NATIONAL TREASURE 2
Clark Comes Away With “W” as Cannons Capture Nightcap From Nats

Newington, CT (AP)—Grounded in history, imbued with myth and mystery, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets—released yesterday on Disney DVD and Blu-Ray Disc™—the follow-up to 2004’s wildly popular Nicolas Cage vehicle, takes audience members on a globe-trotting quest full of adrenaline-pumping twists and turns all leading to the final clue in an enigmatic manuscript. Sunday’s scheduled double header at New Cannon Yards in Newington between the Cannons and Nationals featured its fair share of ups and downs, highs and lows with the Big Guns eventually tallying the final run in the scorebook and treasuring a Game Two victory behind right-hander Tom Clark. It’s no secret the Cannons needed this win and now the crimson-clad ball club from Connecticut heads into the Memorial Day break at 1-3, tied for sixth place and prepared to start the heart of the 2008 A Division schedule when the calendar is flipped from May to June.

Rookie pitcher Jack Vanasse made his highly anticipated mound debut against a hard-hitting Nationals line-up on this cool spring Sunday and struggled with his control, though there were positives taken from his one-inning performance including a strike out against former Orioles farmhand Basilio Ortiz. The thirty-one year old right-hander issued four walks and hit a batter allowing six runs in a sloppily played first frame after a three-week layoff. Two errors and a mental miscue by Vanasse (L, 1 IP 0 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 4 BB, 1 HBP) on a sharply hit come backer he fired home for a phantom force out put the Cannons in a hole they would try to climb out of over the next several innings with little success against tough Todd Lynch. Kevin Quinn took the hill in the second and set Hartford down in order but K-Dog ran into trouble of his own in the third allowing three runs on two walks, an error, a single and a double. Bill Balcerzak reached on a two-base error by leftfielder David “Nobody F***s With the” de Jesus and scored on a Clark single in the home half of the inning but the Nats plated two more in the fourth on three singles and an error to make the score 11-1, putting the Cannons in danger of the ten-run mercy rule in the fifth. A hustling Andy “Argyle Projectyle” Borst reached on an infield hit, his first since August 13, 2006 against this same Nationals team, and later scored on a Balcerzak single to prolong the contest but Hartford pushed four more runs across in the top of the sixth against Quinn (5 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 2 K, 5 BB, 1 HBP) before the game was called after the Cannons went quietly, dropping the first 15-2. “This certainly wasn’t the way we wanted to come out in front of a capacity crowd,” promised Manager Matt Celio in his post-game press conference. “You don’t want to dwell on a loss like this too long so it was great to get right back out there and give things another go. Jack gave his all against a good Hartford group and we as a team look at some of the solid things he did: got ahead of nearly every batter he faced, didn’t allow a hit, registered a bases loaded K against the clean-up guy, only one ball hit out of the infield, had himself in a position to get out of the inning only allowing a run or two. There are going to be ups and downs for any first-year pitcher in this league but it’s better to get them out of the way in May so he’ll be ready to take the hill in July and August when the stakes are much higher. I’m excited to see what he’s got against some of the CNMSBL’s elite in this weekend’s [Step Up to the Plate] Charity Baseball Marathon. It’s extended spring training for all of us at the moment. Kevin came in and ate up some innings. He’s the one guy on our staff right now that’s seems tailor-made for the relief role. Some pitchers are more comfortable starting but Quinnie is a gamer and he’s ready to give the team what we need. With these two guys, Tommy, Mike [Patenaude] and potentially Bill [Gills] we’ve got the makings of a true staff which is a luxury we haven’t had in Newington since our jump to the A Division.”

Clark started his second game since joining the Cannons this off-season and this match-up had a completely different feel from the get-go. The veteran right-hander set down the first four Nats he faced before being touched for a pair of runs on three straight singles and a passed ball. Yet the Cannons responded immediately with three runs after Clark was hit by a pitch, Steve Markie and Quinn singled (some shoddy infield defense by Hartford moved the Connecticut carousel around the base paths) and Jason Maule legged out a double to rally the troops. The Nationals scored an unearned run in the third to tie the score at three but the Cannons sent nine men to the plate in the fourth to provide Clark with a four-run cushion. Drew “Ragin’ Cajun” McDowell led off with a single and Quinn followed with a base hit. Mike McGann worked a walk to load the bases then Balcerzak (2 RBI), Leo Dionicio (1 RBI) and Clark (BB, 1 RBI) showed just how dangerous the top of this line-up can be. Hartford answered with a run on a Jerry Cacavale sacrifice fly in the fifth but Connecticut answered in kind as McDowell was hit by a pitch, moved up on a passed ball and scored on an inside-out single by McGann with two down. “Great piece of hitting by an often unsung guy who does so many of the little things right,” McDowell made sure to mention as he spoke to reporters outside the New Cannon Yards practice facility on Monday. It seemed as if the Cannons would coast to victory with a four-run lead going into the seventh but the Nationals are built to score and that’s just what they did against a tiring Clark (7 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 1 K, 6 BB, 3 HBP) who recognized there was nobody behind him in the bullpen, starting the final frame with one hundred one pitches under his belt. A lead-off double by de Jesus was followed by a hit batter and two bases on balls. Cacavale hit his second sacrifice, Jose Rosado walked on five pitches and Dakota Fanning drove a two- run single through the infield. With the go-ahead run a second the much-maligned Cannons defense came up huge as Dionicio fielded a ground ball, flipped to Balcerzak at second who fired to Chris Barsa at first where he made a run-saving scoop to turn two (Barsa had been inserted as a defensive replacement for McDowell to start the inning). “I think that play really has the potential to be one of those significant moments in a special season. CB has seen his role with the team change, at least in the early part of the season (Barsa has been used almost exclusively as an extra hitter through the first two weekends). He goes in there cold and comes up with a play that puts us in a position to win in the home half. Once again that speaks to our depth. We are a more complete team today than at anytime since our move the A Division in 2006. If guys are able to step up when called upon it is going to make us tough to beat as the season wears on.” Celio, in his first game action of ’08, dug in for the departed McDowell and was plunked on the second pitch he faced. Vanasse was inserted as a pinch runner and moved into scoring position on Quinn’s third hit of the ball game. “Big hit for KQ and the team as a whole,” Celio stated, “but what shouldn’t be lost in the moment is that he approached me about the pinch running move. That’s heads up baseball. We’ve got ball players on the roster this season, guys who know the game of baseball, who want to move runners over with a bunt and that’s good for a handful of runs over the course of a campaign.” McGann got behind but battled for ball four which brought Maule to the plate and Nats Manager Tony “The Tiger” Santiago out for a visit. After little deliberation, a visibly laboring Paul Ehrlich was removed in favor of left-hander Ricardo “Cosa Salvaje” Vaughñó. On his very first pitch Vaughñó uncorked a wild one that bounced all the way to the first base dugout and Vanasse scampered home with the game-winning run. “Jason can do that to you,” said Celio simply. Just like that the Cannons had salvaged a split with a 9-8 victory over the Nationals in the nightcap.

