The Result
Sea Dogs - 10 to 9

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
64 wins - 70 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing rightfield
Batting #3

......and changed to leftfield for the bottom of the fifteenth innings

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 7 at-bats - double, 1 x run scored, 1 x strike out, 1 x hit-by-pitched-ball

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
"And that line drive is ripped into rightfield but the wind is knocking it down"
Out F9
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
Ball - outside
Ball - up and away
"That pitch is hit over the first base bag and goes into the bullpen down the rightfield which is in fair territory and Roneberg has himself a double" - and the runner advanced to third base
Double
Scored on a hit
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike - fast ball - on the outside corner
Foul ball - off the catcher's mask
Swing&miss - "that was a good sharp slider"
Strike out
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down
(did not hear the pitch sequence)
Fly ball to centrefield
Out F8
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - low
"And that hits Roneberg ...... Brett tried to duck out of the way of that 66mph breaking ball but it hits him in the helmet"
Hit by pitched ball
Went to second base on a walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Sixth at-bat - Tenth inning
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Foul ball - off the catcher's mask
Ball - low
Foul ball - to the back stop
Ball - breaking ball - high
"And Brett hits that breaking ball high into shallow leftfield and the shortstop goes back to make the catch"
Out F6
Seventh at-bat - Twelfth inning - and the runner at first base is the 'go-ahead' run
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
"A line drive into rightfield and it's sinking quickly but the fielder is able to get there"
Out F9
Eighth at-bat - Fourteenth inning - and the runner at second base is the 'go-ahead' run
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - low
Called strike - change-up
"Well hit into right-centrefield but the fielder is able to track it down and make the catch"
Out F9

Heard during the game
(1) As Brett came in for his second at-bat, the commentator mentioned that "Brett is leading the Sea Dogs in a number of offensive categories:-
------hits with 121
------extra-base hits with 43
------total bases with 197
------runs-driven-in with 70
------runs scored with 61
and is equal leader on the team:-
------doubles with 25
------walks with 54

(2) He also mentioned that "Roneberg just missed out on being named to the 'Eastern League All Star Team' for the 2004 season"

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports
SEA DOGS WIN RECORD-SETTING GAME AT NORWICH
Fulse Leads Sea Dogs with Franchise Record 3 Triples, 5 Hits

Sheldon Fulse hit his franchise-record third triple and scored the winning run in the 15th inning on Gary Schneidmiller's RBI single as the Portland Sea Dogs scored a 10-9 win over the Norwich Navigators in 15 innings, the longest Sea Dogs game since 1996.

Portland let a five-run lead slip away for the second consecutive game, but tied the game with a run in the eighth inning.

The Sea Dogs bullpen then tossed eight scoreless innings to win the contest.

Fulse tied franchise records with five hits, three extra-base hits and became the first player ever with three triples in one game.

Schneidmiller added three RBI and Mike Lopez-Cao tied a franchise record by reaching base six times (two-run home run, single and four walks, three runs scored).

After allowing six runs in the seventh inning to fall behind, 9-8, relievers James Johnson, Tim Hamulack, Bo Donaldson (3-3) and Marc Deschenes (9th save) did not allow a runner past second base in eight combined shutout frames.

With the win, Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson earned his 900th professional managerial win.

Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at Norwich

Gary Schneidmiller drove in the game winning in the top of the fifteenth inning to lead the Portland Sea Dogs to a 10-9 victory over the Norwich Navigators Sunday afternoon.

Portland had tied the score in the top of the eighth inning on a fielder's choice by Mike Lockwood.

For Portland, Sheldon Fuse went 5-for-8 with 3 triples, 3 runs scored, and two RBI.
Gary Schneidmiller went 3-for-6 with three RBI.
Mike Lopez hit the game's only homer and drove in two runs.

For the Navigators, Carlos Valderrama went 4-for-8 with three runs scored, a double, and a triple.
Doug Clark went 3-for-7 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBI.
Derin McMains went 2-for-7 with two RBI.
Chris Curry went 3-for-7 with an RBI.

Bo Donaldson got the win pitching three innings and three innings of scoreless relief and allowing only one hit while striking out two.
Donaldson improves to 3-3 for the season.

Marc Deschenes earned the save with a perfect scoreless bottom of the fifteenth.
It was his ninth save of the season.

Joe Bateman took the loss to drop to 1-3 for the season.
He pitched three innings and gave up one earned run.

Still some fight left in Dogs

The Portland Sea Dogs had every reason to mail in Sunday's extra-inning game against the Norwich Navigators.
Portland began play seven games under .500 and had long since been eliminated from playoff contention.
A boiling sun and high humidity turned Dodd Stadium into a cauldron.
The Sea Dogs' roster was thin because starting pitcher Greg Montalbano (blister), reliever Lenny DiNardo (biceps) and shortstop Hanley Ramirez (bruised hip) were on the bench before the sixth inning.

But Portland won a 15-inning marathon, 10-9, when Sheldon Fulse cracked his third triple and scored on Gary Schneidmiller's single off Joe Bateman.

