Fri, Sep 24, 2004 page24

• Rookies make the big different for the La New Bears

  • By Paul Huang / CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
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  Outstanding plays by three La New Bears rookies, second baseman Shih Chih-wei (石志偉), shortstop Lin Chih-sheng (林志盛) and lefty starter Wu Si-yo (吳偲佑) in the past two weeks have breathed new signs of life into the club that have won three of its last five, including two impressive victories over the league-leading President Lions.

  Following their 3-1 triumph over the Lions on the road last Saturday, the Bear offense turned Monday night's make-up contest against the league leaders into a batting practice by pounding out a team-high 18 hits against the Lion staff in the 13-2 slaughter.

  After three scoreless frames, the Bear hitters finally found their stroke against Lion newcomer Oswaldo Mairena in the fourth when catcher Chen Fong-ming (陳峰民) connected for a two-run blast to deep left.

  Rampage

  The Bear offense then went on the rampage, scoring in every inning the rest of the way for a total of 13 runs against six different Lion hurlers. Lin Chih-sheng's four-RBI night just edged out fellow teammates Shih Chih-wei's 4-for-6 effort with two RBI's and first baseman Kuo Chang-ting's (郭昌庭) 4-for-5 outing with one RBI for the game-MVP honor.

  On the other side of the ball, Bear starter Cory Bailey kept the Lion lineup at bay by allowing a lone run on five hits in seven innings for his ninth win of the season. The American righty is now 9-14 with a 3.13 ERA in 24 starts and three relief appearances.

  Tuesday night's contest between the Sinon Bulls and the Macoto Cobras was a classic seesaw battle that ended in a 3-3 tie after eleven innings.

  Designated hitter Cheng Jing-yi's (鄭景益) run-scoring single in the top of the first would put the serpents on the board early, before his counterpart Sinon captain Huang Tung.

  Chung-yi (黃忠義) returned the favor in the third with an RBI single.

  With one out and runners at the corners, the Cobras then took a 2-1 lead on catcher Chen Keh-fang's (陳克帆) sacrifice fly to deep left in the fourth before Sinon shortstop Cheng Jau-han (鄭兆行) put his team back on top with a two-run shot that was just inside the left foul pole.

  Strike again

  Down 3-2, Chen Keh-fang would strike again in the seventh by lining a clean double to the left-center gap that brought home the runner from second to tie the game up at 3-3.

  That was how it ended because neither team was able cross the plate again, thanks to stunning efforts by relievers from both clubs.

  Four unanswered runs in the ninth helped the Cobras find their way back to the win column in their 5-3 thrilling victory over the Bulls on Wednesday. The victory not only ended the serpents' recent four-game winless skid in a hurry, it also kept them from falling to the bottom of the standings by maintaining the one-game margin over the resurging Bears.

  The tough loss further exposed the Bulls' season-long problem with late-inning relief as it struggles to fill the gap that was left open with the departure of former ace closer Ramon Morel to the Japan Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB).

  "Not having a reliable closer really puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to close games. If we don't address this problem quickly, we won't be going anywhere come this postseason," Sinon skipper Chen Wei-cheng (陳威成) said in disgust after the game.
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