The Day RSS Feeds - Ct Tigers Copyright (c) 2012 The Day Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. en-us http://www.theday.com News from The Day Newspaper (New London-CT) <![CDATA[Tigers’ Rabelo to return as manager]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20141216/tigers-rabelo-to-return-as-manager/ Mike Rabelo, who managed the Connecticut Tigers to their most successful season in franchise history this year, will return for a second season in 2015.

The Detroit Tigers, the major league affiliate of the Class A short-season New York-Penn League team, made the announcement on Monday.

Connecticut went 42-34 last season, qualifying for the NY-P League playoffs as the wild card. It was the Tigers' first playoff appearance since moving to Norwich's Dodd Stadium five years ago. Rabelo also spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons in Norwich as the Tigers' hitting coach.

"I'm ecstatic to be returning for a second season as manager in Norwich," Rabelo said in a statement released by the club. "It's a great town with great fans and a great front office staff to work with. After giving the fans a taste of playoff baseball in 2014, we hope to use that energy to make another run at it in 2015."

The Tigers also announced that hitting coach Scott Dwyer will return after the team set franchise records for runs (345), hits (670), doubles (138) and team batting average (.260). Connecticut will have a new pitching coach in Carlos Chantres, who spent the 2014 season as pitching coach for the Charleston RiverDogs, Class A affiliate of the Yankees, and a new trainer in Chris Vick, who worked with the Tigers in the Gulf Coast League last season.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-12-16T23:00:00 AC0599E4-BA81-4E3B-A589-15F75D44002F
<![CDATA[Tigers ousted from playoffs]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140905/tigers-ousted-from-playoffs/ The Connecticut Tigers saw their season come to an end Thursday night, losing to the Tri-City ValleyCats 6-5 in the second game of their best-of-three New York-Penn League playoff series. Tri-City won 3-2 in 11 innings in Wednesday's opener.

Tri-City scored three runs in both the second and fourth innings for a 6-0 lead and held on. Connecticut got on the scoreboard on Will Maddox' RBI single in the top of the fifth and Derek Hill's two-run single capped a four-run sixth inning that pulled the Tigers within a run. But the Tri-City bullpen held the Tigers hitless in the final three innings.

Franklin Navarro was 3-for-4 and Ben Verlander had two hits and scored twice for the Tigers.

- Day staff reports

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2014-09-05T00:00:00 A2C53859-CBB5-49F4-9D9E-18D16AD5B11F
<![CDATA[Tigers lose New York-Penn playoff opener]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140904/tigers-lose-new-york-penn-playoff-opener/ Terrell Joyce scored on Alfredo Gonzalez's one-out sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th inning as the Tri-City ValleyCats edged the Connecticut Tigers on Wednesday night, 3-2, in Game 1 of their best-of-three New York-Penn League semifinal series played before 1,509 at Dodd Stadium.

Connecticut outhit the ValleyCats, 10-5, but made six errors. Game 2 is tonight at Tri-City (7 p.m.). Game 3, if necessary, is at the same site and time on Friday.

Joyce doubled to lead off the 11th and advanced to third base on a wild pitch.

Paul Voelker got Mott Hyde to ground out, but Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

The Tigers trailed by a run when Derek Hill was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh and Will Maddox followed with a triple. Derek Fisher hit a solo home run for Tri-City (49-28).

Ben Verlander hit an RBI double for Connecticut (42-35) and Derek Hill singled and scored.

- Day staff reports

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2014-09-04T00:00:00 4B896D81-5C71-4D90-9370-8D0826B7466C
<![CDATA[Navarro slam lifts Tigers past spinners in the ninth]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140828/navarro-slam-lifts-tigers-past-spinners-in-the-ninth/ Franklin Navarro hit a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday to lift the Connecticut Tigers to a 5-4 victory over the Lowell Spinners in a New York-Penn League game before 1,068 fans at Dodd Stadium.

Down 4-1 entering the inning, Joey Pankake led off the ninth with a single to left field and Brett Pirtle added a single to center for the Tigers. Ben Verlander walked to load the bases, bringing Navarro up with still nobody out. Connecticut (38-33) is still fighting for a playoff spot, a game and a half behind the Brooklyn Cyclones in the wild card race. The Cyclones were in extra innings late Wednesday night.

Pirtle had three hits for the Tigers and Gage Smith (2-1) picked up the victory, pitching two innings in relief.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-08-28T00:00:00 5E33AF06-C2F6-437A-81C8-FB0168A207D4
<![CDATA[Tigers blank Spinners 5-0]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140827/tigers-blank-spinners-5-0/ Fernando Perez allowed only four hits over seven dominating innings to lead the Connecticut Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the Lowell Spinners in a New York-Penn League baseball game at Dodd Stadium on Tuesday night.

It was the longest outing of the year for Perez (5-4), who also recorded a season-best eight strikeouts.

Catcher Franklin Navarro led the offense, going 3-for-4 while scoring a pair of runs.

Jacob Kapstein added two hits with an RBI while Derek Hill, Will Maddox and Brett Pirtle each had a hit and RBI.

