Game Summary

BOX SCORE - MAY 7, 2006

Pitchers: Evansville - C. Nelson (W), Copeland (8); Stoughton - Wilberg (L), Winter (5)
Strike Out Leaders: Evansville - C. Nelson 11; Stoughton - Wilberg 5
Leading Hitters: Evansville - Schultz 2x3; Stoughton - Vosberg 2x5
2B: Evansville - G. Lindemann; Stoughton - Vosberg 2, Hanson
Game Pictures

EVANSVILLE JAYS WIN HTL SEASON OPENER

On Sunday, May 7th the Evansville Jays hosted Stoughton Merchants in the Home Talent Baseball League Season Opener. The 2006 season marks the 78th season of the Home Talent League, but only the 2nd season for Evansville in the modern era. Prior to last year, Evansville did not have a team in town since the early 1980s.

Since the start of the New Year the players on the Jays have been working hard to hone their skills for the upcoming season. On Sundays in January, February and March the players had indoor practices at the High School open gyms to play catch and hit in the batting cage. Starting in April the team moved practice outside. Along with moving practice outside, the Jays played a total of 6 scrimmage games in April and May to see live pitching and practice real game situations. The highlight of spring training was taking second place in Marshall's Pre-Season Tournament.

All of the Team's hard work paid off Sunday, by beating Stoughton 8 to 2. Dominate pitching and clutch hitting were keys to the victory. Casey Nelson, first year player on the team, had a solid performance in 7 innings by striking out 11 batters, walking only 1 and only allowed 1 run on 4 hits. Nelson, a former Beloit College baseball standout originally from Vacaville, California, moved to Evansville recently and is already a welcomed addition to the team. He was relieved by another first year player on the team, Josh Copeland, in the eighth inning. Copeland a 1998 EHS graduate performed well by striking out 5 of the 11 batters he faced including striking out the side in the top of the ninth inning to end the game.

Timely hitting by the Jays produced two innings of 4 runs each. Starting in the third inning with one out, Jasen Koebler walked then scored on Garrett Lindemann's double. Lindemann advanced to third on the attempt to throw out Koebler at home plate. Now with two outs, Jeremy Rasmussen singled in Lindemann. Next batter Casey Nelson walked. With runners at first and second with two outs, Jerod Steindl hit a rocket line drive to leftfield that got by the fielder to score Rasmussen and Nelson.

Two innings latter in the fifth, the Jays' bats got hot again. With one out, Jon Frey and Jeremy Rasmussen walked; followed by a base hit by Casey Nelson to load the bases for Jerod Steindl. He was able to draw a walk to score Frey. Next batter Tim Legler hit an RBI ground out to first base to score Rasmussen. Now with two outs, next batter Jason Schultz, who when 2 for 3 on the day, hit a single to score Nelson and Steindl.

The Jays put on a good show for the 50-60 fans who enjoyed the beautiful weather on Sunday. Next Sunday, May 14th Evansville will host Cambridge at Stan Sperry Field at the high school. The game will start at 1:00 pm. The team plans to have a DJ during the game for announcing and playing music between innings. For the latest schedule and results please visit the team's website at www.evansville.hometalent.org.

This week the Evansville Home Talent Team would like to recognize their Diamond sponsor: Subway of Evansville. Next week the Gold sponsors will be listed. A complete list of sponsors is listed on the team's website.