Branigan Sends Edenton to 6-0
Published on June 6, 2012 under Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Edenton Steamers News Release
EDENTON, NC - Spencer Branigan hit his fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game to keep Edenton (6-0) perfect in 2012. Branigan knocked in three in the 7-5 walk-off win over Peninsula (2-4-2) at Historic Hicks Field.
Clayton Hicks (Quincy University) made the start for the Steamers, his first of the season and second appearance overall against Patrick Scoggin of the Peninsula Pilots.
Hicks, through three innings, allowed three hits, no walks and struck out seven Pilots hitters.
Edenton finally broke through in the bottom of the third. JD Pullen (Columbus St. University) worked a lead-off walk. Madison Beaird (Arkansas Tech University) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Pullen up to second base. After a Hank LaRue (Middle Tennessee St. University) fly out, Wes Meadows knocked in his fifth run of the season with a two-out RBI single to make it 1-0 Steamers. Spencer Branigan (University of Pennsylvania) followed with a two-out RBI double, scoring Meadows and making it 2-0 Steamers.
The score remained 2-0 Edenton until the top of the fifth. Hicks remained in the game. He hit Danny Grauer to begin the inning and then walked Dakari Cooke. Ryan Burns struck out against Hicks, followed by a Zac MacAneney ground out. A passed ball allowed Grauer and Cooke to each move up a bag and Andrew Amaro brought home Grauer with an RBI infield single. On the play Branigan, who had made a diving stop on the ball, threw wide of Hicks covering the first base. That allowed Cooke to score the tying run and make it 2-2. Hicks then struck out Adam McConnell for his 10th strikeout of the game.
Hicks retired the side in order in the sixth inning and the Steamers rewarded him in the bottom half of the inning against Scoggin. Ray Ortega (Manhattan College) was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Nathan Burns (Florida International University) then singled. On the single, Pilots right fielder Dakari Cooke misplayed the ball and that allowed Ortega to come all the way around from first and score. Burns ended up at third base and came home to score when the throw from the first baseman went wide of the plate and ended up out of play. The single and two errors gave Edenton a 4-2 lead. Blaise Fernandez (George Mason University) doubled and Pullen knocked him in with an RBI single to make it 5-2 Steamers.
David Teasley (Mercer University) came into the game in the top of the seventh inning in relief of Hicks, who pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits, one walk and he struck out ten. Teasley issued back-to-back walks before striking out Ryan Burns. He then walked MacAneney to load the bases and a wild pitch brought home Grauer from third to make it 5-3 Steamers.
DJ Johnson (Mercer University) made his first appearance for the Steamers this season retiring all four batters he faced and keeping the score 5-3 heading to the top of the ninth.
Matt Duncan (Morehead St. University) came into the game and allowed back-to-back singles. Zac MacAneney laid down a sacrifice bunt that Duncan himself was forced to field and he threw the ball into right field allowing Cooke to score to make it 5-4. Andrew Amaro then hit an RBI groundout scoring Joey Andrews to tie the game at 5-5.
The Stage was set for Branigans heroics. In the bottom of the ninth LaRue walked to begin the inning. After a Wes Meadows strikeout, Pilots head coach Hank Morgan went to his bullpen and brought in the left-handed Brad Zambron to face the lefty Branigan. Two pitches later Branigan was rounding the bases with his fist in the air after scorching a ball to deep center field that bounced up on the roof of a storage shed that sits out beyond the wall at Hicks Field and the Steamers were celebrating a 7-5 walk-off win.
In the ball game Branigian had two hits and drove in three to run his total to eight RBIs in 2012. The run allowed by David Teasley saw the consecutive scoreless innings streak end for the bullpen at 18.2 innings, but the bullpen did earn the win in the victory. Matt Duncan, for his ninth inning moved to 1-0 on the season. Zambron fell to 0-1 in 2012.
The Edenton Steamers are a proud member of the Coastal Plain League, the nation's hottest summer collegiate baseball league.Celebrating its 16th season in 2012, the CPL features 14 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts. Furthermore, the CPL has had over 930 alumni drafted and 51 alums make their Major League debut thus far. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at http://www.coastalplain.com, and be sure to friend us on Facebook (at http://www.facebook.com/coastalplainleague) and follow us via Twitter (as cpleague).
Coastal Plain League Stories from June 6, 2012
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