Thursday, June 30, 2005 | The San Diego Surf Dawgs came out June 13 determined to put their first losing series far behind them. The Surprise Fightin’ Falcons paid their first visit to Tony Gwynn Stadium for a three-game series and showed the Dawgs the “fightin’” isn’t just a nickname – it’s a style of play.
The Dawgs played the first game with a comfortable lead through seven innings until the Falcons started to come back in the eighth. Rickey Henderson tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI single, sending the game into extra innings. The Dawgs went on to win in 13 innings with Scott Goodman’s score on a wild pitch.
This season, Clark was faced with the possibility of changing positions to third base because the team didn’t have a catching spot open. “I wanted somewhere where I could catch,” says Clark. “The day I was supposed to go up there I got a call from a scout in this league, Cash Beecham, and he said San Diego might have a need for a catcher. Later in the day I got a call from TK (Terry Kennedy) and I was on the road the next day.”
“We’ve still got a long way to go but it’s definitely nice to win a couple of games early, to be able to relax a little bit. Now we can just relax and play without having to say ‘we have to win games.’”