Spring Training Day Two

If the first day was dominated by offense then on the second day it was the pitchers stealing the show as the gold team recorded a 4-0 shutout of the blue team...

Bryan Rembisz and Shannon Wirth each threw three innings...Wirth was extremely effective hurling three shutout innings without allowing a hit and retied the side on seven pitches in his third inning of work. He struck out four as the pitching staff fanned 13 in the seven-inning game, or just under one per half inning pitched. The bullpen was equally effective as Zac Cole and Ted Gjeldum each worked a pair and combined to allow just one run with each stricking out two. Matt Dillard surrendered just one hit in his two innings while Nick Pepper needed a measley 10 pitches in his inning of work. Stephen Read was also impressive in his inning of work, failing to surrender a run.

Offensively, while Kyle Maunus may have hit a foul ball, he certainly made the most noise with a 400+ foot shot that just hooked foul down the left field line. Maunus did have a double and a walk on the afternoon. Matt Imwalle had the hardest hit fair ball, pounding a double that one-hooped the wall in left center field to drive in a pair. He also recorded an infield hit and a hard groundout to second. The offense totaled 13 hits, four of which never left the infield and one of which was on a broken bat. Mike Epping recorded two more hits to bring his total to six in his seven spring at bats. He also drove in a run, his third in two days. Mike Goetz picked up a pair of infield hits and followed them up with a pair of stolen bases (Man there's some speed on this roster). He has five hits in his first two days.

It was also media day at Wuerfel Park. Look for lots of media coverage on the team in the coming weeks...Mike Epping, Mike Goetz, and of course Steve Young and Ryan Gehring were interview favorites, but most of the team was talked to in some form or another...There were three TV stations, a pair of radio stations, and of course a newspaper. While the questions covered a large range of topics, the most popular were related to the turf and how it might change the game. When chatting with one player he told me, its going to be different but when it comes down to it, its still baseball...

I'll have an update from a shortened workout tomorrow (I don't believe they are playing a full seven-innings tomorrow) but then am off for the weekend heading back to Chicago to broadcast the Horizon League Softball Tournament...if interested I'll be on at 2 and 4 CST through horizonleaguenetwork.tv...I believe you have to sign up to check it out (It is video) but its free...The updates will resume on Monday...

On a side note, draftee Will Jackel arrived in Northern Michigan this afternoon...he was in the Marlins system last year and is from Florida...Jackel was chosen in the second round of the Frontier League draft...By the end of tomorrow all pitchers will have made their first appearance...18 pitchers currently occupy roster slots...