Big inning thumps Pilots

July 31, 2015 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Peninsula Pilots News Release


EDENTON, N.C. - The Edenton Steamers overcame an early deficit with a seven-run fourth inning and cruised from there to claim a 12-6 win over the Peninsula Pilots on Thursday night at Historic Hicks Field.

The Steamers (36-15, 16-8) continued their dominance over the Pilots (26-23, 11-13) with their ninth win in 12 tries this season.

Three consecutive base hits put the Pilots on the board early in the first inning. Nick Lustrino (Old Dominion) lined a one-out single to left field and moved to third on Jimmy Kerrigan's (VCU) double. Dom Thompson-Williams (South Carolina) gave the Pilots a 2-0 lead with two-run single to left-center.

The Steamers got one back in the bottom half of the inning when Trey Hair (Evansville) brought in Mick Fennell (Cal-Pennsylvania) to cut the lead to one.

After keeping the Pilots off the board in the second inning, the Steamers took their first lead of the night in the home half of the inning. A RBI double by Evan Rogers (Mars Hill) tied the game up at two apiece. Later in the inning, the Steamers claimed the lead when a RBI groundout by Fennell brought in Lucas Martinez (New Mexico State).

Peninsula retook the lead as they got to Steamers' starter, David Bednar (Lafayette), in the third inning. Kerrigan stayed hot with his sixth hit in two games with a single to left field. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Thompson-Williams drove in Kerrigan with his third RBI of the night. Thompson-Williams moved to second on the throw and advanced to third on another wild pitch before scoring on Kurt Sinnen's (Old Dominion) run-scoring single to put the Pilots back on top. A couple batters later, Blaise Lezynski (Mercer) hit a two-out two-run double to put the Pilots ahead up three and chasing Bednar from the game.

Trailing 6-3 in the fourth inning, the Steamers exploded for seven runs on seven hits. The first three Steamers reached to set up Fennell's infield single to score Brandon Sandoval (Vanguard). Chad Sedio (Miami, Ohio) followed with a sacrifice fly to bring the Steamers within one. After a fielder's choice error allowed the tying run to score, Hair belted a three-run home run to right-center to put the Steamers ahead by three. Rogers capped the scoring when he hit his second double of the night to score Nick Maguire (Columbia).

From there, it was all Steamers as the Pilots could not get anything going against the Steamers' bullpen. The final three pitchers combined to throw 6 1/3 innings and only allowed one hit while striking out three. Trevor Houck (Lafayette) was awarded the win to improve to 2-1 on the season.

The Steamers added a run in the fifth on a wild pitch and then Sedio hit his CPL leading 14th home run of the season with a solo shot in the seventh. With the home run, Sedio broke the CPL record for total bases in a single season, surpassing the previous record of 130.

Devin Hemmerich (Norfolk State) fell to 0-3 on the season after giving up 10 runs (six earned) thanks to some Pilots miscues. Wes McGuire (Lenoir-Rhyne) pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief and gave up one run while Thomas St. Clair (Lenoir-Rhyne) pitched the final three innings of one-run ball and struck out five.

Kerrigan stayed hot with another multi-hit game against the Steamers and compiled seven hits against the Clams in the past two days. Thompson-Williams added two hits and three RBIs for the Pilots.

The Pilots look to get back on the winning track and get closer to clinching a playoff spot as they head to playoff contender, Petersburg, on Friday night in Petersburg. The Pilots will be back home on Saturday when they host Wilson for a doubleheader starting at 6:05. For more information regarding the season, please visit www.peninsulapilots.com. For up to the minute details on Pilots Baseball be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @PeninsulaPilots. Use the #PilotsNation to spread the word about the Pilots!



Coastal Plain League Stories from July 31, 2015


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