It is always great to get a victory, but when that victory comes over your arch-rival it is even sweeter. Here the team celebrates a victory over the Columbus All-Americans.

Been a while since we’ve had any posts on the Cows’ blog, so thought I’ll start pulling a few of the photos from last season out to share.

Canton,OH- Stark County came into Friday’s doubleheader series as one
of the most feared offensive teams in the Great Lakes League and left
with fourteen innings of no-run baseball. The Walsh University scoreboard
indicating the one weakness which no great slugging team can overcome;
exceptional pitching.
Coming off a three-day, Fourth of July break, the Delaware Cows took
to the field looking to lengthen their half-game lead on the Lima
Locos in the standings, and did so with a sweep of Stark County by the
scores of 3-0 and 5-0. The wins, which improved Delaware’s record to 17-5
and dropped the Terriers to 11-12, along with the victories last week at
Anderson give the Cows back-to-back sweeps in their last two
doubleheaders.
Coach Bruce Heine has seen a lot of proud moments in his time with
Delaware but the back-to-back sweeps was a first for him. “There have
been a couple of firsts for me as a coach for the Cows this year. The Jay
Jackson no-hitter was one and now the two sweeps is another. The
talent on this team is special, he said.”
In game 1 of the doubleheader, Cows starting pitcher Greg Houston
combined with reliever Corey Chaffins, who recorded the victory to move
to 3-0, to pitch seven innings of five hit baseball as they set the pace
for game two’s pitchers.
Delaware would push three runs across the plate, all courtesy of
outfielder Brantly Clay. The junior from the University of Montevallo
struck for two in the second inning on a big two-out two-RBI single to
rightfield and once in the seventh on a one-out RBI single to aid in the
3-0 victory. Clay showed great bat control on his two run scoring hits,
as they were two hard to hit high fastballs.
“I credit my dad for my ability to hit all kinds of pitches. When he
used to throw to me in a cage, I had to learn how to hit everything,
and it has made me a better hitter, he said.” Offensively, Ryan Smith
chipped in with two hits in three at-bats.
Game 2 displayed the same great pitching, with more offense for the
Battling Bovine.
Starting Pitcher Doug Stevens battled back from a rough outing
against Licking County, and pitched four innings, giving up only two hits
to improve to 3-0 on the season. Chris Rigo relieved Stevens in the
fifth inning and struck out five in the three innings of work to pick up
his first save.
Led behind the big hitting of Matt Smith (3-3 RBI), Cameron
Satterwhite (1-4 RBI) and Jay Jackson (2-4 2RBI), Delaware would score two in
the fourth inning on an RBI double by Satterwhite and single by Jackson.
They would add on one in the fifth on a Matt Smith RBI single and two
in the seventh on an Evan Button Fielder’s choice and wild pitch for
the 5-0 victory.
Satterwhite believes offensively the Cows’ ability to pick one
another up in scoring situations has made them extremely effective. Pitchers
never seem to be out of trouble as they found out all season.
The doubleheader begins a hectic schedule of four games in four days
for Delaware, including another doubleheader, before the Cows All-Star
Break Tuesday

The Delaware Cows held on to an important victory over arch-rival Columbus All-Americans on Saturday June 23. And fans that stuck around were treated to a grand game of 1860s Vintage Base Ball when the Ohio Village Muffins took on the Delaware Cowboys.

The Muffins collected the victory, however it wasn’t the score that mattered. The game was played by true 1860s style with the ladies and gentlemen enjoying a fine spirited game with no sliding, underhand pitching, and lots of cheering for each side.

View a collection of images from the game taken by “Behind” Toby Boyce during the contest.

Sunday’s Delaware Cows game will have a special flare.

The Cows will give back to the community’s Special Olympians with raffles and random drawings throughout the Cows contest with the Licking County Settlers beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Even Ohio Wesleyan’s Bishop will be on-hand to cheer the Cows to victory.

Among the wonderful items that could be had:

• $100 in cash (one winner)
• $20 in Mookie’s Moolah* (one winner)
• $10 in Mookie’s Moolah* (one winner)
• $5 in Mookie’s Moolah* (three winners)
• Two lawn tickets to any remaining 2007 concert at Germain Ampitheater (five winners)
• Jeg’s High Performance scale model race car autographed by Troy Coughlin (two winners)
• Home Depot Tony Stewart Leather Racing Jacket (size large) in orange and black - valued at $200 (one winner)
• McDonalds display of promotional giveaway items from the Wizard of Oz and Mutent Ninja Turtles plus two Ty Beanies and Ronald McDonald. (one winner)
• Mini Batting Helmet - Replica of Cows Official Batting Helmet (one winner)
• Mini Batting Helmet - Replica of Cow Spotted Bat Boy Helmet (one winner)
• 1960 Fleer Branch Rickey baseball trading card (one winner)
• Fan of the Year - a personalized trading card included in our 2007 Delaware Cows Trading Cards set (one winner)
• Autographed Delaware Cows trading cards of three Major Leaguers - John VanBenschoten (from 1999 set), Matt DeSalvo (from 2001 set) and Connor Robertson (from 2002 set). (one winner)

