Blue Eagles Lose 6-0 To Carolina Stingers
Web Posted June 21, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S.C. —Five first inning errors and an inability to produce timely hits allowed the Carolina Stingers to blank the Spartanburg Blue Eagles 6-0 at Russell C. King Field Monday night.

Blue Eagles’ starting pitcher David Parry had arguably his best start of the season, striking out four batters and allowing only four hits. Despite his gutsy performance, the Spartanburg defense was simply unable to produce outs in the first inning. All three of the Stingers runs in the first frame were scored without the benefit of a hit. Parry surrendered four runs on the evening in 5 1/3 innings, only two of which were earned.

Offensively, the Blue Eagles were unable to take advantage of free passes allowed by Stingers pitchers. Starting pitcher James Shaw allowed seven hitters to reach on bases on balls, but gave up no hits in six innings of work. Spartanburg didn’t pick up its first hit until Alex Dozier’s one-out bunt single in the eighth inning, and would finish with just two hits in the game.

The Blue Eagles have now failed to score in their last twenty-three innings, dating back to last Friday. Dozier, the team’s second-leading hitter, blames the team’s mentality on the scoreless streak, saying that the team sometimes underestimates its opponents. But he is confident that the Blue Eagles will soon begin to hit again and is looking forward to Wednesday’s rematch against the Stingers. Head Coach Ryan Thomas said that his team needs to focus more on winning games rather than just playing in them. Thomas also commented on the Blue Eagles’ scoreless drought: “I hear them talking about [the scoreless streak] in the dugout. I think on Wednesday I’ll tell them just to relax. Something’s got to give at some point. They don’t need to force it to happen.”

The Blue Eagles have a rematch in Fort Mill Wednesday and a doubleheader in Statesville Friday before returning to Spartanburg for a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 5:00.