NY Risers Team Recap: Week One

Overview: The Risers' blueprint for success heading into the 2011 season was to support their pitching with some solid offensive performances. Did everything go according to plan, or did the Risers have a long day slogging around in the muddy fields at Bay Park?

At the Plate: Squaring off against the Bombers' Kevin Norris, and the Black Widows' Dan Lanigan, Chris Sarno and Tim Benson, the Risers struggled to score runs for most of the day. In game one, their only offense came in the form of an Anthony D'Auria solo shot off of Norris in a 2-1 loss to the Bombers.

“Its tough going up there against a top pitcher in the first game of the year,” Anthony Didio said. “I think that our offense will get going as the season moves along.”

The Risers had better luck against Lanigan, who appeared fatigued after his game one start, pounding out four extra bases, including home runs by Didio and Kevin Engasser for a 5-0 victory.

“I felt good in the batters' box,” Didio said. “Benson dropped a pop-up in foul ground and I was able to make them pay on the next pitch by hitting a homer.”

The Risers' roller coaster ride continued in game three, when they were shut down by Benson in a 6-0 loss. Sean Handahl had three of the Risers' four hits in the game, but struggled on the mound.

Game four saw the Risers' clinging to a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the fifth inning with Engasser still on the mound, having allowed just one run in four innings to that point. Engasser would end up giving up the game tying hit to Benson, who had both Widows' RBI in the game.

Engasser escaped the inning without further damage being done. After D'Auria made an out to start the bottom of the fifth, Engasser stepped up to the plate to face the man who had victimized him in the top half of the inning and paid Benson back with a walk-off home run, to give the Risers' a 3-2 victory.

“It was a 3-2 count, and I knew slider was coming,” Engasser said. “I knew a slider was coming, so I just stayed back and unloaded on it.”

On the Mound: A game one matchup between Didio and Norris kicked off the Risers' day, but a two run single off the bat of Bombers' fill-in, Anthony Ciricillo, left Didio on the losing end of a 2-1 decision.

“I felt good, but I was a little wild, but all in all, I thought I pitched well,” Didio said. “The Purcell dribbler that stopped right in front of the cheap line was a break that went against us, but we will get breaks in our favor throughout the season so what can you really say?”

After losing the pitching duel to Norris in game one, Didio took the mound against Lanigan in game two and spun a no-hit gem.

“I looked at game two as a must win game,” Didio said. “I was able to stop them from getting anything going in the game.”

Didio gave up just three walks and struck out 13 batters in the 5-0 win.

“That's why I took my talents to the Risers,” Kevin Engasser said. “Not only does Didio have overpowering stuff, but in my opinion, he is the smartest pitcher in the league.”

Handahl was unable to keep the string of strong starts going in game three, laboring through four innings while allowing six runs on seven hits in the 6-0 loss.

Game four belonged to Engasser, on the mound and at the plate, as previously mentioned.

“I thought I pitched pretty well on Sunday, I threw a lot of quality pitches,” Engasser said. “My only concern right now is control, I only gave up two hits but allowed two runs because I walked seven batters, it just shows how walks can kill you.”

Looking Forward: The Risers know that despite their strong pitching, the lineup needs to find a way to put up runs on a more consistent basis.

“Our pitching was decent, but hitting was a different story on Sunday, we struggled all day,” Engasser said. “I'm not too worried though, if we can put up four to five runs a game consistently with our rotation, there's not a team that can beat us.”

Didio believes the team needs to hit within themselves at the plate.

“We only walked eight times, that's not going to get it done, we just too aggressive all day,” Didio said. “We need to be more patient and look for the timely hit instead of trying to swing for the fences on every pitch.”