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Sports

Sawyer Leads Rascals to Fifth Win in a Row

Rascals are on a roll as they defeat Florence in a 14-5 win at Wednesday night's game.

River City catcher Danny Sawyer is on a roll. A big-time roll.     

Sawyer went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs Wednesday night to lead the Rascals to a 14-5 win over Florence in a Frontier League game before 942 fans at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.     

River City, which improved 21-10, won its fifth in a row, tying a season high. The Rascals moved to within 1.5 games of first-place Southern Illinois in the Western Division.     

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Sawyer led a 15-hit attack by reaching safely in his 17th successive game. He is batting .380 during that span.     

"I've got a lot of great hitters around me, so I'm seeing real good pitches," says Sawyer. "It's funny how baseball works. When you have a great lineup like we do, everybody seems to get better pitches because the other team doesn't want the next guy to come up."     

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Sawyer, who has become a more disciplined hitter this season, gives credit for his strong start to hitting coach Mike Breyman.     

"He's been working a lot with me and it helps," Sawyer said. "I had a lot of movement. I've tried to eliminate it and keep my foot down."     

The Suwanee, Georgia resident triggered a three-run outburst in the third inning that broke a tie and put the Rascals ahead to stay 7-4. He added a two-run double in the eighth that provide some much-needed insurance.    

Sawyer is known for his defense and pitch-calling skills. But he has pushed his batting average to .268 with the recent outburst.     

"We've got a lot of good pitchers and they pump strikes," said Sawyer. "They're easy to catch."     

River City first baseman Joash Brodin slammed a three-run homer in the first inning to stake the hosts to a 4-1 lead. He added another run-producing hit later to cap off a 3-for-5, four RBI effort.     

Stephen Holdren added three hits and scored four times. Chad Maddox, Jason Patton and Chris McClendon also provided big hits.     

"The last four or five games we've been hitting the ball extremely well," said River City manager Steve Brook. "We had pretty good at-bats the whole night. What I like the most is that we drew a lot of walks.    

That means we didn't swing at bad pitches."    

River City starting pitcher Don Lisi, nicknamed, "The Godfather," improved to 3-1 with an adequate 5 2/3-inning effort. He gave up five runs on eight hits. Relievers Kolby Moore, Derrick Miramontes, Kirkand Rivers and Ryne Miller kept the Freedom (16-14) in check the rest of the way.     

River City jumped to a 4-1 lead behind Brodin's fifth home run of the season off Florence starter and loser Andy Clark (4-1).     

The Rascals erupted in the third to go in front to stay. Holdren and Maddox started the rally with back-to-back singles. Jareck West coaxed a walk to load the bases. Patton drew another free pass to force in the go-ahead run. Sawyer followed with a single to left that pumped the lead to 6-4. McClendon garnered another bases-loaded walk to make it 7-4.    

Florence climbed to within 7-5 with a run in the fourth before River City exploded for three runs in the seventh and four in the eighth.     "It was certainly a good night for us," added Brook. "Everybody hit the ball and you like to see that."     The Rascals have outscored the opposition 44-17 during the five-game streak, which matches the five-game run from June 11-15. They have 56 hits during the current blitz.     

River City has won 9 of its last 11 games.     

"We've definitely got the hitters that can keep doing this," said Sawyer.           

NOTES FROM THE DAWG POUND:      

  • River City is last in the 12-team Frontier League in attendance averaging 1,532 per contest.      
  • Right-hander Josh Lowey (2-2, 2.95) will oppose Florence southpaw Chris Ingoglia (3-1, 3.13) on Thursday. Friday is Patch.com night at T.R. Hughes Ballpark. Zack Sterner (3-0, 1.74), the Rascals' top starter, will take the hill.     
  • River City played 12 of its last 15 games on the road prior to Wednesday's affair. The Rascals won 11 of those games. 
  • Florence third baseman Chris Curley made his 11th error of the season on Wednesday.  
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