Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
High-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the Beloit Sky Carp Beloit Sky Carp

Snap-back: Beloit Playoff Heroes

Remembering those who enjoyed postseason success with the Snappers
September 13, 2017

In their history, the Beloit Baseball club has reached the playoffs on 14 occasions. That included a Championship in 1995 and a further four visits to the final round of the postseason. Since 2005, the Snappers have made it past the quarterfinal stage of the Midwest League playoffs three times:

In their history, the Beloit Baseball club has reached the playoffs on 14 occasions. That included a Championship in 1995 and a further four visits to the final round of the postseason. Since 2005, the Snappers have made it past the quarterfinal stage of the Midwest League playoffs three times: in 2006, 2007 and most recently in 2013, when they were led by the likes of current major leaguers Renato Núñez, Matt Olson and Daniel Robertson.
In each of those three years, the Snappers had several heroes who helped the team enjoy success in the playoffs. With Beloit missing out on postseason action in 2017, let's go back in time and remember at a few individuals who've previously enjoyed September success.

2013: Christopher Bostick
Though Nunez, Olson and Robertson were the headline acts on the 2013 Beloit team, it was another future big leaguer that stole the show in the 2013 run to the Midwest League Western Division Championship series. Second baseman Chris Bostick finished the playoffs with the equal-highest batting average (.429) among those with at least ten at-bats, while he had the most runs batted in (eight) and had more extra-base hits than any other Snapper.
In Beloit's opening game of the playoffs against Clinton, Bostick continued a late-season hot streak by going 4-for-5 with a double, a solo home run and four RBI. Then in the second game of the Championship Series against Quad Cities, he went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the first inning.
Overall, the right-handed swinger finished second on the team with a .282 batting average in 129 regular season games. Bostick also led the team in hits while sitting first in triples, first in total bases, first in stolen bases, second in RBI, fourth in doubles, fourth in home runs and fourth in walks. He made his Major League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 8th this season, while his first big league hit came on September 7th against the Cubs.
2007: Joe Benson
Benson was an important piece of Beloit's 2007 season, playing in more games than all but two others: Chris Parmelee and Garrett Olson. During the regular season, the center fielder hit .255 while leading the team with eight triples, 49 walks and 18 stolen bases. If Beloit wanted to make a deep run into the playoffs, Benson, Parmelee and Olson were going to have to hit. Unfortunately for the Snappers, Parmelee and Olson went a combined 13-for-62 (.210 AVG) though they did have five extra-base hits between them.
Benson on the other hand fared much better, hitting .289 with a double, two triples and two homers giving him five extra-base hits of his own. On September 6, Benson hit his first long ball of the postseason, a fifth inning solo shot that helped Beloit to an early 4-0 lead against Quad Cities. He went 3-for-5 that day as the Snappers progressed to the semi finals.
The right-hander saved his best performance for the final three games of the Midwest League Championship Series against West Michigan when he went 4-for-12 (.333 AVG) but had a double, triple and a home run along with five runs scored. That triple came as part of a five-run third inning in game 5, giving the team a 5-3 lead as they attempted to seal the Midwest League Championship. In hindsight, that five-run inning was only a blip on the radar as West Michigan piled on eight runs in the fifth inning to take the game 11-5 and win back-to-back league titles.
Benson would go on to play in 21 games with the 2011 'Twinkies' as a September call-up. That included a 4-for-4 outing against Cleveland when he hit a pair of doubles and his lone big league triple while also scoring three runs.
2007: Tyler Robertson
After joining Beloit at the end of May, left-hander Tyler Robertson had a number of strong outings during his 2007 campaign. The most memorable of those came in the middle of July at Pohlman Field when he struck out 10 across seven innings against Wisconsin. After a rough start to close out the season, Robertson pitched in the Snappers second game of the postseason and put any concerns to rest. He hurled 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out 11 in the process as Beloit put up four runs in the first five innings. The Snappers eventually won the contest in extras after the River Bandits knotted things up with a three-run eighth.
Robertson's only other appearance of the 2007 playoffs came in the second game of the Championship Series at West Michigan. He took the loss despite a quality start in which he surrendered only one earned run over six frames and struck out nine. The Californian native went on to appear in 42 games for the Minnesota Twins between 2012 and 2013, sporting a 5.54 ERA through 26 innings.
2006: Yohan Pino
In 2006, the Snappers were one of six teams in the Midwest League to finish at least 10 games above .500 overall as they ended the season with a 74-64 record. Beloit hosted Peoria in the first game of the playoffs, and thanks to a fantastic display on the mound hometown fans didn't go home disappointed.
Right-hander Yohan Pino had enjoyed a remarkable season, finishing the year with a 14-2 record, three saves and a 1.91 ERA. Pino worked as a reliever for the majority of the year but made his first start on July 23rd and never looked back. He was a perfect 6-0 in seven starts as opposing hitters hit just .193 against him.
Pino was handed the ball for game one of the playoffs and hurled a complete game shutout, allowing only four singles as Beloit triumphed 2-0 in his only appearance of the postseason. That year will likely go down as the Venezuelan's best of his career, as he had the lowest ERA of any Snapper while leading the team in wins and opponent batting average.