Published: June 20, 2008 10:13 am            

First pitch for P-Rays

PRINCETON — “When the Princeton Rays say you’re going to get free baseball, we’re giving you free baseball,” Rays General Manager Jim Holland declared to a shivering crowd on hand at Hunnicutt Field Tuesday in the top of the 12th inning.

The Princeton Rays opened their season June 17, with a game against the Pulaski Mariners, a team brand new to the Appalachian League lineup. Both teams missed opportunities to score big, and the game closed the regulation nine innings tied at 5-5. It would take four more innings for the Mariners to pick up their first win, 6-5 over a P-Rays team that fielded six pitchers in the super-sized game.

With temperatures mild and the sun setting, the crowd was big and rowdy on the night when admission was free. In the stands, many of the fans toted magnetic P-Rays calendars and glow-in-the-dark plastic bats courtesy of First Community Bank. While the audience used their toy bats to make some noise, the wooden ones on the field were nearly silent through 2 1/2 innings.

The Rays scored first in the bottom of the third inning, after Pulaski’s Fabian Williamson walked P-Rays infielder Burt Reynolds. Eli Sonoqui stepped up to bat amid a sunset backdrop and the clanging of cow bells from the first-base line, where the Rah-Rah Sisters cheered on their Boys of Summer.

Sonoqui didn’t disappoint.

He hit hard to center field, bringing Reynolds home and getting himself to second base safely. Williamson walked Princeton’s Mayo Acosta, but outfielder Dustin Beill was tagged out at first after a hit to the infield.

The Rays struck first, but the Mariners weren’t sunk.

Pulaski’s Mario Martinez opened the fourth inning with a triple. Kris Sanchez flew out to right field for the inning’s first out, but it still gave Martinez time to make it home and knot the score at 1-1.

The Rays looked to the bullpen for help and brought Angel Chapa to the mound after 3 1/3 innings, and Pualski’s Juan Fuentes sent outfielders to the fence with a long hit to center field, batting in another run for the Mariners.

By the time the Rays came up to bat in the fourth inning, the score was 4-1. Princeton picked up a single run in the bottom of the fourth when a hit from Reynolds sent Ramon Novas home, but it wouldn’t be until the bottom of the sixth when the game would be tied again at 4-4.

After a Mariner run in the eighth inning, Pulaski was ahead when the game should have been winding to a close.

But, in the bottom of the ninth inning, D.J. Jones started the Rays rally with a walk, advanced to second and stole third. Justin Reynolds hit a bouncing ball toward first, while Jones headed for home. He scored, and a fielding error left Reynolds safe at first.

The Rays tied the game, but they couldn’t claim the win. The competition continued scoreless until the top of the 13th, when Pulaski’s Jose Rivero started the action with a triple. Fuentes brought him in with a single and picked up the win for Pulaski. The Rays had a chance to keep playing in the bottom of the 13th, when Biell started the home half of the inning with a push bunt, but the long-running contest finished in the wake of a pick-off at second and two strikeouts.

The Rays welcomed the Mariners back to Hunnicutt Field Wednesday and again dropped a close competition, 6-4. The final game of the series was slated for Thursday night, and the Rays will head to Bluefield for a three-day stint with the Baby Birds this weekend.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

        

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