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Charleston Dirty Birds

Clutch Hits Pace Power to Win

July 24, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Charleston, WV (July 24, 2009) - The West Virginia Power used great defense and four timely hits on Friday night at Appalachian Power Park to take the third game of the series with a 4-1 victory over the Savannah Sand Gnats.

The Sand Gnats scored first for the third night in a row. They scored their lone run in the top of the second on Kai Gronauer's two-out RBI single. The Sand Gnats had several other chances to score but left nine men on base, including five in scoring position.

West Virginia plated their first two runs in the bottom of the third inning on back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Quincy Latimore and Kyle Morgan. Danny Bomback reached on Kyle Allen's error to start the inning and scored the first run on Latimore's base hit before Robbie Grossman scored the go ahead run on Morgan's two-out single.

West Virginia added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. They scored their runs the same way they did four innings earlier, on back-to-back run scoring singles with two outs. Bomback belted a one out double to center field and scored on Starling Marte's base hit to right field and Marte scored a few moments later on Grossman's two out base hit.

Casey Erickson (3-1) was extremely effective, inducing ten groundball outs, and allowed just a run on seven hits over five and a third in a winning effort. Diego Moreno (3) tossed a pair of scoreless innings and fanned two batters to get the save. Kyle Allen (7-6) was tagged for four runs on six hits over six and two thirds and was tagged with the loss. Wilson Ortiz also tossed an inning and two thirds of scoreless relief for the Power. The Power defense was great as well. They turned in their first error free game since July 13th.

West Virginia improved to 40-56 overall, and 13-13 in the second half after the win, while the Sand Gnats fell to 51-47 overall and 16-12 in the second half after the loss. Robbie Grossman led the way for West Virginia with a 2-for-3 performance. Grossman has reached base in 10 out of 14 plate appearances this series and has scored at least once in his last six games. Jeremy Farrell singled in the second inning to extend his on base streak to 25 games. Quincy Latimore's third inning base hit extended his hitting streak to nine games. Bomback's doubled extended his hitting streak to six games. Starling Marte's seventh inning single extended his hitting streak to 10 games and he has reached in 21 straight games.

West Virginia will finish the four game series against the Savannah Sand Gnats at Appalachian Power Park on Saturday night. The Power will start right hander Quinton Miller (0-2, 6.87) and the Sand Gnats will counter with right hander Jeurys Familia (8-6, 2.89). The first pitch will be delivered at 7:05 PM.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 24, 2009


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