April 1, 2000
Hawaii 6, Valencia 3
Opening day in all its glory found the Tropics victors as they got their first win in the new millenium. SP Michael Shellenbarger took to the mound as the opening day starter, and proved himself worthy of the #1 role. Shellenbarger pitched 8 strong innings, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 8. The offense produced as well, with 4 players driving in runs, including 3B Robb Wells as his 2 RBI's on his one hit of the day. Not to be out done, OF Silas Camarena went 3 for 4, with a homerun in the 7th and 2 RBI of his own.
April 2, 2000
Hawaii 0, Valencia 5
The tide was turned in this game, as the Tropics offense failed to produce any runs at all despite 2 hit efforts by 1B Andrew Walters and C John Behnke. SP Dow Jones was on the hook for the loss after pitching in 7 innings, allowing a monstrous 12 hits and 5 earned runs. The Tropics failed to push any runners across as they stranded 8, including 5 who were in scoring position.
April 3, 2000
Hawaii 4, Valencia 5
Hawaii made a valiant effort to win this one, banging in 3 runs in the top of the 9th, but they couldn't do any more as they fell to the Stars for the 2nd game in a row. The Tropics had 4 batters go 2 for 4, including OF Silas Camarena, C John Behnke, 3B Robb Wells and http://baseballretrospective.com/MBBA/O ... se Aguirre. 2B Tim McGraw failed to produce for the 3rd game in a row, where's he tallied 6 K's so far in the young year. SP Israel Martinez tried his hardest in 7.1 IP, giving up 8 hits and 4 ER while striking out 8. Martinez's downfall came in the 2nd and 4th inning, where he allowed 2-out homeruns that let Valencia take the lead and never look back.
April 4, 2000
California 4, Hawaii 2
The home opener for the Tropics didn't go the way they had planned at all, SP Remington Little nearly had himself a complete game before giving up a string of hits in the 9th inning that let California take the lead. All told, Little pitched 8.1 innings, allowed 10 hits, all 4 earned runs and struck out 6. Little didn't get much support however, as the Tropics only managed 4 hits in the game. The biggest show of offensive force had to have been http://baseballretrospective.com/MBBA/O ... Robb Wells 2-run homer in the 2nd inning that gave Hawaii the lead until the 5th inning. OF Silas Camarena did extend his early-season hitting streak though, hitting a single to shallow right in the 4th inning.
April 5, 2000
California 3, Hawaii 6
It took the 2nd home game of the year for the Tropics to finally win at Hormel field. The Tropics rode on the back of SP Michael Shellenbarger again, Shellenbarger finished with 7 IP, 5 hits allowed and 2 earned runs, again, Shellenbarger struck out 9 and gave the rest of the team some much needed energy. Fortunately for the offense, they fed off that energy, posting a season-high 14 hits. It was a double parade, as OF Mark Gosselaar, OF Jose Aguirre, 2B Tim McGraw, and OF Silas Camarena each had extra-base hits. Everyone on the starting line up had a hit, except for poor http://baseballretrospective.com/MBBA/O ... ohn Bohnke who went hitless. The Tropics franchise leader in saves was back, and CP Brian Fisher came into the 9th and recorded his 1st save of the young season.
April 6, 2000
California 7, Hawaii 3
In a special moment before the game, GM Josh Cornel let his father throw out the first pitch to celebrate his own birthday. Congrats to Mr. Cornel Sr on his birthday. Unfortunately, the Tropics couldn't give their GM's father a win, despite posting a 12-hit performance. Led by http://baseballretrospective.com/MBBA/O ... ohn Bohnke who went 3 for 4 after being held hitless the game before. OF Silas Camarena continued into a 6-game hitting streak after he went 2 for 5 with an RBI. SP Dow Jones recorded his 2nd loss of the season, although he didn't due terrible. Jones pitched in 6.1 innings, gave up 8 hits and allowed 4 Earned Runs. However, he walked 6, including 3 in the top of the 6th inning. The final blow came when RP Donald Long came into the game and promptly gave up 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings of work.
April 7, 2000
California 9, Hawaii 3
Statslab wouldn't upload this game for some reason
April 8, 2000
Valencia 3, Hawaii 2
A great defensive performance led to this low-scoring game, despite 15 combined hits. http://baseballretrospective.com/MBBA/O ... ohn Bohnke led the Tropics with a 2 for 4 outing, along with Behnke, 3B Robb Wells also posted a 2 for 4 game. OF Silas Camarena saw his hit streak come to an end at 7 games however. SP Remington Little put together a decent performance, going 8 innings while allowing 8 hits and 3 earned runs. Little just couldn't find the offensive support he needed and instead found his 2nd loss of the season.
April 9, 2000
Valencia 2, Hawaii 16
Statslab wouldn't upload this game for some reason
April 10, 2000
Valencia 5, Hawaii 3
Hawaii managed 3 runs on just 4 hits. 2B Tim McGraw found his stride at the plate, accounting for half the Tropics hits as he went 2 for 4 including a double. The other 2 hits came from singles by OF Mark Gosselaar, and SS Jim Oneill. SP Dow Jones again found himself on the wrong side of the score, gaining his 3rd loss of the season after pitching in 8 long innings and giving up 5 earned runs.
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Offensive Player:
OF Silas Camarena
Camarena is at-it again and we're beginning to think he just needs to be propped up here permanently. Camarena hit a godly .410 in 39 at-bats. Camarena poked 2 over the walls and drove in 8. He also leads the team in stolen bases at 3. Camarena was allowed to stretch 2 singles into doubles, as well as hit a gapper for 3 doubles on the young season. If this performance is any indication of future season performance -- it wouldn't be crazy to see Camarena standing firm not only in the All-Star game, but at the awards ceremony as well.
Pitching Player:
SP Michael Shellenbarger
Shellenbarger might also need to get comfy in this slot after his performance in this first stretch of the season. Shellenbarger started 3 games, and started those games a perfect 3-0. His 21 innings pitched is good enough for 2nd on the team, and his 22 K's leads the team by more than half. Shellenbarger managed a ridiculous .95 WHIP and an OERA of just .250