Tickets for Sunday’s game are $3 for adults (18-64), $2 for students (8-18), and $1 for children (0- and seniors (65+) and can be purchased at the Hungry Heifer on game day.
For more information, to purchase raffle tickets or to view images visit www.delawarecows.com.

* — redeemable at the Hungry Heifer for food and/or merchandise or from the Official Team Shop and/or our Baseball Card Shop (online stores).

By: Dylan Horowitz, Delaware Cows Writer

Newark- The first time Delaware and Licking County met this year, it was opening day and the Delaware Cows who mounted a furious comeback to take the 9-8 victory in 10 innings at Littick Field.

Fast forward two weeks and give Licking County the home field, and this time it was the Settlers who were down big and provided late game heroics to cut down the deficit. However, similar to Saturday’s 12-11 win vs. Columbus, the Cows did just enough to hold on to the 9-6 victory and gain their fourth straight victory, while improving to 11-3 on the season. The loss drops Licking County to 5-11.

It was a game of big hits, long innings and major substitutions. Although the Cows gave up a large lead and did not play their most complete game, coach Bruce Heine appreciates the winning mentality and hard work he is seeing from his players during each game.

” I thought I managed a poor game tonight but the kids really picked me up. It was a great effort we put on the field; it obviously showed with the seven quick runs in the game. We are still tinkering but you can see the potential we have,” he said.

With pitcher Shay Crawford making his first start and having by far his best performance of the year, Delaware used their potent offense to capitalize on his five scoreless innings and pad a lead they would not relinquish. Crawford went five innings, giving up one hit and no runs while striking out one to receive his first win and even out his record at 1-1 on the year.

Crawford, who pitching coach Dave Koblentz believes has great potential, said he loves to close games late but enjoyed the opportunity to start for Delaware.

“I felt good today. It has been a month since I have started so I was a little tired, but the ball felt good coming out of my hand. I wanted to work on my off- speed pitches throughout my start, and I thought I did alright,” he said.

Starting in the first and ending with a huge five-run fourth inning, the Battling Bovine would score seven runs in the first six innings, with the Settlers matching only a single run.

During the top of the first inning, the Cows welcomed Settlers starting pitcher Eric Arnett to the game with an Eric Crawford (1-5) single and a bad error by second baseman Zac Rhinesmith, which allowed Cory Kovanda (1-2 2RBI) to reach first. After an Evan Button groundout, red-hot Matt Smith (1-3 2RBI) doubled into the right-center gap to give the Cows a 2-0 lead and his sixth and seventh RBI’s in the last two games. Arnett took his second loss of the season, going 32/3 innings giving up six hits and six runs, while striking out three. 

Capitalizing during the fourth inning once again, the blue and gray struck for five more on several big hits. After Ryan Smith reached on an error and Russ Sneed (2-5) singled for his first hit as a cow, Brantley Clay (1-3 2RBI) split the gap in left-center to score two and give the Cows a 4-0 advantage. After a Joey McDaniel (1-3) walk and an Eric Crawford strikeout, Cory Kovanda struck again with a two-out, two-run double over Settlers first baseman Rich Sullivan’s head to help Delaware jump out to a 6-0 lead. Evan Button (2-5 2RBI) would finish the scoring in the fourth with a RBI two-baser of his own to make it 7-0 Cows.

The Settlers would get on the board in sixth inning, plating one on an Evan Jones RBI single off of Cows reliever Doug Stevens to cut the deficit to 7-1 Delaware.

In the top of the seventh the Cows would strike for one. Following a Cameron Satterwhite walk and an error on pitcher R.L. Eisenbach allowing Russ Sneed to reach and put runners on first and third base, Brian Delucia hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to give the Cows an 8-1 lead.

