SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Walk-Off with Wild Win in 15 Innings

Published on July 20, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - Baseball fans at Fluor Field were subjected to a marathon of a Thursday night. The few who stuck around for the duration saw Garin Cecchini dribble an infield single about thirty feet, scoring Jose Garcia and giving the Greenville Drive (46-50, 12-14) an 11-10 victory over the Lexington Legends (50-46, 11-16) in fifteen innings.

Garcia just missed a walk-off homer to begin the fifteenth inning, as he crushed a ball to straightaway center, but had to settle for a double after the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced back in. He promptly stole third, and after a groundout, Cecchini hit a soft roller up the line. Legends reliever Mitchell Lambson (1-1) tried to flip the ball home but the flip was wide and late, bringing home Garcia and setting off a celebration.

Tyler Lockwood (4-2) picked up the win for the Drive. He entered the game in the top of the fifteenth and struck out the only two batters he faced.

Lexington scored a pair in the top of the twelfth to take the lead. Nolan Fontana drew a leadoff walk against Drive reliever Mike McCarthy. After a single by Matt Duffy, Mike Kvasnicka hit a double deep to right-center to bring both runners home, making it a 10-8 game.

The Drive knotted things up at ten in the bottom half against Nathan Pettus. Blake Swihart blooped a ball to center and hustled into second for a leadoff double. Cody Koback followed by singling Swihart to third. Jordan Weems cut the lead in half after grounding into a fielder's choice. After Jose Vinicio also grounded into a fielder's choice, Garcia kept the rally alive by singling Vinicio to third. Keury De la Cruz then hit an infield dribbler to third and beat the throw to tie the game.

Greenville gave the fans free baseball in the bottom of the ninth after scoring three runs. Garcia led off with a walk and advanced to third on a double from De la Cruz. After Cecchini walked, David Renfroe laced a single to center, scoring Garcia. Two batters later, Swihart drew a walk to force in the second run. Koback followed with a well-placed blooper into right for a game-tying single which plated Cecchini.

The Legends struck first in the top of the second when Kvasnicka launched a home run to center off Drive starter Noe Ramirez. Greenville answered in the bottom half when Swihart deposited a Jonas Dufek pitch into the visiting bullpen to knot the game at one.

Both starters pitched themselves in and out of jams all night, but the Drive had the first big inning of the night, plating four runs in the fifth inning against Dufek. After a Legends error to start the frame, the Drive got three consecutive singles by Weems, Vinicio, and Garcia, whose single drove in Koback. Two batters later, Cecchini smoked a single to right to bring home two more, and Renfroe followed with an RBI groundout.

Lexington added a run in the top of the sixth against Ramirez. Duffy reached on an error with one out, was doubled to third by Brandon Meredith, and scored on Kvasnicka's sacrifice fly.

The Legends had the biggest inning of the night in the top of the seventh, scoring six runs with only one hit. New Drive pitcher Dylan Chavez failed to record an out before exiting the game. He walked three, hit one more, and in between, he gave up a two-run single to Jordan Scott. Matty Ott came in and promptly hit a batter to load the bases, but after Meredith hit a sac fly to score a run, Ott got two outs to escape further damage.

These two teams meet again tomorrow night at Fluor Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM. The Drive will send right-hander Jason Garcia (4-4, 6.47) to the mound, while righty Juri Perez (0-1, 11.25) will start for the Legends.

Following Friday night's contest, fans will be treated to spectacular fireworks display. For more information regarding tickets, call (864) 240-4500 or log onto GreenvilleDrive.com.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 20, 2012


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