Rested Fish wrap up Flyers

Friday afternoon, before embarking on another four-game set with the Flyers, Forney felt his his team had done just that.

"We're playing pretty good. We've strung together three solid games defensively, got some pretty good pitching, and got a few timely hits along the way," said Forney. "We built some momentum heading into the off-day and hopefully that can carry over into this series."

Adam Frost certainly helped maintain that momentum, walloping a walk-off grand slam to lift the Goldeyes to a 6-2 victory. After Cory Patton had been walked intentionally to load the bases, Frost blasted a Tom Lyons offering just inside the left-field foul pole, allowing the Goldeyes to keep pace with the Gary SouthShore RailCats, who defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 4-2.

Schaumburg took the lead in the fourth inning when Richard Mercado doubled home Victor Ferrante. Mercado would cross home later in the inning when shortstop Mark Minicozzi bobbled a Craig Maddox grounder. Vince Harrison replied for the Goldeyes, bopping his fourth home run since joining the Goldeyes last week, a two-run shot that tied the game at 2-2.

Forney's charges began the homestand sweeping Joliet by scores of 5-3, 12-7, and 2-1, capped by a masterful performance by Ace Walker in Wednesday night's rubber match. Walker recorded 26 of Joliet's 27 outs over 8 2/3 innings, allowing a single run on four hits while striking out four. Bill Pulsipher also went deep into his Monday- night start, pitching eight innings.

"That really helps. Usually, when your starter gets through eight at least, then there's a pretty good chance you're gonna win," Forney said. "Hopefully, we can get some more starts like that.

"If that's the case, then everything should work out."

Essentially the only similarity between Sunday and Friday was Forney's mantra against scoreboard-watching, even though the top half of the Northern League standings could shuffle considerably in the final weekend of the season. The Goldeyes sit a game back of the league-leading RailCats, while the third-place RedHawks sit 21/2 games back.

"I'm not really paying attention to that. I couldn't care less," Forney said. "If we play good in four straight games here, and if we end up in third, we end up in third. If we end up in first, that's great, too."

However, the standings could play a major factor in the resiliency of the Schaumburg lineup, as the Flyers had been battling hard for the fourth and final playoff spot, only to have their hopes dashed by Frost's slam.

The potentially deflated Flyers could come as a boon for a tired Fish, who came into Friday night's game after their first day off since Aug. 3. They had crammed 24 games into 23 days, posting a 10-14 record in that stretch.

"It was a lot of baseball in a little bit of time," said Patton, who batted .500 in the three games against Joliet. "But we survived.

"Playing every day, I was just starting to feel good, feel consistent every day and that's what I was trying to do."

Neither Patton nor teammate Brent Metheny could recall a string of so many games in a row, noting that organized baseball allows for a maximum of 21 days in a row.

Thursday was actually the first pure day off the Goldeyes had spent in Winnipeg all year, meaning no game or travel. Metheny and Patton both said they used the day to golf, relax, and take their minds off of baseball for the day.

daniel.falloon@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 29, 2009 D1