Gabe Hemmer and Johan Belisario each pitched a shutout inning for the Tigers (37-33) with Belisario extending his scoreless streak to 24 innings.

Connecticut and Lowell (35-34), the Class A short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, finish their three-game series today at 7 p.m. with Chase Edwards (6-3, 2.84 ERA) starting on the bound for the Tigers.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-08-27T00:00:00 D6CB4BE6-569E-45F7-B565-67428EA5FBFE
<![CDATA[Tigers bats are cold against Renegades]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140824/tigers-bats-are-cold-against-renegades/ The Hudson Valley Renegades defeated the Connecticut Tigers 6-2 Saturday night at Dodd Stadium, getting two hits, two RBI and two runs scored from third baseman Grant Kay. Kay gave the Renegades a 3-0 lead in the first inning after a two-run triple.

Connecticut (35-32) was limited to five hits, two by Franklin Navarro, who had a two-run double in the second inning to account for the team's only runs. Relief pitcher Confesor Lara pitched a season-high seven innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits after entering for starter AJ Ladwig (0-4). Lara struck out seven.

Connecticut plays Hudson Valley (44-23) again in the series finale today beginning at 4:05 p.m. at Dodd.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-08-24T00:00:00 DEAD8337-8A3D-4359-AC76-1B0DD751C766
<![CDATA[Hemmer strikes out four straight to earn save for Tigers]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140817/hemmer-strikes-out-four-straight-to-earn-save-for-tigers/ Gabe Hemmer struck out all four batters he faced to earn the save Saturday night, his third of the season, sealing the Connecticut Tigers' 7-5 win over the Aberdeen IronBirds in a New York-Penn League game at Dodd Stadium.

The Tigers (33-29) scored twice in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Derek Hill and Joey Pankake (2-for-4) to push the lead to 6-3, following a back-and-forth start. Will Maddox had two doubles and two RBI for the Tigers, with an RBI double in the eighth that gave Connecticut a 7-5 lead.

Right-handed pitcher Gage Smith (1-1) picked up his first professional victory, pitching four innings in relief of starter Spencer Turnbull. Smith gave up two hits and struck out three.

The IronBirds are 21-40.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-08-17T00:00:00 50FAD5A8-0751-4852-863A-567BBC6A9C3C
<![CDATA[Tigers drop finale in error-prone series]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140815/tigers-drop-finale-in-error-prone-series/ Staten Island, N.Y. — Chris Breen had a two-home run performance and the Staten Island Yankees defeated the Connecticut Tigers 5-2 Thursday in the series finale at Richmond County Ballpark, with the Yankees sweeping the three-game series.

Breen hit a two-run home run in the second inning that gave Staten Island (30-29) a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Breen hit a solo homer.

The Tigers (31-29) managed just five hits and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while leaving five on base. Second baseman Will Maddox had three of the Tigers' five hits in the game. Kasey Coffman kept Connecticut in the game with a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

The Tigers also committed four errors in the game, eight overall for the series.

They head back to Dodd Stadium for a three-game series with the Aberdeen IronBirds beginning at 7:05 tonight.

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2014-08-15T00:00:00 23D5B910-1B5E-4F5C-BFFD-F3B5E1F2999F
<![CDATA[Tigers' Pankake NYP Player of the Month for July]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140813/tigers-pankake-nyp-player-of-the-month-for-july/ Joey Pankake of the Connecticut Tigers was named the New York-Penn League Player of the Month for July, Minor League Baseball announced Tuesday.

Pankake, an infielder, led the league in batting average (.407) and on-base percentage (.470) and was third in hits (35) and doubles (10). He was selected to play in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game at Brooklyn on Aug. 19. Pankake will receive an award from Minor League Baseball for the honor and a congratulatory letter from Minor League Baseball President & CEO Pat O'Conner.

Tuesday night's game between the Tigers and Staten Island Yankees was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up today as a doubleheader at Staten Island. There will be two seven-inning games with the opener starting at 6 p.m. There will be a half-hour intermission after the final out of the first game.

- Day staff reports

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2014-08-13T00:00:00 BB78F3B2-E90E-4B1C-AEF3-F9CF6EE3E047
<![CDATA[Tigers rout Spinners 12-4]]> https://www.theday.com/ct-tigers/20140625/tigers-rout-spinners-12-4/ Second baseman Domingo Leyba went 4-for-5, including a two-run home run in the second inning, as the Connecticut Tigers rolled to a 12-4 road victory over the Lowell Spinners in a New York-Penn League baseball game on Tuesday night.

Leyba is 8-for-15 in his last three games for the Tigers (5-7), who begin a five-game homestand at 7 tonight against the Vermont Lake Monsters at Dodd Stadium.

Michael Gerber also contributed to Connecticut's 14-hit attack with two hits, including a solo homer in the seventh, while Will Maddox went 2-for-5.

Right hander Fernando Perez pitched 5 2/3 innings for his first win of the season. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and struck out seven. Micah Kellog pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season. He gave up two hits and struck out three.

- Day Staff Reports

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2014-06-25T00:00:00 01C58D59-926D-4374-A07A-FC9B488AAE22