With Stevens in for his second inning of work, Licking County settled down in the bottom of the seventh and went to work against the Cows most dominating pitcher this season. Entering the game, Stevens had allowed one unearned run in his first 11-1/3 innings. He left the contest, giving up six runs on six hits, while striking out three. Beginning with back-to-back singles and an error to load the bases, Stevens proceeded to hit batters Andy Johnson and Mike McCarthy to bring in two, while also giving up an RBI single to Steve Rosado and RBI fielder’s choice to Evan Jones. When the dust cleared, Licking County had cut the Cows lead down to 8-5.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Settlers would take on another run. After a dropped third strike allowed first baseman Rich Sullivan to reach and Andy Johnson walked, Steve Rosado singled through the infield to give Delaware a two-run lead at 8-6.

For the Settlers, the two-run deficit would be the closest they would come to victory on Monday night. Licking County learned a lesson spreading quickly throughout the league, up two or down three, Delaware simple always finds a way to get victories in tight ballgames.

After a solo homerun in the top of the ninth by Evan Button made the score 9-6 Battlin Bovine, Eric Maust came in on short rest to set Licking County down in the final frame and pick up his first save of the year.  

The Cows now move to 6-1 on road games and 2-0 against the Licking County Settlers on the year. Evan Button’s homerun was the fifth of the year for Delaware, which is second in the league, and he is now the fourth player on the team to leave the yard. Russ Sneed picked up two base hits in his first game with Delaware; one week earlier the third baseman was playing in the College World Series in Omaha. Nebraska.

The Cows return to action Tuesday night at Bill Davis Stadium as they take on the Columbus All-Americans (6-2) at 7pm. Delaware leads the series 1-0, and a win would lengthen their lead between first in second in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League standings to a full game instead of percentage points

Jackson’s no-hitter and Delaware’s bats freeze Athletes in Action; gain (DH) sweep.

By: Dylan Horowitz

Delaware Cows Writer

            When Scott Walker pitched the first and only no-hitter in Delaware Cows history back in 1993, current pitcher and outfielder Jay Jackson was five years old and still unable to palm a baseball.

Fourteen years later, the sophomore from Furman University etched his name in GLSCL history with a seven-inning no-hitter of his own in the Delaware Cows(7-2) 1-0 game two doubleheader win at Xenia(2-6).     

Jackson, now 2-0 on the season, pitched seven “lights-out” inning in which he faced only two batters over the minimum. He allowed one walk and an infield error while striking out four on the evening.

Coach Bruce Heine has seen dozens of great arms pass through Delaware, but believes this might have been the single greatest mound outing he has been a part of as a member of the team.

“I have been coaching the Cows for nine years, and we have two pitchers in the “big leagues”; so we have had some good ones here. However, I told the guys after the game, in my time here, that was the single most dominating performance we have ever had, he said.”

Using the combination of a heavy power fastball and a hard slider, the right-hander endued several groundballs and the few fly outs he did surrender were not well hit.

Jackson said he felt good all game but at no point thought about the no-hitter until the 7^th inning. He went on to add that he was proud of the way the team played behind him and was excited to pick up the victory.

In terms of lifetime accomplishments, Jackson puts this one in a special category. “This is up there along with my first appearance in the GLSCL, college and the perfect game I threw in high school. It is towards the top, in terms of being a college pitcher and having the opportunity to face college hitters as talented as the ones in this league are, he said”.

The lone run for the Cows in this game came off the bat of second baseman Cory Kovanda (1-4 RBI), whose defensive prowess played a huge factor in the zero hits registered by the Athletes in Action. After an Evan Crawford (0-1 3BB, 1R) two-out walk and stolen base in the top of the 3^rd inning, Kovanda singled over the head of Xenia first baseman Shawn Teufel to break the 0-0 tie and help give Delaware a 1-0 victory.

Athletes in Action pitcher Gary Gates pitched five strong innings, giving up the one run on three hits, while taking his first loss for Xenia.

Game 1 of the doubleheader saw a solid team effort from the Battling Bovine in their 5-2 comeback win against Xenia. Behind the great pitching of Chris Rigo (W- 4IP, 1R, 6K) and Joey McDaniel (S- 3IP, 1R, 1H) the Cows showed once again why they are atop or close to first in pitching each season.

Getting the big outs when needed and allowing their defense to make plays the right-hander and lefthander duo stymied the Athletes in Action hitters, allowing Xenia to put only two runs across the board. 

With a quiet game two in the doubleheader against Anderson the day before, the big bats of Delaware would be silenced no more. Outfielder Cameron Satterwhite (1-3 HR), catcher Ryan Smith (1-3 2B 2RBI) and second baseman Cory Kovanda (2-3 2R), displayed their ability to hit in the clutch, as the trio played a large part in the Cows five runs over the seven innings.

Kovanda, who was a recent addition to the squad, has been a huge spark for the Cows with his glove and ba in his three games played and feels good in Delaware.

