More firsts for Miners

By Jim Rodenbush, For the Southern

WASHINGTON, Pa. - In a season of firsts, both big and small, for the Southern Illinois Miners, this is one milestone worth noting.The Miners swept a doubleheader from the Washington Wild Things on Wednesday at CONSOL Energy Park to move above the .500 mark for the first time in their young history.

The Miners won the first game, 6-1, and rallied to take the nightcap, 4-3. They've won six consecutive games to improve their record to 15-13 this season. After starting the season 3-9, the Miners have won 12 of their past 16 games."Sure, it's significant to get to .500," Miners manager Mike Pinto said. "I look at it like a process. The first step was to play better baseball, then get to .500. Now, we can worry about everything else."Tim Dorn hit his Frontier League-leading 12th home run - a three-run shot in the sixth inning - to help the Miners rally from a 2-0 deficit in the second game."He bailed us out, just like he's done all year," Pinto said.The Miners were held in check by Wild Things starter J.J. Hollenbeck. The right-hander, normally a reliever, was making his first start of the season and allowed just two base runners in five innings.But he was removed after throwing nearly 70 pitches and was replaced before the sixth inning by Gus Hlebovy (1-1)."Their kid, Hollenbeck, did a tremendous job," Pinto said. "I'm sure he was on a pitch count, being a reliever. I tell you, he was tough."Scott Simon led off the sixth against Hlebovy with a single and moved to second base on a wild pitch. With one out, he scored on a double by Ralph Santana to make it 2-1.Following Santana's hit, Ryan Kane was hit by a pitch. One batter later, Dorn launched a home run over the left center field wall to give the Miners a 4-2 lead.Dorn's home run was his second this season against the Wild Things. He also went deep in the Miners' 9-8 win June 13."He's the one guy that we've let beat us," Hollenbeck said. "He was a big part when they scored nine runs against us in Southern Illinois."Rob Wooley (4-0) beat the Wild Things for the second time in six days. He pitched five innings, allowing three runs - two earned - and six hits. He struck out four and walked two batters.In the opener, it took the Miners only six batters to put the game out of reach. Willie Keene hit a grand slam to highlight a five-run first inning.Santana walked to lead off the game, the first of nine walks issued by Wild Things starter Tom Cochran (3-1). Santana was sacrificed to second base and scored on a single by Rob Wirth to give the Miners a 1-0 lead.Following Wirth's hit, back-to-back walks were issued to Dorn and Chris Hall to load the bases. Keene then hammered his first home run of the season over the left-field wall to increase the Miners' lead to 5-0. The Miners made it 6-0 in the fourth. Wirth led off with a single. Dorn followed with a walk, and Hall doubled to score Wirth. Dorn was thrown out at home plate on the play.The run support was more than enough for Miners starter Charlie Hahn (1-1). The right-hander allowed one run in 52/3 innings and picked up his first win of the season. He scattered eight hits and one walk, and struck out six batters.Wild Things second baseman Kyle Werman pitched the final two innings of Game 1. He allowed four base runners - on two hits, one walk and one hit batter - but didn't give up a run