76.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesIllegal Pitcher Raises Questions for St. Thomas Hurricanes

Illegal Pitcher Raises Questions for St. Thomas Hurricanes

Nov. 1, 2007 — The St. Thomas 45 Plus Hurricanes played their second double-header in the 2007 Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL) tournament in Arizona Wednesday, earning a tie in the first game before being hammered by the Memphis Warriors in the second game.
In game one, the Hurricanes launched a protest against their opponent, the Washington D.C. Cardinals, after finding out that the team's starting pitcher was two years too young to compete. Around the third inning, Hurricane pitcher Reggie Wilkerson called a time out and requested that the umpire check the credentials of the pitcher in question, 43-year-old Ken Wilkinson. After their suspicions were confirmed, the Hurricanes commenced and won their protest, but lost the game 13-5.
Because they won the protest, the loss does not count against the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes kept their strength up for game two, but lost 24-9 to the Memphis Warriors. As the Mountain Division's best team, the Warriors are a hitting machine, and could hit all the way through their line up and possibly even through the bench. Proving their skills on Wednesday, the Warriors were taken out of the competition and placed in the higher ranking National Division, where they will have to compete against teams closer to their skill level.
Batting first, the Warriors picked up two early runs on an RBI single by Brad Stevenson and a sac fly off the bat of Angel Olmo. The Hurricanes were equal to the task as they answered with two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI triple by Frank Thomas and an RBI single by Kai Schjang to tie the game.
This would be the closest the Hurricanes would get to taking the lead, as the Warriors added two more runs in the top of the second on RBI singles by Tim McClain and Kevin Dotson, three in the third on an RBI triple by Stevenson and RBI singles by Tony Henley and Olmo, and five in the top of the fourth before the Hurricanes would score again. The Hurricanes got two back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Schjang and a sac fly by Wilkerson to trail 12-4 at the end of four innings.
A two-run single by Wayne Williams in the top of the fifth extended the Warriors lead to 10 at 14-4 and they cleared their bench after that.
The Hurricanes were finally able to keep the Warriors from scoring as they held them scoreless in the sixth while scoring four runs themselves. They scored four runs on a two-run double by Wilkerson, an RBI single by Glenn Francis, and a pass ball to now trail14-8.
The Warriors then blew the game wide open with five runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth. The Hurricanes added a single run in the bottom of the eighth for a final score of 24-9. The game was finally called after the three-hour time limit expired.
Stephen Rhodes pitched the win for the Warriors, while Leon Martin took the loss for the Hurricanes. Leading the Warriors 21-hit attack were Dotson and Henley, both 3 for 4, and Rhodes and Williams both 2-4. For the Hurricanes, Schjang was 3 for 3, Thomas, 3 for 4, and Jaime Rhymer was 2 for 2.
At 1-2-2, The Hurricanes now find themselves in a must win situation on Thursday if they want to realize their playoff dreams.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.