 ”I am feeling comfortable at the plate and settling in after the first few games. Defensively I have just tried to stay ready on every single pitch and make some plays, he said”.

 Trailing 1-0 heading into the third via a Shawn Teufel RBI single in the 1^st inning, the Cows would go on a rally scoring five runs in the next five innings to the Athletes in Actions’ one.

After back to back singles by Ohio State teammates Cory Kovanda and Brian Delucia (1-2) and a Jamel Scott (0-1 RBI) sacrifice bunt, Evan Crawford (1-3 RBI) hit an RBI fielder’s choice to tie the score at 1-1.   

In the top of the 4^th inning, with two outs and none on, Cameron Satterwhite hit a booming solo homerun to left centerfield off Xenia starter Matthew Seufert to give Delaware a 2-1 lead. Seufert pitched 51/3 innings, giving up four runs on three hits for his first loss of the season.

The clutch hitting would continue for the Cows in the 6^th inning. After an Evan Crawford infield single and a Brantley Clay walk, hot hitting catcher Ryan Smith smashed a one-out two-run double into the right centerfield gap to give Delaware a 4-1 advantage.

After a Max Willett sacrifice fly cut the deficit the 4-2, the Battling Bovine would add one in the top of the 7^th inning to retake a three-run lead. Following a Kovanda single and stolen base, Delucia sacrificed him to third on a bunt and Jamel Scott drove him in with sacrifice fly to end the scoring at 5-2 Delaware.

For the Cows, it was their first doubleheader sweep of the young season.

Their 7-2 record puts them in second place in the GLSCL standings behind the 3-0 Columbus All-Americans. Delaware will get a day off Monday, and return to action Tuesday, as they travel to Shawnee HS to take on the Lima Locos (5-3). Delaware beat Lima 5-2 in their second game of the season.  

Saturday was a great day to get out to the ballpark, but then is there such a thing as a bad day at the ballpark?

Special thanks to Ohio Orthopedic Center for Excellence for being the sponsor of Saturday’s contest.

Toby Boyce created a “show” from the game, unforutantely WordPress.com doesn’t like the set-up, but you can view it here.

Inning                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H E
Southern Ohio Copperheads       0 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 0   7 13 3
Delaware Cows                   3 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 x  11  9 4
W- Jay Jackson(1-0)
L- John Pokerny(0-1)
 
Pitchers-
Delaware-
Rigo - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K,
Crawford(5) - 0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 WP
Maust(5) - 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K,
*Jasckon(7)-2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0ER, 1 BB, 6 K,
Southern Ohio-
Schlarb - 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 1 K
Robowski(5) - 2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
*Pokorny(7)-1.1 IP, 2 H, 4R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Fairbanks -(  0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Catchers-
Delaware- Ruygrok, Smith(5)
Southern Ohio- McDonough

Hitting Stars-
Evan Crawford 3-5 3RBI
Brantley Clay 2-3 1RBI
Cameron Satterwhite 1-2 1RBI
John Petika 1-4 2RBI

Pitching Stars-
*Jasckon(7)-2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0ER, 1 BB, 6 K,
Rigo - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K,

