to build on their offensive success, but for now the team will sit back and enjoy their unprecedented success for their inaugural season.