SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Shutout for Second Straight Night by 'Jackets, 1-0

Published on August 29, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - History was almost made at Fluor Field on Monday. In the existence of the South Atlantic League, and formerly as the Western Carolinas League, no pitcher had ever hurled a nine-inning perfect game. For GreenJackets' (67-65, 36-26) right-hander Shawn Sanford, that milestone slipped right through his grasps as Augusta defeated the Drive (73-61, 35-29) 1-0.

Having celebrated his 23rd birthday the previous day, Sanford twirled 8-plus masterful innings, retiring the first 24 batters he faced. Mixing a low-90s fastball with devastating offspeed pitches, Sanford struckout eight Greenville batters while forcing 14 groundouts and a pair of flyouts.

But perfection was broken up in the bottom of the ninth as Drew Hedman laced a first pitch offering to centerfield to leadoff the inning. Despite the lack of hits for the first eight innings, the Drive were in position to come away with a spoiling victory.

Following Hedman's hit, Sanford was able to get David Renfroe to fly out to centerfield before exiting to a standing ovation from the Greenville crowd. Reliever Brett Bochy, son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, surrendered a single to Matt Johnson, moving the tying run into scoring position before striking out the final two batters to preserve the shutout.

Twirling a strong outing of his own, the Drive's Miguel Celestino (9-6) endured a very tough luck loss, allowing the game's only run in the top fourth inning. The right-hander scattered five hits and two walks over while striking out five.

The GreenJackets lone run, which gave them shutouts over the Drive in back-to-back games, came off the bat of Ryan Scoma who singled in Joel Weeks with two outs. Weeks led off the inning with a single of his own, advanced to second on Ryan Lollis' groundout and then moved to third on a wild pitch.

Andrew Jones and Michael Olmsted combined to allow just one more hit by Augusta in the game's final three innings, to keep the Drive within striking distance.

The Drive and GreenJackets conclude their five-game series on Tuesday, the Drive's final home game of the 2011 regular season, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Right-hander Tyler Wilson (3-3, 3.03 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville, while Augusta counters with right-hander Taylor Rogers (11-9, 2.84 ERA).

Tomorrow is the final "BI-LO Tasty Tuesday" at Fluor Field, where kids 12 and under receive a voucher for a complimentary hot dog, bag of chips and 12 ounce Pepsi product in a souvenir Walter's Pals cup. In addition, there will be food and beverage specials featuring $2 hot dogs, Pepsi products, and draft specials in The 500 Club. For more information regarding single-game tickets, luxury accommodations, group outings, and ticket plan packages call (864) 240-4500 or visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

GAME NOTES: Attendance was 4,024...the only perfect game in South Atlantic League/Western Carolinas League history was thrown on August 8, 1964 by John Purdin of the Salisbury (NC) Dodgers versus the Lexington Giants...it was a 7-inning perfect game

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 29, 2011


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