CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Rally in Dramatic Fashion, Beat Lynchburg 5-3

Published on June 5, 2007 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, SC - First base coach Rick Albert lost an argument with umpire Gerard Ascani in the seventh and got ejected. Manager Rocket Wheeler won his argument with the umpires in the eighth however, and what had been a triple by Isaiah Ka'aihue turned into a two-run homer that held up as the winning margin in Myrtle Beach's 5-3 comeback win over Lynchburg before 3,032 fans at Coastal Federal Field Tuesday night. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Birds (25-32), while the Hillcats fell to 28-27.

Myrtle Beach opened the scoring in the first when Elvis Andrus and Jordan Schafer executed a delayed double steal to perfection, as Andrus broke from first to draw the throw and Schafer slid home ahead of the return throw to make it 1-0. Lynchburg answered in the third on Shelby Ford's two-out RBI triple to center, but Matt Young responded on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth, lofting his first home run of the year the opposite way to left for a 2-1 Myrtle Beach lead.

The Hillcats came back with the next two runs though, tying the game on Pedro Powell's RBI triple in the fifth and then taking the lead in dramatic fashion in the seventh. With the bases empty and two away Tony Masolino sent a drive to the deepest part of center field. Schafer raced out with his back to the infield and had the ball hit his glove, but couldn't secure it before hitting the wall and falling to the warning track. All the while, Mansolino was tearing around the bases and reached home with a stand-up, inside-the-park home run to make it 3-2.

In the bottom of the inning, Myrtle Beach went in order and Andrus was called out on a bang-bang play at first to end the frame. Albert took exception to the call and was quickly tossed, but in the bottom of the eighth Wheeler used his powers of persuasion to give the Pelicans the lead. Eric Campbell singled to left to start the inning, and Ka'aihue followed with a smash to center field. The ball bounced off the batter's eye, but as Campbell scored and Ka'aihue motored into third Ascani signaled that the ball hit under the yellow home run line and was still in play. Wheeler called time, marched down to home plate umpire Craig Barron, and vocalized his displeasure with the call. Barron and Ascani eventually conferred on the play, and after a delay of a couple of minutes determined that the ball had in fact gone over the line and the Pelicans had a 4-3 lead. Jose Camarena added an insurance run later in the inning with an RBI single to center and Sung Ki Jung worked a perfect ninth inning to close it out.

The late rally made a winner out of Moises Hernandez (9-2) once again, as he claimed his sixth straight victory and tied Dallas Trahern of the Erie Seawolves (Class AA Eastern League) for the minor league lead in wins. Hernandez allowed three runs and scattered eight hits over eight innings, striking out one and not walking a soul in his third straight quality start and team-high seventh of the year. Rolando Belisario (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits in 1.2 innings to take the loss, while Jung's save was his fourth. Ka'aihue's home run was his 10th of the year and 23rd in his Pelicans career, tying him with Mike Hessman for the franchise record. Ka'aihue also extended his hitting streak to five games and Schafer had two hits for the second straight game.

The rubber-match in this three-game set is at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday with Jairo Cuevas (0-8, 6.49 ERA) on the hill for the Birds against Lynchburg lefty Kyle Bloom (6-3, 3.83 ERA). The broadcast begins at 6:45 p.m. with the RSC Equipment Rental pre-game show on ESPN Radio the Team (93.7 FM, 93.9 FM, and 1050 AM) and online at www.myrtlebeachpelicans.com, and kids can run the bases after the game courtesy of the Batter's Box. For more information, please call the Pelicans at (843) 918-6002.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from June 5, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central