Jesse Wierzbicki has fourth straight multi-hit game to go to 9-for-17 with 9 RBIs on home stand

DAVENPORT, Iowa (JUNE 14, 2013) - The Quad Cities River Bandits managed to out-hit the Burlington Bees, 7-5, Friday night, but they left 11 runners on base in a 3-1 loss to the visitors in front of 5,196 at Modern Woodmen Park.

Bees right-hander Patrick Lowery (3-3) allowed a leadoff single by River Bandits center fielder Teoscar Hernandez but only allowed two runners to reach third base in six shutout innings. He gave up five walks and four hits but struck out three batters. River Bandits right-hander Vincent Velasquez (4-3) gave up all three Burlington runs to suffer his first loss in exactly one month.

Burlington (25-37) started quickly against Velasquez, as third baseman Sherman Johnson singled to right-center field leading off the game, and right fielder Kyle Johnson followed with a single to center. Velasquez then walked first baseman Wade Hinkle before striking out designated hitter Andrew Ray. Bees second baseman Chance Ross then bounced a ball back to Velasquez on the mound, but he threw wide of home plate, and catcher Jobduan Morales could not make the catch, as Sherman Johnson scored for a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Ross drew a leadoff walk, and left fielder Kevin Moesquit was hit by a pitch. Center fielder Chevy Clarke then singled to right field to grow the lead to 2-0. Two batters later, shortstop Wendell Soto added an RBI groundout for a 3-0 advantage. Velasquez completed five innings, allowing three hits, two walks and two earned runs while striking out six batters.

Right-hander Jamaine Cotton started the sixth inning with a 3-0 deficit and retired the first six batters he faced. He also struck out the side in the eighth inning to match a career high with six strikeouts. He allowed a leadoff single in the ninth inning by Clarke, who reached third base but did not score. Cotton tossed four shutout innings and allowed just two hits.

The Bees bullpen opened in the seventh inning with right-hander Joseph Krehbiel, who issued Hernandez a one-out walk before second baseman Austin Elkins hit a single. Designated hitter Miles Hamblin lined out before Wierzbicki hit a two-out RBI single for his second hit of the game. He has four straight multi-hit games and is 9-for-17 with 9 RBIs in the home stand.

With a 3-1 lead, right-hander Kurt Spomer worked around a two-out single in the eighth inning, and right-hander Robert Powell pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save. The River Bandits left at least one runner on base in each inning except the fourth and ninth - for a total of 11 left on base. Quad Cities (36-30) went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The River Bandits and Bees continue their series with a doubleheader Saturday. Game 1 begins at 6 p.m. and will feature River Bandits right-hander Daniel Minor (4-1) opposing Bees left-hander Brandon Love (1-3). Quad Cities All-Star right-hander Lance McCullers (3-4) will start Game 2, with left-hander Tyler DeLoach making his Midwest League debut for Burlington. Each game is seven innings.

UP NEXT: "Team Ghost Riders" Cowboy Monkeys will be at Modern Woodmen Park for Saturday's doubleheader. It's also John Deere Night and a Fan Appreciation Saturday presented by CBS4. Gates open at 5 p.m. for the twin bill. Single-game tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office at Modern Woodmen Park, by phone at 563-324-3000 and online at www.riverbandits.com. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $50. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

After 18 days on the road?including a day off in Wabash, Ind., during the derecho that walloped the Midwest this week ?SUNY Oneonta senior Jami Haynes is heading toward a major milestone on her cross-country bicycling adventure: crossing the Mississippi River.

Haynes expects to arrive June 19 in Muscatine, Iowa, where she will cross the river and begin the next leg of her journey to San Francisco. Accompanied by her boyfriend and sister, Haynes, 21, set off May 28 from her home in Central Bridge, N.Y., on a 4,200-mile, cross-country bike trip with two goals: to "have the adventure of our lives" and to raise awareness about the Harvest of Hope Foundation, an organization that provides emergency assistance to migrant workers and their families.

An avid runner and hiker, Haynes got the idea for the "Miles for Migrants" bike tour after Harvest of Hope founder and President Phil Kellerman visited one of her education classes this past semester. Her 20-year-old sister, Jena, signed on for the adventure, and then her boyfriend, Caleb Grippin, 23, joined the team.

"I wasn't very familiar with what a migrant farm worker was and how they contributed to American society, and I was especially touched as a future educator by the support that Harvest of Hope gives to these families and the scholarships that the foundation provides," Haynes said.

The class did a service-learning project to benefit Harvest of Hope, and Haynes kept the momentum going. She and her sister organized a spaghetti supper, several bake sales and a raffle, as well as giving presentations about Harvest of Hope on campus and in the community. "Spreading awareness of the foundation and how it helps migrant farm workers has been extremely rewarding," Haynes said. "The community definitely knows a lot more about the contributions of migrant workers because of this project."

