Tonight’s Interview: Ted Tornow

Rain wouldn’t allow us to complete last night’s season opener against Burlington, so we’re finishing it tonight.  The LumberKings and Bees stand tied, 4-4 heading into the fourth thanks to an early comeback effort against right-hander Seth Frankoff.  Kings’ Opening Night starter Forrest Snow was touched up for four runs — three earned — over three innings, but was starting to settle in when the tarp went on.  An RBI triple by Julio Morban, RBI single by Marcus Littlewood (pictured right), RBI sac fly by Stefen Romero and RBI single by Steven Baron brought Clinton back from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits.  Littlewood singled again to left with two outs in the bottom of the third, but Tim Morris was thrown out trying to score by Bees’ left-fielder Douglas Landaeta to keep the game tied.

A lot of game left to go tonight, and it’s only the opening act.  We’ll also have a seven-inning game afterwards, in which 2010 Everett Pitcher of the Year and Northwest League All-Star left-hander Anthony Fernandez will make his first start in black and green.  It sounds like we’ll see right-hander Stephen Kohlscheen, the 45th round pick out of Aubur in 2010, in the resumption of the first game.  Those two will alternate starts anyways to begin the year, so the twinbill setup works perfect for them.

Read more about the action in tonight’s Game Notes:  4.8.11 kingsnotes

As for the interview, I caught LumberKings’ General Manager Ted Tornow tonight.  We talked about the beginning of the 75th anniversary of the franchise and what that means to everyone involved, improvements to Alliant Energy Field that fans will see this season, building stability with the Seattle Mariners and more.

Listen Here:  Tornow Interview 4.8.11.mp3

First pitch of inning #4 will be at 6:00 PM.  Listen online at 1390kcln.com.

-DL