The Jamestown Jammers finished their 2012 New York-Penn League season on a positive note by winning the final four games on the schedule.
The Jammers beat Mahoning Valley twice and Batavia twice to close out their season at 35-40, good enough for third place behind first-place Auburn (46-30) and second-place Batavia (44-32).
Auburn, will join the McNamara Division winning Hudson Valley Renegades (52-24), and the Stedler Division winning Tri-City ValleyCats (51-25) in the playoffs, along with the Brooklyn Cyclones (45-31), who were the wild-card winners.
Article Photos
Photo by Jim Riggs
Jamestown Jammers relief pitcher Miguel Fermin follows through on a pitch during his team’s New York-Penn League game at Diethrick Park, on Labor Day.
On Sunday, Sept. 2, the Jammers topped Mahoning Valley, 10-2, before dropping the Scrappers, 6-5, on Labor Day.
Rain forced the cancellation of the Jammers' game against the Batavia Muckdogs on Tuesday, Sept. 4. The Jammers then dropped the Muckdogs in a double-header on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1-0 and 3-2, respectively.
Helpi Reyes was the benefactor of a 10-run outburst in the Jammers' 10-2 win, going six innings, allowing two runs on a hit while striking out four and walking three. Reyes ended his season 3-7 with a 4.19 ERA.
Brian Ellington and Jose Rodriguez worked the final three innings for Jamestown, combining to allow two hits while striking out one and walking one.
At the plate for the Jammers, Michael Main had three hits, including a double and an RBI while Yefri Perez (RBI) and Yeison Hernandez (double, RBI) each had two hits.
Jamestown was able to take advantage of four Mahoning Valley errors to score four unearned runs on the day.
Holding a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the ninth on Labor Day, the Jammers' Miguel Fermin was unable to pick up the save, as he allowed three runs on four hits while striking out two over two innings of work.
Fortunately for Fermin, his teammates bailed him out of the dog house in the bottom of the ninth, as Juancito Martinez led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch by Rafael Homblert. Fermin picked up the win to move to 2-3 on the season.
Ramon Del Orbe (3-5, 3.69 ERA) started for the Jammers, going the first five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out two and walking one.
At the plate for Jamestown, Martinez finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles to go with his ninth-inning triple. Perez, Cody Keefer, Jesus Solorzano and Michael Vaughn had RBIs in the win.
In its final two games of the season, on Wednesday, Sept. 5, the Jammers received stellar pitching to pick up the double-header sweep.
In the first game, Drew Steckenrider, Patrick Merkling and Jheyson Manzueta combined on a three-hit shutout, as the Jammers won 1-0 over Batavia. The trio combined to strikeout five and walk three. Merkling (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Steckenrider. Manzueta picked up his third save of the season pitching a scoreless seventh inning.
Sharif Othman (1-for-3) had the lone RBI while Solorzano (double) had a pair of hits. Keefer also added a double in the win.
In its season finale, Jamestown edged Batavia, 3-2, behind the pitching of Beau Wright, who threw two scoreless innings in relief of Sean Donatello, striking out two and not allowing a hit. For Wright, it was his fourth win of the season, bringing his 2012 record to 4-4. He finished with a 3.70 ERA. Donatello worked the game's first two innings, surrendering a run on four hits while striking out two and walking one.
Ryan Newell earned a hold, allowing a run on two hits while striking out three over two innings of work while Frankie Reed picked up his third save of the season. Reed struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning.
Jamestown scored all of its runs in the bottom of the first inning, getting an RBI base hit from Solorzano, an RBI ground out off the bat of Felix Munoz and a little help from the Muckdogs' defense to score the third run of the frame.
Keefer finished the game with a pair of hits in the win.
Batavia scored its runs in the top of the second and sixth innings.
Solorzano led all Jammers' regulars with a .314 average, finishing with eight home runs, 13 doubles and 27 RBIs, reaching base at a .374 clip. Anthony Gomez led the team with 28 RBIs while Solorzano's eight home runs was good enough to lead the team.
Wright's four wins were the most on the Jammers' pithing staff while Mason Hope (3-4) led the starters in ERA at 2.90. Reyes had the team-high in strikeouts with 57 while Del Orbe tossed a team-leading 75 2/3-innings.
Manzueta's 1.29 ERA and 43 strike outs were tops amongst relievers.
As a team, the Jammers finished fifth in batting average (.245), seventh in home runs (30), 11th in on-base percentage (.309), eighth in OPS (.650), and ninth in stolen bases (54).
On the mound, the Jammers' staff was fifth in ERA (3.15), fifth in strikeouts (589), had the third most walks (291) and allowed the third fewest home runs (26).
