Friday, August 2, 1996

Prairie Dogs Return to Form Against Dillas

By LANCE FLEMING
Staff Writer

Good pitching, solid defense and timely offense; it all came easy again for the Abilene Prairie Dogs on Thursday night.

Sam Arminio, backed by an offense that rapped out 13 hits, pitched a complete-game two-hitter to lead the Dogs to a 9-0 win over Amarillo in front of 1,769 fans at Scott Field.

The victory, coupled with Lubbock's 8-5 loss to Rio Grande Valley, pushes the Dogs back into a tie atop the Texas-Louisiana League standings with the Crickets. Both teams are now 12-8 in the second half.

More importantly, the game was the first solid outing the Prairie Dogs had put together in more than a week. They just returned home from a road trip that saw them go 6-6.

"It was important for us to play well," said Abilene designated hitter Barry Jones, who was 3 for 4 with a triple and two RBI. "We haven't been playing well. It was important for us to get off to a good start."

The Dogs did get that good start, scoring three runs in the first off Amarillo starter Al Kermode, who lasted just three-plus innings and took the loss to drop to 4-10.

Darryl Monroe scored on a Jones sacrifice fly, Eric Gonzalez scored on a Rod Brewer groundout and Paul Gonzalez ripped a solo home run that hit the scoreboard in left field to make it 3-0.

"We did a good job in the first getting on them," Abilene manager Phil Stephenson said. "Darryl got an 0-2 hit, then Eric did a good job of hitting a ball behind him. Then Barry does his job, and so does Rod. We took advantage of what they gave us in the first inning."

That was all Arminio would need as he pitched his best game of the season to improve to 8-4.
He gave up singles to Lonnie Maclin in the first inning and Leighton Colbert in the third, but didn't give up another hit after that. He also allowed just two walks on the evening while striking out a pair of Dillas.

"I was a little disgusted with the two walks," Arminio said, "because those can come back to hurt you. Fortunately I got away with two of them.

"But that's the best game I've pitched this season, and it ranks right up there with the game I pitched last year against Mobile," Arminio said of the game that saw him pitch 10 innings before getting a no-decision. "It's always nice, though, when you can get a win out of a complete game."

Arminio's effort gave the bullpen a much-needed rest after the recent road trip.

"Sam did a helluva job tonight," Stephenson said. "And it was sorely needed to give everybody in the bullpen a day off."

The Dogs added a pair of runs in the third on a Jones RBI triple and a Brewer sacrifice fly to make it a 5-0 game.

Abilene increased its lead to 6-0 in the fourth when Scott Bethea singled up the middle to drive in Scott Malone, who had led off the inning with a double down the left field line.

The Prairie Dogs then salted it away with three runs in the fifth. Paul Coleman singled home Brewer, Paul Gonzalez scored on an error, and Coleman scored when Jack Johnson grounded into a double play.