To continue raising awareness, Haynes has been meeting with media outlets along the route and handing out "Miles for Migrants" cards to people she meets. She is also chronicling her adventures throughout the 11-week journey on the blog: www.crazyguyonabike.com/sistahbikers.

The Harvest of Hope Foundation was established in 1997, when Kellerman worked at ESCORT, a migrant education resource center based at SUNY Oneonta. In addition to its affiliation with ESCORT, SUNY Oneonta has operated a College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) since 2001. Created in 1972, CAMP is a federally-funded scholarship program that helps students from migrant and seasonal farm-working families pursue higher education.
ESCORT senior programmer analyst Bob Thomas, a friend of Kellerman's, loaned Haynes and her crew three touring bikes and trailers. Thomas, who completed a cross-country bicycling trip himself back in 1976, was on hand for the send-off Tuesday, offering last-minute tips and advice.

An elementary education major with a concentration in social studies, Haynes will share experiences from her trip this fall as a student teacher at Cobleskill Elementary School.

About Harvest of Hope
Located in Gainesville, Fla., The Harvest of Hope Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization that has been providing migrant farm workers and their families with emergency relief and financial assistance for more than 15 years. As of Oct. 1, 2012, Harvest of Hope had distributed over $1 million to migrant farm workers, seasonal farm workers and their families for severe or life-threatening situations. The foundation's services include health care, housing and transportation assistance; monthly hardship expenses; and even replacement clothing. Harvest of Hope also issues grants to migrant service-oriented organizations, provides migrant students with scholarships and tuition assistance, and dispenses financial aid to migrant farm workers and seasonal agricultural workers throughout the United States.

About  SUNY Oneonta
Established as a state normal school in 1889 and incorporated as a founding member of the State University of New York system in 1948, SUNY Oneonta is well known for its strong academic programs and community service and character-building opportunities. Nearly 20 percent of the student body volunteers through the nationally known Center for Social Responsibility and Community, and service-learning activities are incorporated across many academic disciplines. Recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for excellence in community engagement, the college enrolls 6,000 students in its 70 undergraduate majors and 15 graduate programs.
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There are some things we can agree on that we don't like about summers in Iowa: mosquitos, humidity, road construction.  But all are quickly forgotten once we catch the waft of juicy meat sizzling on the grill or pork ribs slowly smoking in the Cookshack.

Neighbors who were previously only seen waving from their cars in winter magically appear in our backyard to debate the finer points of meat rub recipes and barbeque sauces.  "Do you make your own rub? Do you sear the meat first? What's the internal temperature?"  Such conversations are done in the same serious tones of nuclear physicists measuring alpha particles.  These are the Mensa's of Meat.

Mensa's of Meat congregate and compete each year at the Iowa Farm Bureau Cookout Contest (www.iowafarmbureau.com) at the Iowa State Fair.  This year will be the 50^th Cookout Contest and I'm sure competition will be stiff as county Farm Bureaus begin their contests.   It's intense, but it's just as fun to stand on the sidelines and watch; hundreds of State Fair-goers do that (and get free samples in the meantime).

I, and other women in my neighborhood, have surrendered the whole meat grilling/smoking endeavor to our husbands.   Some of these men, who admittedly can't seem to do a single load of laundry without turning everything gray, are transformed into subject matter Experts on Everything, simply by standing at their backyard smoker/grills.  They gather to debate every culinary detail and nuance of spice rubs and sauces: "You've added one teaspoon of cayenne, right? I use two, and a touch of cumin."

It's refreshing to surrender the evening meal to the Mensa's of Meat.  No challenge is offered, no criticisms leveled.  None dare; although I heard one year, one spouse got tired of waiting for dinner to start, so she went on the patio, lifted the lid of the smoker and complained loudly.  She hasn't been seen since.

But seriously, I don't  interrupt the bliss, the adventure, or traditional domain of the Mensa's of Meat gathering.  Any attempt to enter the backyard and I get waved away by my husband, who is gamely armed with a rather ominous-looking stainless steel seasoning injector.  Our two small dogs hover nearby, sniffing the air, respected ancestral members of the same carnivorous pack, bound by a mutual pursuit of the perfect steak.

Tonight, we're having smoked pork ribs.  Or, so I'm told.  Don't ask me how they're done, or when they'll be done, but the men and dogs are gathering.  The way I look at it; what better tribute to Father's Day than to patiently pay homage to the Mensa's of Meat?

Mount Carroll, IL-- Timber Lake Playhouse (TLP) follows up its hit season opener, A Chorus Line, with the stage adaptation of Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie opening Thursday, June 20. Acclaimed Chicago director Chuck Smith returns to direct the show that stars longtime TLP favorites Robert Maher and Courtney Crouse in the story of an accomplished journalist who visits an old college professor and gets one final lesson on the meaning of life.

