Rookie Team Blasts Away Again 7-5-03

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Sunday, July 6, 2003

 

White Sox punish Provo

By SCOTT MANSCH

Tribune Asst. Sports Editor

 

 

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Great Falls baseball fans know how cool it is to be in first place.

The few dozen who hung around at Legion Park late Saturday night, in fact, were really chillin'.

 

Despite a 40 mph north wind that made for an autumn-like evening in July, the Great Falls White Sox continued their hot play by posting an 11-0 victory over the Provo Angels.

 

The victory, the Sox' 13th in 17 games this summer, kept Great Falls in a first-place tie with the Helena Brewers in the Pioneer League's Northern Division. Provo, leading the Southern Division division by two games despite a .500 record, fell to 9-9.

 

Teenager Matt Nachreiner worked six scoreless innings and Ricardo Nanita increased his average to a league-best .446 with a 3-for-6 night as the White Sox, 12-7 winners over the Angels on Friday, cruised to another one-sided victory. An announced crowd of 3,416 had dwindled considerably by the time it was over, but if the White Sox relaxed they certainly didn't show it.

 

Of course, it was too cold to relax this night.

 

Brandon Bounds clubbed his third home run of the summer -- his Pioneer-high 16th extra-base hit -- and leadoff hitter Antoin Gray drove in three runs as the red-hot White Sox put together another impressive performance.

 

"It's not like they're loaded up with a bunch of old guys, either," said veteran Provo manager Tom Kotchman. "You've got a very good blend with this team. You've got power, you've got speed. ... It's a pretty good team."

 

Bounds, the 6-foot-6, 205-pound first baseman who was a 32nd-round selection in the 2000 draft, continued to bomb the baseball. His high drive over the right-field fence in the seventh inning ignited a six-run frame that ended any hope of a Provo comeback.

 

"We can swing it," said Bounds. "We'll put the ball in play and score a lot of runs. It's real fun."

 

The relentless winds that forced fans to bundle up with blankets and seek shelter provided a strange sight on a July night. Another oddity happened about an hour into the game when a transformer blew out with a resounding boom in one of the Legion Park light standards.

 

With five of the eight standards still lighting the field, the action continued -- and the White Sox just kept hitting.

 

The Sox scored single runs in four straight frames before breaking things open in the seventh, a nightmarish frame for the Angels that included three errors.

 

Shortstop Mike Myers and centerfielder Brian Anderson knocked in two runs apiece for the Sox. Nanita, who hit the ball hard consistently, had two singles and a triple.

 

"It's awesome," said Nanita, a 13th-round selection in last month's amateur draft out of Florida International University. "Everybody's swinging well and that sure helps the pitchers."

 

Nachreiner is well aware of that. Two weeks ago, the former Texas prep phenom made an unimpressive pro debut when he was bashed around by the Missoula Osprey.

 

"It's nothing like high school," said Nachreiner, a fifth-round draft pick in June out of Cedar Park, Texas. "If you throw hard in high school you can just blow it by people. Up here, you've got to keep the ball down. Otherwise they'll tee off. I learned that right away."

 

Nachreiner allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter in six scoreless innings against the Angels.

 

Said Great Falls pitching coach Rich Dotson: He's staying over the rubber a lot better. He's not rushing, and he's keeping his pitches down."

 

White Sox manager Chris Cron was also impressed.

 

"I couldn't be happier with what he did. He got his feet wet a little bit early and is more comfortable now," Cron said. "He did what he's capable of tonight."

 

The White Sox hitters, meanwhile, have been displaying considerable prowess ever since the season began. The Sox are hitting .324 as a team, tops in the Pioneer League.

 

"It's fun to watch," said Cron. "I'm not doing anything, just sitting there watching -- and my jaws are open too. These guys are playing very well and I'm just trying to stay out of the way."

 

The White Sox continue their season against the Angels this afternoon at 4.