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Camano
Island Wormburners
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Personnel History Bill Mitchell took over the expansion Rio Salado Scorpions and six years later took them to the World Series, losing to Antioch in five games. 2004 saw a big dropoff, as injuries to Richie Sexson and key members of the pitching staff caused the team to fall below .500. A return to health meant a return trip to the playoffs, albeit a short trip. The team was organically grown, with just about everyone having been drafted by the Scorpions. Ichiro came over from Lakewood in 2001 for Mike Cameron and Kevin Appier, before ever playing a game in IIBL. Javy Vazquez came over in 2000, well before he was a star, and everyone else was drafted. The 2002 Scorpion draft, one of the strongest ever, set the stage for future success. Rio Salado managed Hank Blalock, Carl Crawford, Carlos Zambrano, and Esteban Loaiza. The team rose to 78 wins but the pieces were in place to win the division the following year. The core of Suzuki, Crawford, Soriano, and Sexson has now been here for 5 years (2007 will be a 6th), and they've been joined by Adam Everett and Adrian Beltre. The pitching staff has shown similar stickiness, with Benson, Zambrano, Loaiza, and Piniero four year teammates, joined by for Contreras for three years, and Felix Hernandez in 2005. Things need to be shaken up. |
2006 Somewhat of an enigma, but it can be solved by the awful year from Carlos Zambrano, and an offense that had 3 starters with a sub .305 on base %. Too much love for rookie Josh Barfield caused a number of ripple effects. Soriano moved to the outfield for Josh and his .304 ob%, benching Dellucci; Contreras was sent away in that deal leaving a woeful back end of the rotation. A disappointing performance by Carlos Zambrano also helped the team post one of two 5+ team ERAs in the conference. The team broke badly and was 15-29 at the quarter mark. The rest of the season the Worms finished above .500 though the closest they got to .500 was the 70-74 mark on 9/11, though that was 10 games away from a playoff spot. 2005 The Wormburners were healthier than the prior year, and that was enough to get them back to the playoffs. They challenged for the division crown most of the season and, despite having lost three of four at home to Kissimmee in mid-August, entered September 1/2 game behind the Cardinals. But Kissimmee went 24-7 over the last 5 weeks and the Wormburners couldn't keep up, settling for second place and a trip to Scottsdale for the playoffs. It didn't go well. The Wormburners were outscored 19-7 in three losses and the sweep was completed when the Wormburners lost game 4 in extra innings. While the top five in the lineup were supposed to carry the team, only Carl Crawford and Richie Sexson had good years, while the pitching staff was solid overall but lacked a clear leader. Kris Benson, who led the team in wins didn't even get to pitch in the abbreviated series. 2004 The team had a strong front four in Ichiro, Soriano, Beltre, and Carl Craawford, and coaxed a good year from David Delucci, but after that very little on offense. Injuries limited Richie Sexson to 42 games, and there was not much production out of the ss or catcher slots. The Worms broke badly, and were 5th in the division at 22-36 in early June. A brief revival ensued, but the team could come no closer than 6 games under in the first half of the season. Another slump followed, sending the team to 53-70, but remarkably there were still hopes in September. After taking the first three games against Seoul over Labor Day weekend, the Wormburners were only 7.5 out. But Rich Harden tossed a 5 hitter to restore order, and Camano went meekly thereafter. 2003 At the end of July, Rosehaven stood at 65-41 and the Scorpions at 65-42, 1/2 game back. The River Dogs came to Rio Salado and got swept. It was the start of a 44-11 run for the Scorpions, against which Rosehaven could not compete. The rotation's top 5 (Loaiza, Zambrano, Piniero, Vazquez, Redding) were a combined 28-2 during the stretch, which admittedly featured some poor and struggling opposition. Overall, each member won 13 or more games, none had an ERA over 4 or a winning percentage less than .625. Offensively, it was the Soriano and Sexton show, combining for 101 homers. But there was also a strong supporting cast, as nobody who had more than 180 plate appearances hit less than .284. In the playoffs, Rio Salado completely outclassed a Portland team whose offense looked like they had wandered into the playoffs by mistake. That brought them back up against Rosehaven. Again, Rio Salado looked like the classier team, winning big twice at home. But they looked shakier on the road, winning only the middle game when Carl Crawford tripled home two in the 12th. A comfortable win in game six earned the trip to the series, where Estaban Loaiza won game one, but then the team came up flat and lost their next 4 games 2002 Rio Salado was within a couple of games of .500 through the first quarter of the year, never going more than 2 over or 3 under. In mid-May the team lost 9 of 11, but then rebounded win 9 of 11. They evened things up at 36-36 on 19 June but then got swept in a 5 game series at Grand Mound. That ended any aspirations and started a 10-27 run from which the Scorps spent the rest of the year trying to recover. Essentially, it was the pitching which was the weak point, as the team ERA of 4.77 was 11th in the 13 team Fehr Conference. Ichiro Suzuki, Alfonso Soriano, and Richie Sexson formed the heart of the offense that scored 784 runs. |
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