D-Braves Bats Come Alive
June 24, 2011 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Danville Otterbots News Release
Pulaski, VA. - Perhaps all the Danville Braves needed to jumpstart their season was a change of scenery. The D-Braves rode into Bluefield after being swept by the Pulaski Mariners to open up their 2011 campaign. After trying to play catch up the last three games, the Braves were able to be in charge right from the outset. The team got off to a quick start on Friday night, scoring in each of the first four innings on their road to a 9-8 victory. The D-Braves had each of their first four batters reach base in the top of the first inning. With the bases loaded, first baseman, William Beckwith singled to right field to score Kurt Fleming who led off the game with a single. The Blue Jays would eventually get the run back in the bottom of the first. It was in the second inning that the Braves bats finally came through with clutch hitting that no one had seen until tonight. After Chase Larsson and Sam Munson got on to lead off the inning, Elmer Reyes put a sacrifice bunt on the ground to move the runners into scoring position with one out. Kurt Fleming doubled to left field to score two runs. Nick Ahmed then reached on a single to left. Ahmed moved himself into scoring position by stealing his third base in just over 24 hours. Kyle Kubitza's hot streak continued. He doubled to left field to earn himself two RBI and the score was 5-1 in favor of the Braves. After tacking on one more run in the second, Danville again allowed Bluefield to gain some runs back. Bluefield's Christopher Hawkins led off the bottom of the second with a triple and Kevin Pillar immediately followed with a two run homer to left field. Larsson led off the third inning with a double to center field. Reyes would double him in two batters later. Following Reyes was Kurt Fleming, who singled to score Reyes, but was called out trying to take second as Reyes scored. Fleming was the last batter Bluefield's starter, Aaron Sanchez (0-1) would face. Sanchez went just two and two-thirds giving up eight earned runs on ten hits. Before Greg Ross (1-0) relieved Williams Perez to start off the fourth inning, the Braves managed to add one more run on Beckwith's second homerun of the season. In the fifth, Bluefield put together a series of hits to gain a couple more runs back and to make the score 9-5. Ross pitched three innings in his professional debut, giving up four hits, two earned runs, while striking out two batters. With John Cornely on the hill for Danville, the Blue Jays continued to climb back into the game in the eighth. Cornely struck out Chris Hawkins, but Hawkins reached first base when the ball got passed catcher, Ryan Query. One single later, Daniel Arcila hit his first homerun of the year to right field, a three run shot that would put the Blue Jays within one run. The game got even more interesting in the ninth when Joe Lucas came in for Danville for the save opportunity. He allowed a double immediately, and Javan Williams came in as a pinch runner for the Jays. The next batter hit a ball to right field that was caught by Sam Munson, Munson then threw the ball to third base to try to get Williams who tagged up. But it was ruled that Williams left second too early when the D-Braves appealed to second. Lucas was able to induce a grounder to end the game and earn himself his first save and the D-Braves their first victory. "It feels great to break the ice. We finally got the hits with runners in scoring position which we have been unable to do. We are going to build on this," said D-Braves manager, Randy Ingle. The D-Braves put together 11 hits on the night, and four of which came with runners in scoring position. The catalyst for the team was leadoff guy and centerfielder Kurt Fleming. Fleming finished the night going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. The Braves combined for five extra base hits. The series continues tomorrow night at 7 pm at when Daniel Winnie (0-0) faces off against the Blue Jay's AJ Meyer (0-0). The Bluefield Blue Jays are in their first year as a Toronto affiliate. They had been a part of the Baltimore organization for 52 straight years prior to 2011. The Danville Braves will open up their home season on Monday, June 27 at 7 p.m. when they take on the Princeton Rays. The first 1,000 fans at the game will receive a 2011 magnet schedule. For more information on the schedule, tickets, group nights, and/or partnership opportunities please contact the Danville Braves office at (434) 797-3792, email at info@dbraves.com, or log on to www.dbraves.com.
Appalachian League Stories from June 24, 2011
- D-Braves Bats Come Alive - Danville Otterbots
- Mariners Win Season Opener Against Rays - Pulaski Mariners
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