CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

See-Saw Opener Goes to Potomac

Published on June 10, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


Woodbridge, VA - Destin Hood launched a deep drive to left field with nobody out in the top of the ninth, scoring Eury Perez from second to give the Nationals a walk-off 9-8 victory over the Salem Sox on Friday night at Pfitzner Stadium. Hood's game-winning single capped a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams come back from multi-run deficits.

Tied at eight heading to the last of the ninth, Dennis Neuman yielded back-to-back bunt singles to Perez and Jeff Kobernus. Neither ball went past the mound, as Neuman slipped on Perez's bunt and Kobernus beat out Kolbrin Vitek's throw. Hood then sent a shot to the gap in left-center to end the game.

Salem got off to a fast start, scoring three unearned runs in the first against Potomac starter Mitchell Clegg. Wilfred Pichardo's leadoff double was the only hit of the frame, as Clegg walked a pair, Potomac committed two errors, and the Sox stole five bases. Vitek highlighted the frame by coming home on a double steal to score Salem's third run.

Potomac responded in the bottom of the first, with Hood delivering an RBI double that scored Perez. But Salem got right back to work in the second, connecting on four singles, fourth being an RBI base hit from Vitek that knocked Clegg out of the game and put Salem up 4-1. The Sox stranded two in the frame as Reynaldo Rodriguez lined out to end the threat.

In the third, Salem extended its lead to four when Shannon Wilkerson blasted his seventh homer of the year over the center field wall to make it 5-1. Six of Wilkerson's seven homers this season have been solo shots.

Drake Britton set down six straight in the second and third innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Six of the first seven P-Nats reached, with the only out coming on a sac fly. Potomac scored five times in the frame, with Steven Souza driving in a run on an RBI single, Brian Peacock plating another on a sac fly, and Jose Lozada smacking a two-run double. After Perez' RBI single gave Potomac a 6-5 edge and knocked Britton from the game, Will Latimer struck out Kobernus to end the laborious inning.

The Nationals added to their lead in the sixth on a wacky play that featured two throws from left field to the plate. With runners on first and second, Lozada slapped a single to left. Peacock scored easily as Mailman's throw was well off-line. Catcher Dan Butler then threw back to third to try and catch J.R. Higley, but his throw went into left, allowing Higley to score on a close play, with Mailman firing home again. The end result was Potomac scoring twice to gain a three-run lead.

Salem started working its way back into the game in the top of the seventh, again as a result of some sloppy Potomac defense. Vitek reached on an error by Lozada before reliever Josh Smoker gave up a single to Rodriguez and walked Butler and Wilkerson, the latter free pass forcing in a run to bring the Sox within two. Smoker bounced back, though, striking out two straight before inducing a ground-out to leave the bags packed.

An inning later, Salem tied the game with a pair of tallies. With a runner on first and two outs, Rodriguez smashed his league-leading 24th double to left-center to make it 8-7. Two wild pitches scored Rodriguez, creating an 8-8 deadlock.

Joe Testa recorded the final out in the eighth and set the Sox down in order in the ninth, earning his third victory of the season. Neuman, who had retired six of the seven batters he had faced entering the ninth, yielded three straight singles to the Nationals, who walked off for the third time this season.

Eight of the nine members of the Salem order notched base hits, with Pichardo, Rodriguez, and Derrik Gibson recording multi-hit games. Perez went 3-for-5 for Potomac, scoring two runs, including the game-winner.

Britton was solid through three, but again couldn't escape the big inning. The southpaw gave up six runs on six hits in three and one-third innings, throwing just 39 of 67 pitches for strikes.

Following the theatrics of the series opener, the Sox and Nats tangle in the middle matchup of the three-game set on Saturday, with Junichi Tazawa making his fifth rehab start for the Sox against Potomac's Trevor Holder. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.

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Carolina League Stories from June 10, 2011


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