Wingnuts

The Wichita Wingnuts beat the Kansas City T-Bones 6-5 in 10 innings at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Taylor Freeman drew a one-out, bases loaded walk to force in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th and allow the Wingnuts to take two of three in their series against the T-Bones.  Tied at 5-5, Juan Richardson drew a leadoff walk and escaped a rundown to steal second base with C.J. Ziegler at the plate.  After Ziegler...

The Wichita Wingnuts had their 11-game winning streak come to an end on Monday night with a 5-1 loss to the Sioux City Explorers at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Sioux City starter Jason Jarvis pitched a complete game five-hitter on three days of the rest for the win.  Jarvis allowed one unearned run, walked one and struck out seven. Sioux City broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the third to take the lead for good.  Yusuke Inoguchi doubled to left-center field with one out, and scored one batter later when Wally Backman Jr. lined a single to center field.  Inoguchi was 5 for 5 in the game, while Backman had two RBI. Starter Ben Graham kept the Wingnuts in the game into the seventh.  Graham held Sioux City to two earned runs in six and one-third innings, walking one and striking out two in the loss.

The Wichita Wingnuts announced their first player moves for the 2012 season on Monday, signing pitchers Brandon Mathes and Shawn Joy. Mathes enters his fourth season in professional baseball, and third overall with the Wingnuts.  Last summer, the right-hander posted a 4.50 ERA for Wichita while earning one save in 31 appearances.  In late July, Mathes was traded to the Frontier League's Florence Freedom where he made 20...

The Wichita Wingnuts (30-10) lost 9-1 to the Winnipeg Goldeyes (24-16) at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Friday night. Winnipeg hit three home runs in the win, and took early control with a four-run top of the second. With the bases loaded and no outs, Kyle Day lined a double down the left field line to score Luis Alen and Gabby Martinez with the games' first two runs. David Naradowski made it 3-0 with an RBI groundout to first base. Dan Barbero singled home Day with a soft line drive to left field.

The Wichita Wingnuts made two additions to their lineup on Friday, re-signing outfielder Josh Workman, and signing catcher Angel Flores. Workman helped anchor the Wingnuts' lineup last season, appearing in all 100 of the team's contests.  An alumnus of Wichita State University, Workman set career-bests in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.325), runs scored (66), doubles (29), home runs (10), and RBI (68).  The Atchison, KS native drew 44 walks against only 68 strikeouts, and finished with a .398 on-base percentage.  The left-handed hitting Workman hit safely in 73 of 100 games, and totaled 36 multi-hit contests--11 of which were for three hits.  Unfazed by same-handed pitching, Workman hit .361 against southpaws in 97 at bats.  Workman was also a model of consistency, and went consecutive games without a base hit just four times the entire season.

The Wichita Wingnuts made two roster additions on Tuesday, signing rookies Blake Bergeron and Zac Mitchell. Bergeron (pronounced BAR-jer-ahn) recently finished a four-year career at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.  A first baseman, Bergeron hit .278 with seven home runs and 37 RBI in 54 games played during his senior season.  The right-handed hitting Bergeron starred in the 2010 National Baseball Congress World Series for the Liberal Bee Jays, hitting .361 with three home runs and 15 RBI in eight games to capture MVP honors and lead the Bee Jays to the tournament championship.

The Wichita Wingnuts re-signed pitchers Ryan Hinson and Derek Blacksher on Tuesday. Last season, Hinson emerged as one of the top starting pitchers in the American Association, finishing tied for third in the league in wins (11), and fifth in ERA (3.35).  The left-hander logged 131.2 innings over 20 starts, striking out 84.  A native of Rock Hill, SC, Hinson was especially tough at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium where was 6-1 with a 2.33 ERA in nine starts.  Hinson--who will be 25 on Opening Night--worked at least six full innings in 19 of his 20 starts, and pitched seven or more in 10 of them.  Hinson allowed three or fewer earned runs 13 times.  With the Wingnuts facing elimination in the Division Series against Grand Prairie, Hinson helped keep their season alive with a seven inning, three-run performance in Game Three.

The Wichita Wingnuts lost 5-3 in 11 innings to the Lincoln Saltdogs at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Lincoln rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth to erase a 3-1 Wingnuts' lead, and then scored two more in the top of the 11th to move in front for the first time in the game. With one out in the ninth, Leugim Barroso doubled down the right field line and advanced to third on a passed ball.  Mike Provencher walked to put the tying run on first.  After Edgar Martinez struck out Asif Shah for the second out, Stephen Holdren hit a popfly into shallow center field that fell in between a retreating Ryan Khoury and a charging Mitch Einertson.  Barroso and Provencher scored to tie the game.