"I've got to tip my hat to these position players," Manager Ron Johnson said.
"These guys battled their butts off through this thing. It would have been easy to give up. It was horribly hot.
We gave the lead up numerous times (including an 8-3 lead after 6-1/2 innings).
That's basically pride, because we're not in a pennant race.
We played 15 innings of baseball in front of a sparse crowd (3,422).
On an afternoon when we're going to drive to Binghamton afterward, it would have been very easy in my opinion for guys to tank it, to miss a ball or throw a ball away (Portland made no errors, while Norwich committed four)."

Among other things:
(1) Fulse's three triples broke the franchise record, and he tied the franchise record with five hits.
(2) Portland had a season-high nine extra-base hits.
(3) James Johnson, Tim Hamulack, winning pitcher Bo Donaldson (3-3) and Marc Deschenes (ninth save) combined to limit Norwich to one hit over the last seven innings.
Donaldson faced the minimum nine batters over three innings and allowed one hit.
(4) The game was the Sea Dogs' longest since 1994, when they last played 15 innings.
(5) Johnson posted the 900th victory of his career.

"We were just trying to battle and win it," Fulse said.
"If we were going to be out there so long, we just wanted to come away with a win."

The Sea Dogs grabbed a 6-0 lead after 2-1/2 against Brion Treadway.
Highlights included Mike Lopez-Cao's two-run homer in the second and Hulse's two-run triple in the third.

Montalbano's blister flared up in the third and he departed in favor of DiNardo, who is on a rehab assignment for Boston.
DiNardo cruised into the fifth when, with one on and one out, his injured biceps forced him from the mound.

Portland made it 8-3 in the seventh on Mike O'Keefe's double and Schneidmiller's sacrifice fly.

But Norwich sent 13 men to the plate in the bottom half and scored six runs on seven hits and two walks.
Angel Chavez's double gave the Navigators their first lead, 9-8.

The Sea Dogs scratched out the tying run in the eighth when Lopez-Cao drew a leadoff walk against Josh Habel and eventually scored on Mike Lockwood's fielder's choice.

In Johnson's opinion, two plays that typified the Sea Dogs' grit came in the bottom of the 14th and involved shortstop Raul Nieves.
The first occurred when Jake Wald hit a rocket that Nieves turned into a routine out.
Then, with Julian Benavidez on first, Chavez hit a sharp one-hopper to Donaldson, who fired to Nieves for what became a 1-6-3 double play.

"Raul Nieves made two outstanding plays, the one right at him and also the turn (on the double play)," Johnson said.
"Here's a guy who's 0 for 7 and is in the middle playing like that to execute a double play.
"I couldn't be more proud of those type of things."

Portland opens a four-game series tonight at Binghamton, with Kason Gabbard (2-6) facing Jason Scobie (5-3).

Navs claw back, but fall in home finale

It only figured that this was the way it ended.

The Norwich Navigators played their last home game of the year before 3,422 fans at Dodd Stadium Sunday and gave it their all in a 15-inning affair with the Portland Sea Dogs.

Unfortunately for Norwich, the end result was not the one it had hoped for.

Gary Schneidmiller's RBI single in the 15th gave Portland a 10-9 lead as it eventually held on to win the 4 hour and 32 minute game, the longest game of the year for the Navigators.

"We gave the fans their money's worth," catcher Chris Curry said.
"I wish we would have come back on top. You can't blame anybody because we all had a chance to win this game."

Sheldon Fulse - who was 5-for-8 with two RBIs and three runs scored - started the 15th with his third triple of the game to set a franchise record.
Then with the Norwich infield pulled in, Schneidmiller hit a sharp line drive off pitcher Joe Bateman to give the Sea Dogs the lead for good.

Despite the loss, the game actually turned out to be indicative of the way the Navigators have played all year - fighting back from behind to either win or make it a close game in the end.

"This game is weird. I've said that all year long," leftfielder Doug Clark said about Norwich's effort.
"We've been unfortunate at times, but we've also done some great things.
We've lost a lot of one-run ballgames, but I can remember multiple times us being at home plate celebrating the winning run."

Trailing 8-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Norwich put a six spot on the board with seven hits to take a 9-8 lead.
Carlos Valderrama got things going with a one-out triple and later scored on a Derin McMains single, sandwiched around a Justin Knoedler walk, to make it 8-4.
Clark drove in two more on a double to make it 8-6.
Curry then drove in Clark with a single to make it 8-7 and eventually scored on a groundout by Julian Benavidez to tie the game.
Angel Chavez plated the go-ahead run with an RBI double that scored Brad Vericker.
Norwich sent 11 men to the plate in the inning and Valderrama collected a single the second time around.
The centerfielder finished with four hits for the second straight game.

But that offensive production was all the Navigators would muster for the rest of the game.

Portland used four pitchers after the seventh to shut down Norwich on two hits.

The Sea Dogs tied the score at 9-9 in the eighth on a fielder's choice that scored Mike Lopez-Cao.