Air Force Academy
Hawaii
Falcons Hammer Rainbows, 11-4
3/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2003
Air Force pounded 16 hits against three Hawaii pitchers and Tony Shockley hit for the cycle as the Falcons trounced the Rainbows, 11-4, Thursday night in the final round-robin game of the Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament in Honolulu.
The Falcons also received their third outstanding pitching performance of the tournament as freshman Paul Vignola threw the first complete game of his career, allowing seven hits and striking out a career-best 10 batters. Vignola improved to 5-2 this season.
Air Force finished the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 2-1 record and will have a rematch with the Rainbows (1-2 in the tournament) on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. in the second of two semifinals. Lewis-Clark State College (3-0) will play Western Illinois (0-3) in the first semifinal.
The Falcons (10-16 overall) broke open a scoreless game with eight runs in the top of the fourth as seven of the first nine batters registered a hit, and eight reached base. Daniel Petro led off the inning with a double and scored when Shockley hit the first of Air Force's three home runs, a two-run shot over the right field fence.
Bowie Frost followed Shockley's blast with a double down the left field line. Nelson Prouty chased Frost home with a single to make the score 3-0. After stealing second, Prouty scored on Adam Howes' double. A wild pitch moved Howes to third, and he scored when Zach McAngus' grounder was misplayed by Rainbow shortstop Brian Finegan. McAngus stole second, then scored on Mike Rose's single to right field, which chased Hawaii starter Chris George from the game.
Josh Phifer continued the onslaught as he took new pitcher Michael Peck's first offering over the center field fence for his eighth home run of the season to give Air Force an 8-0 cushion. The Falcons sent 12 men to the plate and collected eight hits in the inning, including Shockley's triple.
Hawaii (15-14) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth with the first three Rainbow batters each posting a hit. Andrew Sansaver led off the frame with a single and advanced to third on Brent Cook's double. Sansaver then scored on a single by Rocky Russo, and Cook made it 2-0 by scoring on a sacrifice fly by Josh Green.
Falcon shortstop Nelson Prouty hit his second home run of the year leading off the fifth to make it 9-2. A double by Shockley and a sacrifice fly by Prouty in the sixth gave the Falcons an 11-2 advantage.
Cook hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh to produce the final margin, and the only drama left was squelched in the eighth when Shockley lined a single up the middle to complete his cycle. Shockley was 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, while Prouty went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
