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SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Fall Short in Rain-Shortened Contest

July 20, 2012 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - After a 15 inning marathon the previous evening, Mother Nature took pity on the players at Fluor Field on Friday. A driving rainstorm came in at the conclusion of the seventh inning and wiped out the remainder of the game, giving the visiting Lexington Legends (51-46, 12-16) a 7-4 victory over the Greenville Drive (46-51, 12-15).

The bottom half of the seventh saw all sorts of action in the sky, including thunder, rain, and spontaneous fireworks going off during Jose Garcia's at bat. After Legends shortstop Nolan Fontana made a fantastic snag on Keury De la Cruz's line drive for the third out, the rain came in and never went away, ending the game prematurely.

The Legends struck first against Drive starter Jason Garcia (4-5) in the top of the second. Matt Duffy led off with a single, and Mike Kvasnicka singled two batters later. After Fontana walked to load the bases, Justin Gominsky's fly ball to left proved deep enough to score Duffy for the game's first run. Greenville countered with a run in the third inning. Nick Natoli drew a two out walk, and Jose Garcia followed by smacking a triple high off the center field wall to tie the game.

Lexington scored another single run in the fourth, as Duffy was hit by a pitch and scored later in the frame on another sacrifice fly by Gominsky. The Drive stormed right back in the bottom half with three runs of their own. David Renfroe lined a double into the left field corner with one out, which was followed by Boss Moanaroa drawing a walk. Two batters later, Blake Swihart's groundball was thrown away by Fontana for an error, bringing Renfroe home. Cody Koback then crushed a double off the left-center wall to drive in Moanaroa and Swihart.

Lexington answered quickly with three runs in the top of the fifth. Delino DeShields Jr. led off with a double to left field. Jose Garcia then made a great stop on Ruben Sosa's groundball, but threw the ball away, which plated DeShields. Zach Johnson came up next and smoked a double past Renfroe, bringing home another run. Brandon Meredith then hit a double of his own two batters later, scoring Johnson and giving the Legends the lead for good.

Meredith's double gave Legends starter Juri Perez the victory. He allowed three hits and one earned run in five and a third innings of work, and evened his record at 1-1.

The Legends added a pair of runs in the sixth for good measure against new Drive pitcher Nefi Ogando. DeShields walked with two outs, and after a single from Sosa, the two pulled off a double steal. Johnson then drove a ground-rule double to right-center to score two.

Sosa had three hits for the Legends on the evening. Johnson had a pair of doubles and two RBI, while DeShields collected two hits and swiped a pair of bases. Koback drove in two runs for the Drive.

The Drive and Legends will meet in the third contest of their series on Saturday, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM from Fluor Field. Greenville will send right-hander Luis Diaz (2-5, 6.07 ERA) to the mound, while Lexington counters with right-hander Mike Foltynewicz (10-2, 2.58 ERA).

During tomorrow's contest, fans will be entertained by Breakin' B-Boy McCoy. For more information regarding tickets, call (864) 240-4500 or log onto GreenvilleDrive.com.

GAME NOTES: Although the game was official, fans who had tickets to Friday's game may exchange them for any remaining 2012 Drive home game - since there was no post-game fireworks display - subject to availability.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from July 20, 2012


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