MBF/Dow sponsor Golf Tournament

The Michigan Baseball Foundation has partnered with The Dow Chemical Company for title sponsorship for the 2008 Swing with the Legends Golf Tournament, presented by The Dow Chemical Company, held June 17 at The Golf Club at Apple Mountain.

 

The event was created in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Player Alumni Association to bring former Major League stars to the event. 

 

Registration and breakfast begin the event at 7:30am and a shotgun start will follow at 9am.  The 2008 Midwest League All-Star Game, powered by Dow Corning, begins later that evening at 7:05pm. 

 

Entry into the tournament is $200 per golfer.  The entry fee includes one round of golf, breakfast, lunch, a post-round ceremony, and a memorabilia auction.  Competitors will have the opportunity to pair with friends, colleagues and clients, as desired, for their foursome.  The deadline for registration is June 2.

 

All foursomes will have the opportunity to play with a former Major League player.  A list of players participating will be released in the coming weeks.

 

Proceeds from the event benefit the Michigan Baseball Foundation, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that owns and operates Dow Diamond, and the Major League Baseball Player Alumni Association charities.

 

For more information or to register for the Swing with the Legends Golf Tournament, presented by The Dow Chemical Company, call the Loons at 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.

Caps blank Loons

Alfredo Figaro hurled six shutout innings allowing three hits, and Paul Nardozzi and Rudy Darrow followed out of the West Michigan bullpen with three hitless scoreless innings as the West Michigan Whitecaps shutout the Great Lakes Loons, 9-0.

Bryan Morris started for the Loons and allowed three runs in the third inning. Jon Dutton followed out of the bullpen in the fifth inning and recorded just one out before allowing four runs and giving way to reliever Miguel Sanfler. Sanfler got out of the fifth unscathed but allowed the Whitecaps’ final two runs to score in the seventh.

The Whitecaps pounded out 12 hits against Loons pitching, 11 singles and one double.

Leadoff hitter Kyle Peter went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs and was on base all five times he batted. Casper Wells drove in two runs. Wells, Chris Carlson and Kody Kaiser all had two hits each.

The loss drops the Loons’ record to 4-3, tied with Dayton for third in the Midwest League East, two games behind West Michigan and Lansing, who are both 6-1.

The Loons seek a split in their four-game series with the Whitecaps Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm. Right-hander Kyle Smit (0-0) makes his second start of the season for the Loons. He will face left-hander Manny Miguelez (0-0).

Loon Line

Today: Great Lakes right hander Bryan Morris (0-0, 4.76) will oppose West Michigan right hander Alfredo Figaro (0-0, 0.00) on the road at Fifth Third Ballpark. Game time is 6:35 p.m.

 

Star of the game: Loons cleanup hitter and left fielder Andrew Lambo drove in a run with each of his three hits that left him a home run shy of the cycle, and he also added a walk. He raised his average to a team-leading .417.

Streaking: Centerfielder Jovanny Rosario has hits in all six games for Great Lakes, and is hitting .304 after going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs in the win.

First loss: The Loons handed the Whitecaps their first loss after the Detroit Tigers’ affiliate had opened the season with five consecutive wins. At 5-1, West Michigan sits in a tie for first place with the Lansing Lugnuts in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division.

Lambo on winning pitcher Justin Miller (1-0, 0.90), who gave up five hits, and no earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings: “Justin Miller pitched a great game. We knew going into this season we had great arms, and Justin stepped up today. As they say, pitching wins ball games.”

Diamond at the Diamond: O.C. Tanner has partnered with The Dow Chemical Company to give one lucky fan a chance to win a 1-carat diamond. Signups for the contest will be held at Dow Diamond through the Loons’ first ten home games. The final drawing will take place Wednesday, April 23. Contestants must be at least 18 years of age.

On the road again: After wrapping up with West Michigan on Thursday, the Loons travel to the Iowa cities of Burlington (Friday April 11 – Sunday, April 13) and then Cedar Rapids on Monday, April 14 through Wednesday, April 16.

4.8 Loon Line

Loon Line

West Michigan 11, Great Lakes 1

Today: Righthander Justin Miller (0-0, 1.80) takes the hill against Whitecaps lefty Ramon Garcia (1-0, 0.00) at Fifth Third Ballpark. Game time is 6:35 p.m.

Say What?: Prior to the start of Monday’s game against the Whitecaps, the Loons held a 9-6 edge in games against the ‘07 Midwest League Champions. Great Lakes won seven of ten games at West Michigan last year.

Whiffed: The Loons’ bullpen struck out 31 Dayton hitters in the season-opening series in 16 2/3 innings of work – an average of 16.7 per nine innings.

Diamond at the Diamond: O.C. Tanner has partnered with The Dow Chemical Company to give one lucky fan a chance to win a 1-carat diamond. Signups for the contest will be held at Dow Diamond through the Loons’ first ten home games. The final drawing will take place Wednesday, April 23. Contestants must be at least 18 years of age.

The Hits keep coming: After five games, the undefeated Detroit Tigers affiliate Whitecaps have five players batting over .300.

Homecoming: Grand Rapids native Casper Wells homered twice for the Whitecaps in Monday night’s drubbing of Great Lakes.

