The Curve continue their eight-game homestand with a four-game series against the Bowie Baysox
All four games will begin at 6.35pm

Highlighting the series is the "Curve Pink Hat Giveaway and Pink Jersey Auction" which will be held on Thursday

The first 2,000 women will receive Curve Pink Hats on their way into Blair County Ballpark

Also, the Curve will wear special Pink Jersey's which will be sold via silent auction during the ballgame, with the proceeds benefiting the Navasky Foundation for Life and the advancement of cancer research

Plus, gates will open early for Curve Happy Hour (5.00 - 7.00pm) featuring live music and food specials on the Toyota Party Deck

The Curve wore pink jerseys and auctioned them off after the game, with proceeds benefiting the Navasky Foundation for Life
The auction raised about $3,000, and pitcher Matt Peterson’s jersey drew the top bid ($320)

The Result
Baysox - 7 runs to 2

The Curve - Year-to-Date
8 wins and 9 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - First base
Batting - #3

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike
Foul ball - wide of first base
Swing and a miss - "Roneberg strikes out chasing a pitch that was out of the zone and the innings is over"
Strike out
Second plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - fast ball - outside
Called/Swing - ? - breaking ball
"That is hit back to the mound on one hop and the pitcher stabs it and throws on to first base for the first out of the innings"
Ground out to the pitcher - 1 to 3
Third plate appearance
Lefthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - two down
Ball - just missed low and outside
Ball
Ball - outside
Called strike
Called strike
"Here comes the full count pitch!!! ... the runners are going!!! ... and Roneberg strikes out swinging to end the innings"
Strike out
Fourth plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
From the game play-by-play report - bottom of the eighth innings
------Pitcher Change - Jim Miller (RHP) replaces Fredy Deza
------Adam Boeve grounds out, second baseman Paco Figueroa to first baseman Oscar Salazar
------Brett Roneberg grounds out, second baseman Paco Figueroa to first baseman Oscar Salazar
------Randy Ruiz flies out to right fielder Jeff Fiorentino
Ground out to second base - 4 to 3

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 4 at-bats - 2 x strike outs

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

In the finale of a four-games series at Blair County Ballpark, the Bowie Baysox turned the tables from a night earlier, and were convincing in a 7-2 victory

The victory also allowed Bowie to sneak out of a town with a series win after taking three of four games from Altoona

Alay Soler made the start for the Curve, looking to pick up where he left off in his first start of the year, when he held the Harrisburg Senators hitless over five innings
Soler did hold Bowie without a hit in the first inning, but the Baysox got to the right-hander in the second
With one out in the inning, Soler walked Jeff Fiorentino
Val Majewski singled to move Fiorentino to third and put runners on the corners and Matt Cepicky followed with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Fiorentino for a 1-0 Bowie lead
Brandon Sing then blooped a single down the right field line which was in the air long enough for Majewski to score all the way from first base, and the Baysox lead stood at 2-0

Bowie starter Oscar Alvarez stymied the Curve for four innings, but they struck back in the fifth
Chris Truby, who finished with three base hits on the night, singled to lead off the inning
Dave Parrish then belted his first homerun of the year, a drive that cleared the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark in center field, to tie the score 2-2

Bowie took control in the seventh as Soler departed the ballgame in favor of Justin Vaclavik
Vaclavik got the first out of the inning, but then surrendered a home run to Brandon Sing that gave the lead back to the Baysox 3-2
The next three batters all singled pushing Ryan Hubele across for a two-run lead
Vaclavik was replaced by Romulo Sanchez who gave up a two-run single to Luis Hernandez as Bowie effectively broke the game open at 6-2
The seventh inning rally made a winner of Oscar Alvarez who left the game after the sixth

Alvarez held the Curve to two runs in six innings to improve to (3-1) on the year

The seventh also left Justin Vaclavik on the hook for the loss
Vaclavik allowed four earned runs in just a 1/3 of an inning to fall to (1-1)

Ryan Hubele added an insurance run and capped the scoring with a solo home run off of Mike Nannini to lead off the ninth
Nannini did recover to strike out the side

The loss dropped the Curve to 0-5 against left-handed starters at home, as they lost to all three lefties Bowie threw at them in the series

The Curve hit the road tomorrow to begin a three-game series with the Binghamton Mets
The series will begin a six-game road trip against the Northern Division as the Curve will also travel to Norwich for three games with the Connecticut Defenders before returning to BCB next Friday
LHP Josh Shortslef (0-3, 4.80) will make the start for Altoona
RHP Mike Devaney (0-1, 5.63) will oppose him for Binghamton

Brandon Sing's solo homer in the seventh inning proved to be the decisive run as Bowie defeated Altoona, 7-2, on Thursday at Blair County Ballpark

With one out and the score tied, 2-2, Sing connected off reliever Justin Vaclavik (1-1) for his first homer of the season
Sing's dinger was the first of five consecutive hits for Bowie
Ryan Hubele singled, Paco Figueroa doubled him to third and Bryan Bass singled, making it 4-2
Luis Hernandez delivered a two-run single off Ramulo Sanchez to extend the lead to 6-2

Sing, who finished 2-for-4, gave the Baysox (10-10) a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the second

Hubele went 3-for-4, with a solo homer, to lead Bowie's 12-hit attack

Baysox starter Oscar Alvarez (3-1) picked up the win, limiting the Curve (8-9) to two runs on seven hits in six innings
He struck out four and did not walk a batter

Fredy Deza and Jim Miller combined for three scoreless innings

Curve starter Alay Soler gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings
The Cuban-born right-hander tossed five hitless innings in his previous start

