Matt LeCroy is supposed to be the slugging first baseman. Ian Bladergroen is supposed to be the defensive specialist who'd turn LeCroy into a DH.
That's the theory, anyway, a theory Bladergroen has knocked senseless in his first two games with the Barnstormers.
Bladergroen had a home run and a key single as Lancaster rallied to take a 7-4 lead over the Bridgeport Bluefish before a rain and lightning delay ended their Atlantic League game with six innings completed Saturday. A crowd of 5,368 watched the game at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
The Barnstormers thus are off to a snappy 2-0 start, and have scored 17 runs in 14 innings.
Perhaps more importantly, they haven't taxed the pitching staff, having used just five pitchers through the two games.
Tim McClaskey, Saturday night's starter and winner, went just five and a third innings. Reliever Nate Hoelscher got the last two outs.
Doesn't seem like a big deal now, but the Barnstormers will play 38 straight days in May and June. Manager Von Hayes is already planning a "by-committee" start for a week from today.
"You certainly want to use three [pitchers per game] or less," Hayes said. "But, now we're at the point where some guys haven't pitched for a while, and we need to get them some work."
Lancaster trailed this one 4-0 after three innings before McClaskey settled and the bats got started. Jutt Hileman started the third with a double, and was driven home by Lloyd Turner's single.
Hits by LeCroy and Brian Stavisky got Turner home. Bladergroen's homer came in the fourth, which was the last inning for Bridgeport starter Tim Drew.
For the second straight night, it got ugly once Lancaster got into the Bridgeport bullpen. Bluefish reliever Randy Dicken got the first two outs in the fifth before the Barnstormers loaded the bases on a walk to Lance Burkhart and single by Bladergroen and Vasili Spanos.
With rain falling, lightning in the area and the game one out shy of being official, Hileman delivered a vicious double to left-center that cleared the bases.
McClaskey lasted 5.1 innings. He was on a rough 80-pitch limit and was at 76 when lifted so lefty Hoelscher could face Calvin Pickering, Bridgeport's massive lefty DH.
Hoelscher got Pickering, but the Bluefish got men on second and third before Hoelscher struck out Jake Daubert to end the threat.
There had been ominous weather over the Clip since the early innings, but the rain got hard and steady after the Barnstormers hit in the sixth. The rain delay began at 9:13 p.m., and the game was called about an hour later.
Bladergroen, who spent last season in AL purgatory with the homeless Road Warriors, was also in the middle of everything in Friday's season-opening 10-2 defeat of Bridgeport with a home run and a two-run double.
"I could see, the first time I saw him, that he had the swing," Hayes said. "I knew he had power. The only thing he has to guard against is getting long."
LeCroy, a husky slugger, has a major-league pedigree (1,511 major-league plate appearances from 2000-07), and would likely be voted most likely to lead the AL in RBIs this year.
He's gone 1-for-8 so far, just the aforementioned single.
"Believe me, you don't need to worry about him," Hayes said.
The teams complete their series at 1:35 p.m. today.
Mike Gross is a Sunday News sports writer. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