What Happened?: “We made too many mistakes pitching, said Loons manager Juan Bustabad after his team lost to West Michigan 11-1 Monday. “It was just a bad game overall, and just one of those nights. It seems like the pitchers had to get six outs.”

Home runs: In response to the guy who hit two home runs: “We threw it where he liked it. Hopefully we have a different game plan tomorrow with Miller on the mound.”

On the road again: After wrapping up with West Michigan on Thursday, the Loons travel to the Iowa cities of Burlington (Friday April 11 – Sunday, April 13) and then Cedar Rapids Monday, April 14 through Wednesday April 16. All games will be broadcast on 100.9 WLUN.

Loon Line for 4.8.08

I love winning, man. It’s like, better than losing

The Loons needed every one of Andrew Lambo’s three doubles in Sunday’s series finale against Dayton. His final two-bagger to the wall in left-center field in the bottom of the ninth scored Preston Mattingly, enabling the Loons to walk off with a dramatic 4-3 win in front of 3,218 Loons fans at Dow Diamond. 

The Dragons got on the board first in the fourth inning when Mike McKennon launched a two-run homer to right, his first of the season, making it 2-0. Dayton added another run in the fifth on a Todd Frazier RBI single.  

The Loons got on the board thanks to Lambo’s first double, scoring Mattingly to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Dragons. In the eighth, Lambo scored the Loons’ second run on Alex Garbedian’s bases loaded walk against Dragons reliever Terrell Young.

Then in the ninth, the Loons started their comeback when Jovanny Rosario singled and advanced to second on Erik Kanaby’s sacrifice bunt. Mattingly then lofted a single down the right field line to tie the game at three. Lambo then followed by lining a pitch to the left-center field gap, scoring Mattingly all the way from first and sending the Loons’ players out to home plate and the middle of the infield to celebrate with Mattingly and Lambo.

Steven Johnson started for the Loons throwing 4 2/3 innings allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out four. Jon Dutton came on in relief and pitched 3 1/3 sensational innings without allowing a hit and striking out five. Miguel Sanfler pitched a scoreless ninth striking out two to record his first win of the season.

The Loons improve to 3-1 while the Dragons fall to 1-3.

The Loons hit the road for a 10-game road swing beginning with the defending Midwest League Champion West Michigan Whitecaps from Fifth-Third Ballpark Monday night. Game time is 6:35pm. Daigoro Rondon (1-0, 9.00 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Loons. Tune in as Brad Golder calls all the action from Grand Rapids on the radio flagship home for Great Lakes Loons baseball, ESPN 100.9-FM

1998 LLWS Championship Box Score

Story and box score from 1998 LLWS

Morris strong in Loons Debut

The only pain was a tinge of heartache courtesy of a smidgen of regret.

And that, for Bryan Morris, is a success.

Morris, a Los Angeles Dodgers first-round pick, pitched for the first time since hurting his arm Sept. 2, 2006, and earned an impressive no decision in 52/3 innings Friday for the Great Lakes Loons.

The Loons scored one run in the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie, earning a 5-4 victory over Dayton in front of 2,873 fans at Dow Diamond.

But the Dodgers’ fans will focus on Morris, who underwent Tommy John surgery on Sept. 28, 2006, replacing a torn ligament in his right elbow with a tendon from his right forearm.

“Up until my last two pitches, I was feeling pretty good,” Morris said. “The arm feels good. I wasn’t tired. I just threw two terrible pitches and they hit them. That’s what good hitters are supposed to do.”

Morris cruised into the sixth inning with a 4-1 lead, but with two outs, Dayton’s Todd Frazier doubled and Brandon Waring homered to cut the lead to 4-3 and knock Morris off the mound.

Reliever Geison Aguasviva gave up a run to tie the score, eliminating the win possibility for Morris. Aguasviva struck out three in 11/3 innings, giving up the run but earning credit for the win.

“In spring training, Morris threw extremely well,” Great Lakes manager Juan Bustabad said. “He had great stuff tonight. He’s a power pitcher and he was throwing extremely hard.”

Just pitching again, however, was a victory for the 21-year-old right-hander.

“I had some butterflies to be honest with you until I got to the bullpen to warm up,” Morris said. “I haven’t pitched in so long. Waiting a whole year was brutal. It was the longest year of my life.”

Morris hurt his elbow in his final game of the 2006 season, throwing a runner out on a bunt. He finished the year at Ogden with a 4-5 record and a 5.13 earned run average. In 60 innings, he struck out 79 and walked 40. Baseball America named him the No. 1 prospect in the Pioneer League.

Against Dayton, Morris threw 71 pitches, 54 for strikes with a fastball in the mid-90s.

“That’s one of the things I’m working on … I struggled at times at Ogden with my control,” Morris said. “I’m working on location and throwing strikes.

“I’ve been working up to this point throughout spring training. By the end of spring training, I was throwing 70 pitches and going six innings so this wasn’t too much.

Bustabad planned to take Morris out of the game after five innings.

“But he was throwing so well, so many strikes,” Bustabad said. “His pitch count was so low, we let him go one more and it looked good when he got the first two without a problem. Then he threw a couple bad pitches.”