SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power vs. Intimidators - Game Notes - May 21, 2013

Published on May 21, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


THE LEAD OFF: West Virginia beat Kannapolis 11-2 on Monday night. Starters Joely Rodriguez and Jefferson Olacio matched zeros over the first four innings before the Power struck first in the fifth. Raul Fortunato doubled in Walker Gourley to break up the dueling shutouts. West Virginia sent eight batters to the plate in each of the next two innings, scoring five runs both times, to build an 11-0 lead. Rodriguez pitched six scoreless innings for his third win of the season and Bryton Trepagnier allowed two runs over the final three to notch his third save. Eight different Power batters had at least one hit and three drove in multiple runs in the series-opening win.

STREAKING ALONG: Walker Gourley's sixth inning home run Tuesday extended his hitting streak to eight games, his longest this season, and helped keep his average at .333, sixth highest in the league. Raul Fortunato doubled in four at bats last night and extended his streak to seven in a row. Fortunato still holds the team's longest hitting streak this season; a ten-game run from April 5- April 15.

NO FEAR: The Power continue their only first half series against the Intimidators tonight. Kannapolis holds a six win lead in the all-time series dating back to 2005, at 45-39. West Virginia is, however, 20-23 since 2005 in Kannapolis. These teams will meet in Kannapolis in early July for a three game set and then play four in Charleston later that month.

LEVEL AGAIN: Monday's win pushed the Power record back to .500. West Virginia has been at .500 or higher for all of six days this season. The Power will play its' next 16 games against opponents who also currently have losing records. After this three games series in Kannapolis, West Virginia will host Lakewood and Greensboro, travel to play the BlueClaws in New Jersey, and host Delmarva.

SECOND FASTEST: Josh Bell and Stetson Allie are now one and two atop the South Atlantic League in runs batted in. Bell drove in two last night to maintain his league-leading spot with 37 while Allie brought home three with a seventh inning double to jump to second with 35. Asheville's Francisco Sosa is third with 34.

DIVISIONAL RUN: West Virginia is 6-5 within the South Atlantic League's Northern Division; by far the fewest divisional games played by any team in the league this season. The Charleston RiverDogs have played the second fewest games in their own division at 18. The Power do, however, play nothing but Northern Division games for the remainder of the first half. In fact, the next 41 games are all against divisional opponents.

GO FOR CASTRO: Orlando Castro will make his ninth start of the season when he faces Kannapolis this evening. The southpaw is coming off his second shortest start of the season at four and two-thirds, though his shortest appearance was four innings due to rain. Castro's 2.22 ERA is just outside the top ten among League Leaders and the Honduran-born hurler is also near the top of the league in innings pitched and WHIP.

NEAR THE TOP: The Power enter play tonight with a .269 team batting average during May, the second highest average in the league so far this month. Only Rome at .276 has a higher average in May.

PROMO UPDATE- REDNECK NIGHT: The award-winning Redneck Night is back on Saturday, May 25. The event will feature an appearance by Duck Dynasty's Mountain Man and the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a duck call. The 2012 version of this promotion was named as the best theme night in Minor League Baseball.

POWER POINTS: Jake Burnette's start on Sunday was the shortest by any Power pitcher this season... Stetson Allie now has two home runs over his last four games after not hitting one in any of his previous 14...

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh was idle on Monday and begins a three game series against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park... Indianapolis doubled up Pawtucket 8-4... Altoona lost 6-3 at Richmond... Bradenton fell 2-1 to Tampa. Alen Hanson had two hits and raised his average to .272.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV, and online at wvpower.com. Adam Marco will call the action for all 140 games this season and will be joined by Mike Baggerman when the team plays at Appalachian Power Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 21, 2013


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