First Half Recap: We are the Champions
The 2009 Lakewood BlueClaws opened their season on April 9th on a beautiful night for baseball with a beautiful sight on hand. The BlueClaws welcomed the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies World Series Trophy to FirstEnergy Park for pre-game festivities, with the 25-man BlueClaws roster hoping to attain glory of their own in the first half of the season; they would.
Despite losing the game 2-1, Tyler Cloyd pitched six innings, allowing two runs and displaying the stuff that would make him the ace of the team’s starting rotation by mid season. Anthony Gose also stole his first base of the season, 43 more to follow in the first half, just 15 shy of the single season record, and the bullpen pitched three shutout innings, dominance on their part became instrumental.
Then, on April 11th, after a 0-2 start, D’Arby Myers came to the plate in a tie ballgame, with a runner on third in the bottom of the 11th inning and his single to center field was the first win for the BlueClaws this season, and they would become a team with a flair for the dramatics, earning the nickname the ‘Cardiac Claws’.
The BlueClaws then hit the road for the first time and passed the test of playing away from home with flying colors. On April 16th, the BlueClaws were down 5-0 in the second inning to the Hagerstown Suns, and erased that deficit by the fourth inning. Then, with a 7-6 lead, going into the bottom of the eighth, the BlueClaws allowed three runs and trailed 9-7. With two outs, runners at the corners and two strikes on Sebastian Valle, he played the role of hero sending a double to the wall in center field, tying the game before the BlueClaws tacked two more on in the 10th to win 11-9. This was the first of five wins for the BlueClaws in the first half when trailing going into their last at-bat, and the first of three times the BlueClaws would erase a five-run deficit to win.
The BlueClaws returned home after a 5-2 road swing and Jason Knapp re-wrote the BlueClaws record books on April 21st. He was dominant. The 18-year-old right-handed pitcher from Annandale, NJ, 75 miles from home, displayed a blistering 95 mph fastball and devastating off-speed pitches en route to a seven-inning 14-strikeout one-hitter. The 14 strikeouts tied a record set by Robinson Tejeda in 2001.
The BlueClaws were rolling, and they ended the month of April with Jon Velasquez on the mound, earning his league-leading fifth win of the year for a 12-8 record. By mid-season, Velasquez would win four more games, his total of nine, the league’s best.
On May 5th, the Cardiac Claws were back at it, this time, the Kannapolis Intimidators were the victims. Down 7-2 in the eighth, the BlueClaws scored four runs to get within one and they tied the game on an error with two-outs in the ninth. A Travis Mattair game-winning single in the tenth gave the BlueClaws another improbable victory, this time 8-7.
With a win on May 11th, the BlueClaws took over first place in the South Atlantic League, and they did it behind their bullpen. Santo Hernandez earned the win as he went three scoreless, striking out six. The BlueClaws big four in the bullpen of Justin De Fratus, BJ Rosenberg, Ryan Bergh and Hernandez ended the half with a combined record of 13-7, 24 saves, and an ERA of 2.19.
On May 15th, the BlueClaws helped cement their lead in the division in dramatic fashion. Down 2-0 into the 8th, the BlueClaws got one run back and were down one going into their last at-bats. Again, with two outs, Jim Murphy sent the ball screaming down the left field line, narrowly fair, for a two-run home run and the eventual 3-2 victory. Murphy is the team leader in batting average and is second in home runs.
The BlueClaws battled in close games all season long, they finished the first half 26-13 in games decided by two runs or less but on May 25th, Manager Dusty Wathan was able to enjoy a comfortable victory. Behind Heitor Correa, who entered the fold on May 3rd, the BlueClaws won 11-1 against the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Correa ended the first half as one of the most reliable pitchers on the BlueClaws staff, winning four games.
May 25th was also the debut for Steve Susdorf, a 2008 National Champion with Fresno State University. Susdorf went 1-for-4 in the game, but ended the half as one of the cornerstones to the BlueClaws offense. He hit .333 in 21 games, and also drove in 15 runs.
Still leading the division, the BlueClaws went to Salisbury, MD to take on the Delmarva Shorebirds, the second place team, for a four game series. However, three games were played due to rain, the final of which, the most exciting. The BlueClaws entered what was game two of the day with just a 1.5 game lead, a loss, potentially devastating. Again, the BlueClaws found themselves trailing by the score of 4-2, three outs from seeing their lead go down to just a half game, but then the comeback occurred. Three runs in the inning gave the BlueClaws the lead, before the Shorebirds struck back to tie it in the seventh. A run in the 8th, and the BlueClaws won 6-5, regaining their 2.5 game lead in the division.
These teams played again for three games on June 15th and 16th, with the BlueClaws losing the first game, setting the stage for another dramatic come-from-behind win. The game started with Trevor May on the hill for his first start of the season. With the BlueClaws up one, a rain delay halted play, but it didn’t deter the Shorebirds, they were ready to go when play resumed. Off of May, the Shorebirds hit a three-run home run, taking the lead 3-1 and shifting the momentum. However, the BlueClaws were about to have their say. Down by two, the BlueClaws put up four runs as the game was played past midnight. They took the 5-3 lead and held on 6-4. The win all but guaranteed glory as the first half champions.
On June 18th, the BlueClaws magic number to win the division was at one, needing just a win to celebrate clinching the playoffs. The BlueClaws took the lead in the first 1-0, then extended the advantage to three with a two-run home run by Jeremy Hamilton and never looked back. De Fratus worked the ninth inning and finished things the way he had hoped, striking out the last batter. The BlueClaws had won 8-3, clinching their first ever first half division title, and a playoff spot come mid-September.
Lead by a host of six all-stars, Harold Garcia, the team-leader in home runs and RBI Travis d’Arnaud, Gose, De Fratus, Cloyd and Rosenberg, the Wathan-lead BlueClaws finished the half with a record of 42-26, six games better than second place, and three games better than anyone in the entire South Atlantic League.
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