Diamond Sharp As Myrtle Beach Takes Series Opener Over Winston-Salem
Published on September 3, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Myrtle Beach starting pitcher Scott Diamond was sharp in leading the Pelicans to a 6-4 win over Winston-Salem on Wednesday night at BB&T Coastal Field. Diamond tossed seven innings and held the Warthogs to two runs (one earned) on five hits in handing the Pelicans a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Southern Divisional playoff series.
The Warthogs trailed 6-3 entering the ninth and mounted a brief rally against Pelicans closer Ferdin Tejeda. Sergio Miranda, who finished with three hits, led off with a double and scored on a C.J. Retherford single to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. But Salvador Sanchez struck out swinging and John Shelby III flew out to end the game as Tejeda registered the save.
The Pelicans offense came to life in the in the third inning when Concepcion Rodriguez singled with one out and moved to third when Jon Mark Owings followed with a double. After a Matt Long wild pitch brought the first run of the game across the plate, Gorkys Hernandez deposited a two-run home run over the left field wall to put Myrtle Beach in front 3-0.
Winston-Salem trimmed the deficit to one in the top of the fifth inning. Greg Paiml and Miranda led off with singles and Francisco Hernandez reached on an error while bunting to loaded the bases with no outs. Retherford and Salvador Sanchez followed with RBI sacrifice flies to reduce the Pelicans lead to 3-2.
The momentum quickly swung in favor of Myrtle Beach as they responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jason Hayword began the rally with a double. After Rodriguez walked, Gorkys Hernandez lined an RBI singled up the middle. Next, a costly error by Greg Paiml on a Travis Jones ground ball loaded the bases with one out and allowed Eric Campbell to deliver a run-scoring ground out to give the Pelicans a 5-2 lead.
The two clubs exchanged a run in the late innings with Myrtle Beach collecting an RBI triple from Ernesto Mejia while Brett Bonvechio contributed an RBI single for Winston-Salem. Bonvechio, a bright spot for the Warthogs, finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
Long got the start for Winston-Salem and surrendered five runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings of work to suffer the loss.
Game two of this best-of-five series is set for Thursday night at BB&T Coast Field. The Warthogs will send RHP John Ely (10-12, 4.71) to the mound, while the Pelicans will counter with LHP Carlos Rivas (6-4, 5.20). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Carolina League Stories from September 3, 2008
- Rocks Lose Playoff Opener On Wild Pitch In 15 Innings - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Wild ending nets P-Nats Game One win - Potomac Nationals
- Pelicans Start Playoffs With 6-4 Win Over Warthogs - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Diamond Sharp As Myrtle Beach Takes Series Opener Over Winston-Salem - Winston-Salem Dash
- Potomac Nationals Game Notes - Potomac Nationals
- Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
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