Mitch Albom's book has sold over 15 million copies worldwide since its release in 1997 and became a cultural touchstone. A TV movie starring Jack Lemmon was filmed in 1999. The stage adaptation was praised as "Unforgettable! No matter how well you tell the story, the play makes it more vivid, more humorous, more shattering."

To celebrate the life-affirming themes of the play, Timber Lake Playhouse is looking for people to share their own stories of their mentors. Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, but most people have heroes in their lives they never thank. TLP will give away two tickets to each performance of Tuesdays With Morrie to people who have served as mentors to others. To nominate your mentor, email info@timberlakeplayhouse.org with your name, your mentor's name and contact information and a short explanation of how this person inspired you. TLP will pick 11 mentors to receive free tickets to the production.

Tuesdays With Morrie runs June 20-29 for 11 performances only. TLP is located at 8215 Black Oak Rd. in rural Mount Carroll, IL. Tickets are $15-23 and are available at the box office, by calling 815-244-2035 or visiting www.timberlakeplayhouse.org. Following Tuesdays With Morrie, TLP will present The Music Man July 5-14, Unnecessary Farce July 18-27, Monty Python's Spamalot August 1-11. Seussical, based on the books of Dr. Seuss, will be presented for children and families July 9, 11, 12 and 13 and August 6, 8, 9 and 10. All tickets to Seussical are only $6.

Full Production Credits:

TIMBER   LAKE   PLAYHOUSE presents

Mitch Albom's

Tuesdays With Morrie

by JEFFREY HATCHER AND MITCH ALBOM

BASED ON THE BOOK BY MITCH ALBOM

Directed by

CHUCK SMITH

Original New York production produced by

David S. Singer, Elizabeth Ireland McCann, Joey Parnes,

Amy & Scott Nederlander, Harold Thau,

Moira Wilson, Shadowcatcher Entertainment

Originally presented by New York Stage and Film Company and the Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar College, 2002.

Tuesdays With Morrie was supported by a playwright's residency and public staged readings at the 2001 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, CT.

Tuesdays With Morrie is presented through special arrangement with

Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

TLP Production Partner Sponsors:

Compliance Signs Kunes Country Auto Group

Suit Supply Chicago     Timber Lake Resort     Anonymous

This program is partially sponsored by a grant from the

Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Chuck Smith (Director) has served twelve consecutive seasons at TLP. A twenty-one year Goodman Theatre artistic staff member and an associate producer of Legacy Productions, a Chicago-based touring company, he recently received the 2012 Goodman Theatre August Wilson Award and the 2011  Lloyd Richards Directing Award with his production of Knock Me a Kiss at the National Black Theater Festival (winner of 11 New York  Audelco awards, including Director of a Dramatic production and Dramatic Production of the Year). Smith's Goodman credits include the Chicago premieres of By the way Meet Vera Stark, Race, The Good Negro, Proof and The Story; the world premieres of By the Music of the Spheres andThe Gift Horse; James Baldwin's The Amen Corner, which transferred to Boston's Huntington Theatre Company where it won the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award for Best Direction; Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun; Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky; August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom; the Fats Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin'; the 1993 to 1995 productions of A Christmas Carol; Crumbs From the Table of Joy; Vivisections from a Blown Mind; and The Meeting. He served as dramaturg for the world-premiere production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman. At Columbia College Chicago he was facilitator of the Theodore Ward Prize playwriting contest for 20 years and editor of the contest anthologies Seven Black Plays and Best Black Plays. He won a Chicago Emmy Award as associate producer/theatrical director for the NBC teleplay Crime of Innocence, and was theatrical director for the Emmy Award-winning Fast Break to Glory and the Emmy Award-nominated The Martin Luther King Suite. Mr. Smith is a 2003 inductee into the Chicago State University Gwendolyn Brooks Center's Literary Hall of Fame and a 2001 Chicago Tribune Chicagoan of the Year. He is the proud recipient of the 1982 Paul Robeson Award and the 1997 Award of Merit presented by the Black Theater Alliance of Chicago. He is currently a board member of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago.

PRODUCTION STAFF

Production Stage Manager ...................................................................... Rena Waits

Stage Manager.............................................................. Mary-Catherine Mikalayunas

Scenic Designer........................................................................................... Loren Borja

Lighting Designer............................................................................ Tony Luetkenhaus

Costume Designer ............................................................................. Kelcey Matheny

Costume Shop Manager ...................................................................... Emma Crafton

Technical Director............................................................................... Roger Chapman

Properties Master ............................................................................... Tasha Sandage

Sound Designer/ Engineer........................................................................ Patrick Bley

Master Electrician.......................................................................... James Kolditz

Assistant Technical Director ................................................................. Carrie Peiffer

Scenic Artist ................................................................................. Catie DelleMonache

Carpenter ...................................................................................... Matthew Birchmeier

Costuming Assistant ...................................................................... Hollyann Lillie

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