| Express fight off late comeback |
| Wind, rain and cool temperatures didn?t stop the Brewers and Express this past Sunday afternoon as Kimball staved off a late Luxemburg rally winning 11-10 in a classic highway 15 battle at the ball park behind St. Wendel?s Catholic Church in Luxemburg. |
| Aaron Knaus (a.k.a. Mr. Offense) was strictly about business Sunday as he ignited two big innings for the Express. In the first inning Jeremy Kuechle drew a walk and Joe Pennertz would single. Mike Arnold then singled scoring Kuechle to make it 1-0. With two on Knaus crushed a two out double to the right centerfield gap plating Pennertz and Arnold to give the Express the early lead. Luxemburg came right back in the bottom half of the inning scoring two runs themselves making the score 3-2 in favor of the Express. In the second and third innings Lux would score three more to give them their first and only lead of the game at 5-3. Kimball however, would come back with a flurry of runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good. The inning was highlighted by another two out Knaus hit as he launched a bases loaded triple to the gap in right to give him five runs batted in for the day. The Express scored seven runs in the inning giving them a 10-5 lead. They would add one more in the fifth inning as Pat Arnold scored on a Scott Marquardt single. |
| Right hander Kris Hagen (1-0) got the nod for the Express making his first start of the season. Hagen put in five innings of work before he was relieved by Pat Arnold in the sixth inning. Arnold was making his 2003 debut and was rolling along just fine until the eighth inning when he gave up one run and had to battle his way out of a bases loaded jam. In the ninth the Brewers would just not go away mounting a monstrous rally. Arnold would get the lead off batter to ground out to third. Brewer shortstop Kelly Weber would reach on an error, then a walk and a single loaded the bases. In stepped Luxemburg catcher Nate Lommel who had a heck of a day going 3-5 at the dish. Lommel would battle Arnold to a 1-2 count before launching a grand slam homerun to right field bringing the score to 11-10. Arnold settled down getting the next two batters on a ground out and a strike out to end the big rally and the game. |
| Kimball pounded out 15 hits but the defense committed 6 errors, something that is very unusual for the Express. ?It?s a win? said manager Tom Marquardt. Going to Lux is always tough so coming out with a victory no matter how it gets done is just fine for the Express. From the 4th inning on, the game was played in a light rain making it miserable for players and fans. |
| The Express record now stands at 2-0 CVL and 2-0 overall. The schedule gets a little more busy this coming weekend as Kimball will be in St. Joesph Friday night with a 6:30 first pitch slated. On Sunday the Express travel to Marty for an always entertaining ball game against the Pearl Lake Lakers. A special game time is set for 3:00 to give the Express players enough time to make it from serving the annual Mother?s Day Dinner at the Playland Ballroom to the ball park in Marty. The Express invite every one to come out Sunday for a excellent chicken dinner prepared by the wonderful staff out at the Playland Ballroom. |
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