Damron dominates in Raiders' win

Alexis Damron

Only two things that went wrong for Raider Coach Doug Kesler in Thursday night's win over Lumpkin County. The first was his truck's side view mirror getting shattered by a foul ball and the second was a two run home run in the first inning from the same Lumpkin batter responsible for breaking his mirror two pitches earlier. From that point on Kesler's worries were put to rest as his sophomore reliever Alexis Damron mowed down Lumpkin batters in 5.2 innings of relief. Damron struck out 7 batters in the win.
Madison County, finishing region play with an 8-0 record, will host their region tournament series beginning September 29.
See next week's Madison County Journal for a full recap of Thursday's win.

Westbrook suffers injury, likely to return soon

Westbrook suffers injury

The timing couldn't have come at a worse time for Jake Westbrook and the St. Louis Cardinals. In Jake's last start on September 8, against the Brewers, Jake suffered an oblique strain and had to leave the game. Due to the injury, Westbrook did not make the recent seven game road trip and remained in St. Louis where he was scheduled to visit a doctor to determine how much progress the former Madison County Red Raider has made with the injury. "I have no idea where he is right now. I don't know what the next step is," said Cardinals' Manager Mike Matheny.

Westbrook considered calling out to the trainer when he felt discomfort during the game, but finished out the fifth inning eventually being pinch hit for. "It's pretty annoying and really sore," said Westbrook who admitted that "it's a possibility" his 2012 could be over with just a few weeks left in the regular season. The Cardinals are in a fight for the Wild Card spot at the present time.

Updated Sept. 19:

The news was good in a recent update on Wednesday. Westbrook has resumed throwing sessions and if all goes well he could possibly return to the rotation as soon as next week. Westbrook said he will likely need to throw two bullpen sessions before he'd feel comfortable pitching in a game. "If everything feels great with my side, I feel like I just need to get my arm in shape to start a game," Westbrook said. "The way it's gone, the last couple of days felt great. I think a couple bullpen sessions and I'll be ready to go."

 

Westbrook is 13-11 with a 3.97 ERA. Jake has not missed a start since joining the Cardinals in July of 2010.

Stats on Westbrook:

28 games started, 174.2 innings pitched, 191 hits, 85 runs allowed, 77 earned runs allowed, 12 home runs allowed, 52 walks, 106 strikeouts.