Potomac’s offense received boost in Myrtle Beach

By Robert Daski

Published: September 10, 2008

The Potomac Nationals pitchers are doing what they can to help their team win the Mills Cup.

Potomac swept Wilmington in the Northern Division series thanks to a pitching staff that gave up only four runs.

Prior to Myrtle Beach scoring three second inning runs in game two of the Mills Cup series, Potomac's pitch-ers had tossed 25 straight scoreless innings. All three games of the division round were decided by just one run.

If only the Nationals' hitters can be as consistent.

Potomac's offense showed how strong it can be in game one of the Mills Cup Finals against the Pelicans by scoring 15 runs on 16 hits on the way to victory.

The performance was badly needed after the offense managed only six runs in three games against Wilmington.

"It gave us a lot more confidence," Potomac's Andrew Lefave said. "We had been in a hitting slump. That happens in baseball. It's a long season and a lot of it is mental too.

"If you think you can go up there and hit the ball, a lot of times you're going to hit the ball," the first baseman added. "If you go up there thinking you're not going to hit the ball, you're not going to hit the ball. Once we start getting hot like that, other guys feed off each other."

The momentum from game one stalled in game two as the Nationals managed only two hits before scoring three runs in the seventh.

"We started swinging better toward the end of the game," Potomac's Boomer Whiting said. "We've got to come back ready to go on Thursday" in game three.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

Lefave knows what it's like to play for a title.

He played with the Brewers' Low-A affiliate, the West Virginia Power which got swept by Columbus in last year's South Atlantic League championship series.

Lefave is determined to win a championship and erase the memory of last year's sweep.

"To come this far and to not win would be a disappointment to all of us," said Lefave, the 2007 SAL batting champion. "If you work hard at something, you want something to show for it. We're having fun being here and trying to get that ring."

KNOWLEDGE COMES IN HANDY

Potomac's coaching staff is not short on postseason experience either.

Manager Randy Knorr played in one game for Toronto in the 1993 World Series.

Pitching coach Randy Tomlin pitched in the '91 and '92 NLCS with the Pirates and went a combined 3-1.

Hitting coach Jerry Browne appeared in four games with Oakland during the '92 ALCS against Toronto. Browne batted .400 with two RBI.

Tomlin tells pitchers to take the same approach in the postseason as in the regular season.

"You focus on one pitch, try to make a quality pitch, decide on the next pitch and try to make another quality pitch," Tomlin said.

"You try to keep things as simple as possible and give yourself the chance to be successful. You don't try and strike everybody out. You try to get outs."

PITCHING NOTES

Prior to his game two outing, Potomac starting pitcher Jeff Mandel allowed 12 runs, seven earned, on 29 hits in 32 and two-thirds innings for a 1.93 ERA. … Mandel has been vulnerable to the long ball. He surrendered seven home runs in six starts from July 21-August 15 and gave up two more in game two against Myrtle Beach. … Relief pitcher Kyle Gunderson pitched only one inning on Sept. 3 against Wilmington. He pitched two innings scoreless innings on Tuesday, did not allow a hit or a walk and recorded four strikeouts.