Dylan Horowitz
Delaware Cows Beat Writer

Delaware- Looking like they would finally succumb to the bite of a late game deficit, the Delaware Cows (3-0) once again defied the odds by scoring eight runs in the 7th and 8th innings to beat the Southern Ohio Copperheads (1-2) 11-7 at Littick Field.
The win was the third straight of come-from-behind fashion for the Cows, who currently reside first in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League standings.
Head Coach Bruce Heine believes this is a no quit team, with players who always go to the batter’s box trying to make something happen, no matter what the count. “We talked as a team about fighting harder with two strikes and I thought we did a much better job of that tonight, he said.” “I really like this team, we are shorthanded but show a lot of heart and this is as good of a start as we have had in years.”
Delaware opened the game’s scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning with three runs courtesy of Jay Jackson’s fielder’s choice, Cameron Satterwhite’s (1-2 1RBI) sacrifice fly and an infield error to take a 3-0 lead. All the runs came off Copperhead starting pitcher Matt Schlarb.
Southern Ohio answered back in the top of the 2nd inning with two RBI singles from Zach Hartle and Christian Valeriano off Cows starting pitcher Chris Rigo.
The score would remain stagnant until the top of the 5th inning, when the Copperheads would get to Delaware reliever Shay Crawford for three runs. After loading the bases, Crawford threw a wild pitch to plate one run and on the same play an errant throw by catcher Ryan Smith allowed a second run to score. Later that inning, Neil Lindgren drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to give Southern Ohio a 5-4 lead.
The Copperheads were not done however, as they would score two more runs off of Cows reliever Eric Maust in the 7th inning. After a one-out walk to Matt Stiffler, an Arden McWilliams double followed by a Brad Winter single gave the Athens based team a 7-4 advantage.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Cows mooed back. After a Ryan Smith single and an error on the ensuing Jamel Scott single, which put runners on first and third base, Evan Crawford (3-5 3RBI) singled to plate one. Following a walk to Brantley Clay (2-3 1RBI), a passed ball during John Petika’s at-bat allowed Scott to score from third. Jay Jackson then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Crawford and cut the deficit to 7-6.
With Jay Jackson (W-2 2/3 0R 6K) moving to pitcher to qualm the attack left by reliever Maust in the 7th inning and helping to stymie the Copperheads during the top of 8th inning, Delaware used the bottom of the 8th inning to take back the lead for good. After an 11-pitch Brian Delucia walk and a botched Ryan Smith sacrifice bunt which landed him on first safely, Evan Crawford hit a booming double off Copperhead reliever John Pokorny (L- 1 1/3, 4R 2K) to give the Cows back a 8-7 lead.
The Battling Bovine were not done however. During the next two at-bats, Brantley Clay would hit a RBI single and John Petika would smash a two RBI triple off new Southern Ohio reliever Zachary Fairbanks to expand the lead to 10-7. Jay Jackson helped his own cause for his first win of the season as he finished the big inning with a sacrifice fly to give Delaware an 11-7 advantage. It was one in which they would not relinquish.
The Copperheads went quietly in the top of the 9th inning, and the blue and white uniformed players of Delaware rejoiced as they once again had turned a crushing loss into an inspirational victory.
Brian Delucia, whose walk began the big five-run inning for the Cows, believed this was a game they were destined to win. “We came into this game really relaxed with our record being 2-0 and always come to the ballpark with the desire to win. At no point did we think losing was an option, the comeback just happened off that.”
The Cows will test their three game win streak today at 5pm, as they take on the Lake Erie Monarchs at Littick Field.

Inning         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Delaware       0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1  5 10 3
Lima Locos     1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2  3 0
 
W- Doug Stevens(1-0)

L- Casey Ingle(0-1)
S- Shay Crawford (1)

HR- Ryan Smith (Del)

Pitching Highlights

• - Matt Jackson made his first start and went four strong innings allowing just one unearned run.
• - Doug Stevens won his first game of the season. In four innings he allowed one unearned run while striking out seven batters.
• - Shay Crawford picked up his first save in a quick ninth inning where he fanned one batter.

Hitting Highlights

• - Brantly Clay led the team by going 3-for-3. He also scored a run and drove a run in.
• - Ryan Smith’s first hit as a Delaware Cow was a big one. He crushed a fastball over the left field wall for a 2-run home run.

by Josh Ellis, Delaware Cows writer

The Delaware Cows are beginning to make comebacks a regularity early on in the season. For the second consecutive game, the Cows have turned a mid-game deficit into a come-from-behind victory. The Lima Locos got on the board in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jacob Robbins to take a 1-0 lead that would hold up until the sixth inning. James Taes, for the Locos, was effective in four innings, but then the team ran into trouble.

      Brantly Clay reached base in the sixth inning with a one out walk and he stole second base in front of John Petika, who ripped a double to the opposite field to tie the score at one. Jay Jackson was then retired on a tremendous play by shortstop B.J. Holloway for the second out of the inning. Cameron Satterwhite laced then a ball into the outfield for a single to give the Cows a 2-1 lead. The RBI was Satterwhite’s fourth of the season. With a runner on first Ryan Smith stepped up and ran the count full.

      “After getting to a full count I knew I was going to get a fastball and I was able to get some good wood on it,” Smith said.

      The home run was his first two RBI if the season and it would put the game out of reach.

The Locos added a run in the eight inning on an RBI ground out and the Cows came right back with an RBI single from Clay in the ninth. Shay Crawford nailed down the door in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his first save of the season.

      Matt Jackson was the starter for the Cows and after early control problems with two walks in the first inning, he settled down. Doug Stevens, a second-year Cow player, was impressive in his four innings of work. Stevens is not well-known for striking out batters, but he set down seven Locos with strikeouts. After the game, Coach Bruce Heine had high praise of his team.

“In nine years of coaching this could be one of the best teams we have ever had,” Heine said.

The Cows are now in first place by themselves with a 2-0 record as the Locos fall to 1-1. The Cows will head home on Tuesday to face the Southern Ohio Copperheads at 5 p.m. at Littick Field.