PreStros Playoff Report: September 12

Quad Cities

Quad Cities got on the board in the 2nd inning with a Bobby Borchering solo homer to give the River Bandits a 1-0 lead in Game 2 of the Midwest League finals. Then, a wild 4th inning saw Danry Vasquez draw a one-out walk and then score courtesy of three wild pitches by South Bend pitcher Blake Perry. Rio Ruiz got an RBI double and Jordan Scott laid down a suicide that scored Ruiz. In the 6th, Ruiz scored on a Roberto Pena line drive, and that was your ballgame: 5-0 Quad Cities.

Joe Bircher threw 5IP, 6H/0ER, 2K:2BB; Jamaine Cotton had one of the more remarkable relief appearances you'll see: 3IP, 0H/0ER, 6K:0BB - striking out six consecutive batters in the 7th and 8th innings. J.D. Osborne threw a hitless/scoreless 9th inning.

Rio Ruiz was 2x4 with two doubles and an RBI; Roberto Pena was 2x3 with a walk and an RBI; Bobby Borchering scored twice and hit the aforementioned homer.

Man of the Match: I'm going Jamaine Cotton.

Series: Quad Cities up 2-0 (Best-Of-Five)
Next Up: At home vs. South Bend, Saturday 7:00pm Central

Tri-City

In the deciding game of the New York-Penn League Championship, State College took a 1-0 lead in the 4th on Kyle Westwood. Then, in the 6th, things got weird. Two bunts to lead off the ValleyCats inning got runners on 1st and 2nd and a James Ramsay sac bunt moved them to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Jack Mayfield's single tied the game and two wild pitches by new State College pitcher Victor De Leon brought in the go-ahead run. Two more Tri-City walks loaded the bases, and a bad throw on a Brian Holberton grounder turned a potential inning-ending double play into two more Tri-City runs. In the 9th, State College got a leadoff single, and Gonzalo Sanudo gave up a rare homer (his first allowed since June 18) to make it 4-3. With the tying run on 2nd, Sanudo struck out the final two batters of the game to give the ValleyCats the NYPL Championship for the 2nd time in four years.

Man of the Match: EVERYBODY

Series: Tri-City wins 2-1 (Best-of-Three)
Next Up: 2014

PreStros Morning Report: June 14

Oklahoma City (35-30), 1.0 GB

A couple of Round Rock big innings gave the Nolans Express an 11-2 win over OKC in a first-place showdown, giving Round Rock a one-game lead. Ross Seaton's days at Triple-A may be numbered after his 5IP, 10H/10ER, 3K:6BB, 3HR, WP outing; Jason Stoffel (2H/1ER, 3K), Andy Simunic (1H/0ER, 2BB) and, yes, outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin (0.2IP) closed out the game.

Shortstop candidate Jonathan Villar was 2x4 with a doube; Jake Elmore, Brett Wallace (RBI), and Brandon Laird had your other hits. Justin Maxwell was 0x3 with a sac fly RBI.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Villar

Corpus (42-25)

The Hooks set a first-half record with 42 wins and clinched a playoff berth with a 3-2 extra-inning win over Frisco. Jorge De Leon needed just 56 pitches to throw 5IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:1BB; Ruben Alaniz threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 4K:2BB and Andrew Robinson (K) and Pat Urckfitz (1H) get the win and the save, respectively. Ian Kinsler was 0x4 with a walk.

Domingo Santana was 2x5 including the 11th-inning game-winning homer; Erik Castro was also 2x5 with a homer and 2RBI; George Springer was 1x5 with 3Ks and his 19th stolen base; Jio Mier had a hit and a walk.

Man of the Match: Domingo Santana

Lancaster (38-30), 2.0 up

Lancaster had not won a game when trailing after eight innings (0-25), but clinched at least a share of the first-half title by scoring six runs in the top of the 9th for a dramatic 7-3 win at Lake Elsinore. Tyson Perez allowed 6H/3ER, 3K:2BB in 5IP (74 pitches); David Rollins threw 3IP of no-hit, one-walk relief, and Travis Ballew allowed 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB in the 9th.

Delino DeShields was 3x5 with a double, RBI, and his 16th stolen base of the season; Preston Tucker was 3x5; Matt Duffy (3RBI) and MP Cokinos (2B, 2RBI) had two hits each, with Cokinos doubling in the game-tying runs.

Man of the Match: Delino DeShields

Quad Cities (36-30), 4.0 GB

Quad Cities were eliminated from first-half contention following a 3-1 loss to last-place Burlington. Vincent Velasquez allowed 3H/3R (2ER), 6K:2BB in 5IP; Jamaine Cotton finished with 4IP, 2H/0ER, 6K:0BB.

Teoscar Hernandez (BB) and Jesse Wierzbicki (RBI) had two hits each while Austin Elkins and Rio Ruiz each had a hit and a walk.

Man of the Match: Jamaine Cotton

Tranzactionz!

Here's some Tranzactionz for you:

Aug 6:
Jamaine Cotton called up to Tri-City.

Aug 5:
Corpus pitcher Henry Sosa called up to OKC
SS Jose Vallejo sent to Lancaster from Corpus
Miguel Arrendell sent to Tri-City from Lancaster

Aug 4:
David Flores called up to Corpus from Lancaster
Jio Mier activated from Lancaster's 7-Day DL
Chris Epps called up to Tri-City from GCL Astros

Jamaine Cotton about to sign

15th Round pick Jamaine Cotton, out of Western Oklahoma State, said he plans to sign with the Astros for $75,000 today.

With the 15th Round pick (453rd overall)

The Astros select 6'1" 180lb RHP Jamaine Cotton out of Western Oklahoma State, and originally from the US Virgin Islands.

Cotton was taken in the 28th round by the Giants in 2009, but did not sign - which looks like a good move right now.

He was 11-0 in 2010 in 60.2IP, allowing 58H/22ER, 53K:15BB for Western Oklahoma State.

Rays scout Evan Brannon:
“I saw him at camp last January and he has a good arm. But it’s really hard to say exactly where and which round he will go.”