It has been said that a man has only one lifetime but history can remember him forever. To a man the Connecticut Cannons hope to make history this season and Sunday saw the start of this quest. There is nothing the players and fans would treasure more than that ever-elusive first CNMSBL A Division Championship. The Cannons as constituted are capable of capturing not only the CNMSBL A Division trophy but the collective imaginations of those frenzied fanatics known as the citizens of Cannon Nation. The secret to success is simple: solid if not spectacular pitching, good glove work and a balanced offensive attack. All three in equal proportions and the Cannons may have a blockbuster sequel to match the magic of 2005’s title trot. Tickets for the June 1 match-up versus the Glastonbury Marlins at Mill Pond Park in Newington can be purchased by phone at 1-800-CANNONS (226-6667) or on-line at ctcannons.blogspot.com.

Cannons News and Notes: The Cannons are averaging 4.0 runs per game while allowing an average 7.25 runs per contest; the team ERA jumped from under 2.00 to a respectable 4.46 after the weekend; Connecticut batters are hitting .246 as a team while its opponents are hitting slightly better at .267 overall; Clark is currently the league leader in hitting among players with ten or more at-bats (6 for 10, .600 BA); following a McDowell strike out in the third inning of Game One—the pitch in the dirt momentarily got away from Nats catcher John McLaughlin forcing him to throw to first to finish off “The Diesel”—Dionicio used the classic “he runs eighteen wheeler loaded down with Mexicans trying to cross the border” reference usually reserved for laggard-legged “T-Rex” Barsa; McDowell struck out three times in the Opener…in the dugout between contests Celio spoke to “Southern Man” saying, “Just because you’re from Louisiana doesn’t mean you have to join the Klan (the affectionate term for KKK in the scorebook)…Drew’s response: “I’m the Grand Wizard right about now.”; Weber once again altered the secret formula for Cannonade before the home opener, opting for a combination of Connecticut Crimson and Leo Lemon-Lime; C Steve Markie returned from kidney stone surgery to go 2 for 5 on the day with a run scored while working wonderfully with Clark; uniform # 22 triumphantly returned to the field for Connecticut after a two and a half year hiatus (legendary Cannon Tom “Mr. August” Bogiatzis last donned the double deuce in the team’s B Division Championship win over the New Haven Cardinals…Vanasse respectfully requested to wear the number in honor of his twenty-two year old cousin who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, one of the three charities Cannons players hope to hit a homer for in this weekend’s Step Up to the Plate Charity Baseball Event in Glastonbury, CT beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 23 (Balcerzak, Barsa, Borst, Celio, Clark, Dionicio, McGann, Patenaude, Vanasse and Weber are the Connecticut players currently slated to participate…Dionicio would like to be the starting pitcher for the Red Team)…original Cannon John “Blue Fire” Mancini is planning to play in the event this weekend…Celio secured two corporate level Pennant Sponsors—$500+ in donations—in the last few days: Pratt & Whitney and Sedgwick Middle School; former Cannon Kevin McGann, brother of current third baseman Mike, was in attendance along the third base line at the Yards this weekend; ’07 fans of the year the Celio Family started their title defense by observing Game Two; Get your (RED) on!: both ball clubs and the umpire crew wore cerise on Sunday in support of HIV research and treatment for Africans; in what is being referred to as “Beergate” by local media members, the Cannons were called to the carpet by Town of Newington officials for alcohol consumption in a public park…Assistant Manager Mike Weber, lead member of the brew crew for the first—and final—time got caught up in the moment and offered cold ones to members of Connecticut’s finest following the double dip, a direct violation of New Cannon Yards by-laws…Barsa, the team’s representative in field negotiations, says he is taking a “wait and see approach” on the subject (the Cannons contract out the field on a year-to-year basis).