David Parrish produced both Altoona runs with his first homer of the season, a two-run blast off Alavarez

Chris Truby, who scored on Parrish's shot, went 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .333

Randy Ruiz went 0-for-4, snapping his 16-game on-base streak

The Baysox rebounded from last night's routing and topped the Altoona Curve tonight, 7-2

3,073 fans braved the chilly weather in Altoona to witness the Baysox offense deliver a total of 15 hits in the series finale

The Baysox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, scoring the two runs off of Altoona starter Alay Soler, ignited by singles from Val Majewski, Brandon Sing and Ryan Hubele

The score would remain 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning when Altoona catcher Dave Parrish hit a 2-run home run to left-center field off of Baysox starter Oscar Alvarez
The Baysox would get out of the fifth inning without any further damage with the score tied, 2-2

Altoona reliever Justin Vaclavik replaced Soler in the seventh inning and would be tapped for two of the Baysox four runs of the inning
The four-run inning was sparked by a Brandon Sing first-pitch solo home run to left field, followed by a line drive single from Ryan Hubele
The offense continued as Paco Figueroa crushed a double to left-field followed by an RBI single from Bryan Bass
Romulo Sanchez came on in relief of Vaclavik after the Bass single, promptly giving up a 2-RBI single through the hole at shortstop to Luis Hernandez

Fredy Deza came on in relief of Alvarez in the bottom of the seventh inning, shutting down the Altoona offense

Jim Miller came on in relief of Deza in the bottom of the eighth with the Baysox leading 7-2, for a quick one-two-three inning

Ryan Hubele would add some more insurance for the Baysox in the top of the ninth, hitting a lead-off first pitch home run to left field, his first of the season

James Hoey came on in the ninth inning, earning his sixth save of the season

Oscar Alvarez earned his third win of the season as Justin Vaclavik suffers his first loss

The Baysox victory tonight moves them to a 10-10 record overall and drops Altoona to an 8-9 record, sinking them to fifth-place in the Eastern League Southern Division

A little pat on the back - simple, subtle and seemingly no big deal - just may have done the trick
It won’t be known until the next time Justin Vaclavik takes the mound for the Curve, but at least the young pitcher can rest easy between now and then
He can take comfort in knowing, despite his struggles, that his manager still has faith in him

‘‘It’s good to hear that they’ve still got confidence in me’’ Vaclavik, a Double-A newcomer who skipped high-A ball, said after a rough outing Thursday night

Vaclavik came on in the seventh inning of a 2-2 game and allowed four runs on four hits while retiring just one batter
His ERA ballooned to 14.29, and Bowie rode the big inning to a 7-2 win before 3,073 fans at Blair County Ballpark

In the clubhouse afterward, Curve manager Tim Leiper walked over to Vaclavik, gave him a quick little nudge on the back, then walked away
No speech
No drawn-out analysis of the struggles
Nothing negative at all
Managing a baseball team is as much about managing people as it is writing down a lineup or calling for a hit-and-run
In this case, the little pat on the back was Leiper’s way of saying, ‘‘hang in there kid’’

‘‘I hope he’s positive because I have all the confidence in the world in him’’ Leiper said
‘‘I want him back out there as soon as possible’’

Every pitcher wants to hear that, particularly one whose confidence has to be shaken after two straight forgettable outings
Vaclavik allowed four runs on five hits and walked four in only one-third of an inning Sunday against Harrisburg, then couldn’t right the ship Thursday

‘‘I’ve just got to work down in the zone a little more’’ he said

The Pirates have never made a habit of letting players skip high-A, but they took a chance the 22-year-old Vaclavik could handle such a jump
He went 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA and saved 18 games last year for Hickory

Everyone in the organization raves about the pitcher’s stuff, even now
‘‘He’s had a couple rough outings, but this guy has good stuff, he’s going to be a good pitcher’’ Leiper said
‘‘It’s just about learning situations and knowing what to do and how to do it’’

Catcher Dave Parrish, whose two-run homer to left-center in the fifth pulled the Curve even, said Vaclavik only needs to work on one thing
‘‘Just stay out of the middle of the plate’’ Parrish said
‘‘He’s got good stuff, a good sinking fastball
He got hurt tonight just because he stayed too much in the middle of the plate
That can happen to anybody, not just young pitchers’’

Vaclavik (1-1) retired Matt Cepicky to open the seventh inning, but Brandon Sing followed with a solo homer for a 3-2 Bowie lead
The Baysox chased Vaclavik after three more hits, including Bryan Bass’ RBI single to center
Luis Hernandez broke the game open with a two-run single to left off Romulo Sanchez that made it 6-2
Both runs were charged to Vaclavik

‘‘He’s going to get it’’ Leiper said of Vaclavik, who’s allowed nine earned runs in 5-2/3 innings
‘‘He’s a real good, level-headed kid’’

Bowie starter Oscar Alvarez (3-1) gave up two runs on seven hits over seven innings for the win

Alay Soler, who pitched five no-hit innings his last time out, came through with another quality start for the Curve
He allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out four and walking three

Chris Truby, who’s going back to Triple-A Indianapolis, went 3-for-4 in his final game for Altoona

The Curve wore pink jerseys and auctioned them off after the game, with proceeds benefiting the Navasky Foundation for Life
The auction raised about $3,000, and pitcher Matt Peterson’s jersey drew the top bid ($320)

Altoona beat Binghamton wearing a pink jersey last season, but Leiper pointed out those tops were more pink, while there was more black in the ones this year
‘‘Maybe next year’’ the manager joked ‘‘we’ll go just straight pink and be in touch with our feminine side’’