Barnstormin’

[caption id=”attachment_2160″ align=”alignnone” width=”450″ caption=”Sendy Rleal and Manny Mejia”][/caption]

	Erik Dessau* 4-5, 4.65 ERA		Juan Padilla 0-0, 0.00 ERA

Manager Von Hayes has placed an emphasis on defense since the start of spring training. That’s part of the reason he released Dominick Ambrosini and signed Jarred Ball. It’s why the team moved Mike Woods from second base to left field and put Juan Francia at second base.

Has the philosophy worked? Not really. The Barnstormers never adequately replaced Ambrosini’s production. Ball hit .190 here. Francia batted .225 until he was put on the bench. Woods has been the best leadoff hitter in the league, but his bat is better suited for his original position. Lancaster’s offense ranks last in several categories.

With that background in mind, the trade of Manny Mejia to the Newark Bears Friday shouldn’t have been all that surprising. Mejia struggled defensively and newcomer David Castillo looks like a significant upgrade. The difference between this move and the others mentioned above is Castillo could also be a better hitter. He doesn’t strike out as often as Mejia and gets on base more.

“We brought David Castillo in here to be an everyday catcher,” Hayes said. “He offers things to our staff that probably the everyday fan is not going to see. We certainly see it. We saw it in that 2-1 game in Somerset (Thursday). We saw pitches that were called strikes that got us out of innings that we don’t normally get. He’s the guy that I wanted. I consider him more of an everyday guy. It really strengthens our catching situation.”

The Barnstormers could have kept Mejia in a backup role and had his bat as insurance on the bench, but Mejia wanted more consistent playing time. Lancaster accommodated him by trading him north.

Newark is a pretty good landing spot for Mejia. He’ll likely be the starter there and he’s well-suited for the Bears’ home ballpark, which can be a haven for right-handed power hitters. In exchange for Mejia, the Barnstormers received two pitchers: righty Matt Sweeney and lefty Steve Kent.

“When you consider that Manny came here as a backup originally, that was basically going to be his role,” Hayes said. “We turned that into two pitchers that are going to help our bullpen. I don’t see that as being a problem at all.”

Sweeney, for the moment, projects as a middle reliever who can fill a role similar to Ricardo Gomez. He can either pitch long relief or help serve as the bridge from the starters to closer Ryan Cullen. Kent will likely be used as a lefty specialist.

Why was this deal made? Newark needed a catcher. Mejia wanted more playing time. The Barnstormers felt two relievers were more valuable than a projected backup. Add it up and you have a three-player swap with Lancaster eventually sending another player to the Bears.

Pitching matchup:

The Erik Dessau vs. Juan Padilla pairing is interesting for a few reasons. With first place on the line, two teams are turning to newcomers who are making their first Atlantic League starts. Dessau and Padilla also represent the different player procurement routes taken by the Barnstormers and Revs.

York loves to horde ex-big leaguers. Head of baseball operations Adam Gladstone has signed nine former major league pitchers. Padilla is merely the latest. So far he has thrown two scoreless innings of relief and retired all six batters he faced.

Lancaster prefers to gamble on youngsters and indy league veterans. Dessau is an undrafted righthander in his fourth season of indy ball. This is his first outing outside the Frontier League.

While York’s approach seems more likely to produce success in the Atlantic League, it hasn’t shown up in the standings so far. The Revs are 40-50 this season. The Barnstormers are 41-49.

*Dessau’s stats are from the Frontier League.

Lineups …

10-10	11-9
Kennard Jones, CF	Lloyd Turner, 2B
Keoni De Renne, SS	Ivanon Coffie, 3B
Chris Ashby, 1B	Danny Gonzalez, SS
Jason Aspito, RF	Matt LeCroy, DH
Shea Hillenbrand, DH	Ian Bladergroen, 1B
Matt Padgett, 3B	David Castillo, C
Matt Esquivel, LF	Jordan Herr, LF
Luis Taveras, C	Jutt Hileman, CF
Jose Enrique Cruz, 2B	Kevin Kotch, RF

NOTE: Mike Woods out with a sore wrist.

Scoring summary …

WP: Ryan Cullen (4-4)
LP: Nick McCurdy (1-2)

FINAL: Barnstormers 3, Revolution 2

Revs 1st: Aspito’s sacrifice fly scores Jones.
York leads 1-0.

Stormers 6th: Kotch scores on wild pitch.
Game tied at 1.

Revs 9th: Cruz’s sacrifice fly scores Esquivel.
York leads 2-1.

Stormers 9th: LeCroy hits solo home run.
Game tied at 2.

Stormers 10th: Turner’s sacrifice fly scores Hileman.
Lancaster leads 3-2.

Pitchers:

Barnstormers: Erik Dessau, Ricardo Gomez (7), Steve Kent (8 ), Ryan Cullen (9).

Revolution: Juan Padilla, Dan Foli (5), Travis Phelps (6), Dave Veres (7), Wayne Franklin (8 ), Nick McCurdy (9).

RECORD: 12-9 (42-49)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Matt LeCroy

It’s difficult to quantify how important LeCroy has been to the Barnstormers over the past five weeks. This was one of his biggest moments to date. The designated hitter rescued his team from a tough one-run defeat with a solo homer in the ninth that forced extra innings. It was a no-doubter that hit the advertising signs above the bumper boats pool in right center.

“I’m usually not as aggressive on that first pitch,” LeCroy said. “But I didn’t think (York closer Nick McCurdy) had enough warmup pitches. I didn’t think he was ready. I told myself I might be more aggressive. He missed right out over the plate and luckily I hit it. I hadn’t been able to get a big hit. I had a chance earlier tonight to open the game up and I grounded out. It feels good to help our team.”

NOTES:

*Erik Dessau made his Atlantic League debut:

It was an impressive performance by Dessau, a former Frontier League standout trying to make the jump to the Atlantic League. York’s high-powered offense, which hit .327 in July, went 3-for-16 against Dessau and all three hits were singles. Although he pitched well enough to win, he received a no decision.

“It was a great experience,” Dessau said. “It’s a whole new level out there. When I got out there, I was a little bit nervous. You’ve got a lot of guys with big-league experience or who have been in affiliated ball. You’ve got to concentrate on every pitch.”

*Jutt Hileman’s leadoff double in the 10th set the stage for the game-winning run. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Lloyd Turner’s sacrifice fly. Turner took the first pitch and lofted it to medium left field. Hileman scored without a play.

*Steve Kent made his Barnstormers debut. The lefty reliever retired Jason Aspito on a pop out, Shea Hillenbrand on a fly out and Matt Padgett on a fly out.

*Manager Von Hayes shook up the lineup with Mike Woods out. Ivanon Coffie, who was batting ninth not that long ago, batted No. 2 and Turner took over Woods’ leadoff slot. The outfield without Woods was Jordan Herr in LF, Hileman in CF and Kevin Kotch in RF.

BOTTOM LINE:

This was a big come-from-behind win. It kept the Barnstormers in sole possession of first place and evened this three-game series at 1-1. LeCroy breathed life into the team with his mammoth clutch homer. Hileman and Turner took it from there.

“It’s real early,” Hayes said. “Even if we didn’t get this game today, there would be no need to panic. But these are the types of games that turn seasons around for teams and get you going. Hopefully, we can take it into tomorrow. This is our home ballpark. We’re supposed to win here.”