Game Report: Beloit vs. Kane County, 4/28/09

Written by: Justin Murphy on 29th April 2009

Game Report: Beloit vs. Kane County, 4/28/09 | read this item

On a chilly, Midwest-League-in-April day in Geneva, Illinois, the Twins’ Low-A affiliate Beloit Snappers played a matinee ballgame with the Kane County Cougars. Elfstrom Stadium is a low-lying park not far from the Fox River, about a one hour train ride from Chicago. On April 28, it was unseasonably full of youngsters, in attendance with their schools.

The starting pitcher for the Snappers was Bobby Lanigan, a right-hander. Lanigan was the Twins’ third round pick in 2008, and had a solid professional debut that year in Elizabethton. Going into this contest, he had allowed nine runs in 17 innings, on 15 hits, 5 walks and 17 strikeouts. Kane County, affiliated with Oakland, was atop the standings at 12-5, while Beloit was at the bottom, at 5-11. The Cougars won the first three games of the four game series.

Through the first five innings, neither team scored a run. Despite the cold, Lanigan came out very aggressive in the first inning with a mix of sliders, change-ups and fastballs. He retired Jason Christian on a nasty 2-2 slider, and hit 92 with his fastball. His change-up was spotty throughout the day; in the first inning, it had a serious hump that kept it from being very effective.

As a result, Lanigan weaned off of the change as the game went on. Equally importantly, after sitting at 91-92 MPH with his fastball in the first inning, he never touched 90 from the second inning on, for reasons unknown. He used his slider as an out pitch in nearly all situations, although he did fan lead-off hitter David Thomas with a nasty change-up in the third. When he needed a pitch to get out of a bad situation, Lanigan relied exclusively on the fastball.

In the third and fourth innings, Lanigan fell into a bit of a lull. His slider lost some break and his pace, usually brisk, slowed considerably. It was evident that he was laboring, but in each inning (and also in the second) he was able to wiggle out of trouble after putting runners on base. By the fifth inning, he was throwing the slider with more confidence and seemed to be getting stronger. To begin that inning, he struck out catcher Juan Nunez with a perfectly located fastball.

Overall, Lanigan pitched five innings, allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out four. His stuff was inconsistent and he struggled at times, but was able to strand runners in scoring position in three innings. When he was going well, he pitched quickly and mixed in his slider and change-up with confidence. When struggling, though, he slowed down and threw many more fastballs.

Lanigan also had two opportunities to field balls, and did not acquit himself well in either instance. He failed to stop a ground ball in the second inning that ended up going for an infield hit, and on a hard line drive in the fifth, he simply leapt out of the way without any concern for making the play. This defensive indifference is due largely to his not finishing his pitching motion in fielding position.

In the sixth inning, Lanigan put runners on first and second with no outs, and was replaced by the left-hander Joe Testa. Already 23 years old and an undrafted free agent, Testa wasted no time whatsoever. He threw almost exclusively fastballs, sitting around 88-89 MPH. Many of these fastballs were up in the zone, yet the Cougars managed only one hit off of him in four innings of relief. Like Lanigan at his best, Testa worked quickly and challenged hitters rather than trying to fool them with breaking balls.

The same cannot be said of Kane County starting pitcher Shawn Haviland, a soft-tosser with an inordinate fondness for his loopy curveball. His fastball topped out at 88 MPH, and Snappers hitters seemed to see the ball well; in 30 trips to the plate, Beloit put the first pitch in play eight times. The leader in this category was left fielder Ozzie Lewis, who saw only three pitches in his first three at-bats. On each pitch, he followed the ball beautifully through the strike zone and made solid contact with the ball. The results were a scorching line drive to left-center in the first, a one-hop grounder to short in the fourth, and an RBI single in the sixth. At bat and in the field, Lewis oozed confidence and athleticism. Only in the seventh inning did he have a bad at-bat, striking out on a high fastball.

Angel Morales, the Snappers’ center fielder, is universally regarded as one of the top prospects in the Twins organization. He reached base twice in four plate appearances. In the second inning, he accepted a four pitch walk from Haviland, who tried to tempt him with 50 MPH curveballs out of the zone. In the sixth, he scorched a low line drive towards third base. The Cougars’ Jason Christian was handcuffed and deflected the ball into foul territory. Morales hesitated rounding second, but was fast enough that he was still able to reach second easily. He ended up scoring on a two-out single by Alexander Soto.

Morales was a pleasure to watch on the basepaths, and also took very good routes to balls in center field. At the plate, he looked poised and showed good discipline. He chased only one bad pitch, a two-strike offering in the fourth inning. It seems as though he has room for more muscle on his frame, which would give him better power to the gaps, hopefully without losing any speed.

Second baseman Dominic De La Osa was also impressive, going 3-4 with a walk and a run scored from the lead-off position. More than anyone else on either team, he was patient and professional at the plate. In the first inning, he stayed back on a quality breaking pitch and saucered it into left field; in the fifth, he got behind 0-2, but managed to coax a walk. He made a great defensive play in the fourth inning on a hard-hit ball, recognizing that he had time to knock it down and still get the out. His only serious mistake came in the third, on a ducksnort over the first baseman’s head. He slowed momentarily rounding first, then belatedly decided to try for second base, where he was forced into a run-down out. Unlike Morales, De La Osa doesn’t have the speed to make up for hesitancy on the basepaths, but he played a very solid all-around game.

Defensively, Alexander Soto showed his rocket arm on two throws: a pick-off attempt at first base, and a steal at second. In both instances, he made an extremely strong throw with a very quick release, but didn’t quite put the ball where it needed to be. He has a very long, slow swing with a considerably large hole in it, and he looked feeble while striking out in the eighth.

This is not a complete game report, but only some particularly salient observations. Shortstop Ramon Santana, the surprise of the year so far for Beloit, did not play. Instead, Nicholas Romero got the start, and made a very impressive throw from the hole in the third inning. In addition to the players mentioned, designated hitter Evan Bigley was 2-4 with two RBIs, and right fielder Michael Harrington had a pair of singles.

The Snappers won the game 4-0; the box score is available here. Lanigan got the win, Testa the save, and Haviland the loss. By the later innings, the students in attendance had boarded their buses, and perhaps only one or two hundred diehards remained from the announced crowd of 5,542.

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Topics: Angel Morales, Beloit Snappers, Bobby Lanigan, Dominic De La Osa, Joe Testa, Ozzie Lewis