SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Charleston Misdirects Columbus, 10-8

Published on August 20, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - Charleston hit back-to-back home runs twice - with catcher Austin Romine involved both times - as the RiverDogs belted the Columbus Catfish, 10-8, in South Atlantic League action Wednesday night in front of 2,017 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The game's start was delayed 56 minutes due to rain in the Lowcountry.

With the victory, Charleston evens its second half record at 28-28 and improves to 73-53 on the season while Columbus slips to 32-23 since the All-Star break and 59-65 overall.

Romine went 3-for-4 on the night with two homers and three RBI to lead the hosts' 13-hit attack.

Columbus opened the game's scoring with two runs in the second inning on a two-run home run by Mike McCormick, his 10th of the season, that came on a 3-1 offering from Charleston starter Noel Castillo. McCormick's blast, which cleared the left-center field fence, drove home Stephen Vogt, who opened the frame with a double.

Charleston came right back in the bottom of the second on back-to-back solo home runs by Romine and Brandon Laird, both coming off Catfish starter Jason Ragan. Romine's blast, his eighth of the season, cleared the left field wall while Laird's, which was his team-leading 19th of the year, sailed past the center field fence and into the batter's eye. The two round-trippers came on three pitches.

Columbus broke the 2-2 tie in the third on a RBI double by Reid Fronk and a run-scoring triple by Vogt to give the visitors a 4-2 advantage.

But the RiverDogs sliced the lead to 4-3 in the third, when Laird drew a bases loaded walk.

In the fourth, the Catfish extended their lead to 6-3 with two outs as Maiko Loyola singled home a run as did Shawn O'Malley.

Yet once again, Charleston retaliated with a four-spot in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-6 lead. In the inning, Carmen Angelini doubled and Abraham Almonte drew a walk, and the bases became loaded on Austin Krum's single. Jesus Montero doubled home three runs with a long line drive to center that chased Ragan out of the game. Austin Romine drove in the go-ahead run with a single that plated Montero.

Columbus pushed two more runs across in the sixth when Angelini could not make a two-out running catch on a short fly ball hit by Loyola and both base runners scored.

But the RiverDogs came right back in the sixth with their second back-to-back home runs, with Montero and Romine taking the honors. Montero's blast to right was his 16th of the season while Romine's was his second of the night, and ninth of the season.

Charleston added an insurance run in the eighth on Laird's sacrifice fly to center.

Closer Jonathan Ortiz notched his league-leading 32nd save, as he threw an uneventful ninth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced. Ortiz is now just four saves shy of tying Kerry Lacy for the RiverDogs' single-season record with 36, which he accomplished in 1993

Castillo went 5.1 frames and allowed seven runs on eight hits while striking out seven. Craig Heyer, who remained perfect with a 6-0 record, pitched 2.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits.

John Baird suffered the loss for Columbus, dropping his record to 1-3, as he surrendered two runs on five hits.

On the night, the three Charleston pitchers combined to strike out 12 Catfish.

Joining Romine with multiple hits for Charleston were Bradley Suttle, Prilys Cuello, Montero and Angelini, who each contributed two.

Columbus had 10 knocks for the game as Loyola, O'Malley, Vogt and Omar Luna each recording two.

The RiverDogs and Catfish play a doubleheader on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. as part of this six-games-in-five-days series. Charleston is expected to throw righty Lance Pendleton (7-7, 3.62 ERA) in the first game and righty Ryan Zink (2-2, 3.16 ERA) in the second, while Columbus is slated to pitch righty Jesse Darcy (6-3, 3.12 ERA) in the opener and righty Josh Johnson (4-7, 5.99 ERA) in the nightcap.

Check out the Charleston RiverDogs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from August 20, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central