Barnstormin’

	Ben Fritz 0-0, 6.75 ERA		Pat Stanley 9-6, 4.72 ERA

Manny Mejia will make his first appearance at Clipper Magazine Stadium tonight since being traded to Newark on Aug. 1. The Barnstormers felt they needed a defensive upgrade behind the plate and ultimately jettisoned Mejia and Kevin Kotch in favor of David Castillo and Brian Munhall.

This is one of the few position player changes the team has made since the start of the second half. How is it working out? Let’s look at the catchers’ numbers since the trades.

Mejia (49 at-bats)

Castillo (47 at-bats)

Munhall (27 at-bats)

Mejia, as you might expect, has provided a power boost for Newark. He’s a right-handed pull hitter perfectly suited for the Bears’ home ballpark. The former Barnstormer has four homers in 24 at-bats in The Den. Newark gave up pitchers Matt Sweeney and Steve Kent in the deal and the Bears still could get a PTBNL. It has panned out well for them.

The Barnstormers haven’t done badly in this transaction, either. They have a pretty good catching tandem and have been able to use Munhall at other positions in an effort to fortify their sagging offense. Both teams have gotten what they expected and the Barnstormers would probably be better off in the long run if they had found a way to improve their OF production to complement their new catchers. That obviously has never happened.

There is a third element to this story. Lancaster sent Sweeney to Bridgeport to acquire Munhall. At the time the Barnstormers thought they had a pitching surplus, but that unraveled with a series of injuries. How is Sweeney faring for Bridgeport?

Sweeney (2 starts)

Sweeney immediately stepped into Bridgeport’s rotation and provided two solid starts. The Barnstormers could have used those starts, but hindsight is 20/20. You can’t predict injuries. Over the long haul, if Munhall and Castillo match Mejia’s offensive production – and they should – the Barnstormers did OK with these moves. But the bigger problem remains. If they don’t upgrade the outfield, nothing else really matters. They won’t have enough offense to win a division title that is getting further out of reach with each passing day.

CAMPBELL ADDED:

The Barnstormers have acquired OF Michael Campell from the Frontier League’s Gateway Grizzlies in exchange for future considerations. Campbell, a left-handed batter, hit .297 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs in 72 games with Gateway. His on-base was .355 and his slugging was .459. He’s expected to join the Barnstormers Saturday.

Career statistics for Campbell are here.

Lineups …

15-18	15-17
Bobby Hill, 2B	Mike Woods, LF
Ramon Castro, SS	Danny Gonzalez, SS
Keith Reed, CF	Matt LeCroy, DH
Jose Herrera, RF	Ian Bladergroen, 1B
Ruben Mateo, LF	David Castillo, C
Raul Gonzalez, DH	Lloyd Turner, RF
Willis Otanez, 3B	Ivanon Coffie, 3B
Randall Simon, 1B	Jutt Hileman, CF
Scott Knazek, C	Mike Caruso, 2B

Scoring summary …

WP: Sendy Rleal (5-3)
LP: Shaun Babula (0-1)

FINAL: Barnstormers 15, Bears 7

Bears 1st: Reed’s home run scores Hill. Gonzalez’s home run scores Mateo.
Newark leads 4-0.

Stormers 1st: Woods hits solo home run.
Newark leads 4-1.

Stormers 2nd: Gonzalez’s double scores Coffie and Woods.
Newark leads 4-3.

Stormers 4th: Bladergroen’s single scores Gonzalez.
Game tied at 4.

Stormers 5th: Hileman’s home run scores Turner and Coffie.
Lancaster leads 7-4.

Bears 6th: Otanez hits solo home run. Simon and Hill score on Rleal’s throwing error.
Game tied at 7.

Stormers 6th: Caruso’s fielder’s choice scores Castillo. Woods’ home run scores Coffie and Caruso.
Lancaster leads 11-7.

Stormers 7th: Hileman’s single scores Turner. Caruso’s double scores Coffie. Woods’ single scores Hileman and Caruso.
Lancaster leads 15-7.

Pitchers:

Bears: Pat Stanley, Shaun Babula (5), Edwin Almonte (6), Tim Sweeney (8).

Barnstormers: Ben Fritz, Sendy Rleal (6), Paul Thorp (8), Trevor Marcotte (9).

Box score:

RECORD: 16-17 (46-57)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mike Woods

The leadoff man 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and six RBIs. His three-run shot in the sixth inning capped a four-run rally that put the Barnstormers ahead to stay.

“I’m trying to do whatever I can to help this team out,” said Woods, who has scored 13 runs in his last five games. “If everybody can do their part, we have a really good team. We’re just trying to make a run for the playoffs.”

NOTES:

*Ben Fritz made his second start:

Fritz recovered from a rough first inning — in which he allowed a pair of two-run homers — and made it into the sixth. The righthander has upper echelon stuff for this league. His fastball is in the 88-89 range and he has a good slider. His control was off at times in this one: four walks and two hit batters.

*The Barnstormers set a season high with 15 runs and matched their high with 17 hits. Ivanon Coffie and Jutt Hileman were the other big stars. Hileman smashed a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs. Coffie scored four runs.

“That’s the kind of game obviously we’d love to see every day,” manager Von Hayes said. “We’re showing signs of swinging the bats the way I think we’re capable of swinging them.”

*Juan Francia was released after the game. The Barnstormers needed to clear room on the roster for OF Michael Campbell.

*Eric Ackerman will be activated from the DL in time to start Saturday. The lefty’s return stabilizes the rotation that now includes Fritz, Jason Scobie, Erik Dessau and Chris Steinborn.

*Ross Peeples was activated from the DL prior to Friday night’s game. The lefty reliever hasn’t pitched since May 7 after having bone chips removed from his throwing elbow.

BOTTOM LINE:

The Barnstormers rake against Newark. They are 5-0 and have scored 49 runs against the Bears in the second half. York has won eight in a row, so Lancaster wasn’t able to gain any ground, but it was a great sign that the offense came to life.