SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Extra Effort Required for RiverDogs in West Virginia

May 11, 2012 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, WV- A bases-loaded walk by Francisco Arcia gave the Charleston RiverDogs (23-9) the lead in the tenth inning as they defeated the West Virginia Power (11-23) 8-4 in South Atlantic League action with 3,035 in attendance on Friday night. The victory by the first-place RiverDogs, coupled with a loss by the Savannah Sand Gnats, resulted in Charleston stretching its lead in the Southern Division to three games.

The RiverDogs rally in the tenth started with a pair of leadoff singles and a walk against pitcher Orlando Castro (1-4). Arcia (1-3, 2 RBI, run) then worked a second consecutive walk to break the tie. The offense tacked on some insurance runs on a sacrifice fly by Angelo Gumbs and RBI singles by Cito Culver (1-2, 2 RBI, run) and Tyler Austin. Ben Paullus finished off the night with a scoreless tenth inning.

The reason the game went to extra innings was a three-run ninth inning rally by the Power against pitcher Philip Wetherell (2-1). Trailing 4-1, West Virginia scored once, then, with the bases loaded and two outs, Carlos Mesa (1-4, 2 RBI) lined a double into the left field corner. Two runs scored to tie the game, but a relay from outfielder Ali Castillo to Culver to Arcia cut down the winning run at the plate and saved the game for Charleston.

For the first eight innings, the story was RiverDogs' starter Caleb Cotham who baffled the West Virginia lineup in his longest and his best outing so far this season. The former Vanderbilt Commodore allowed only three base runners, on two hits and a walk, and totaled seven strikeouts, including back-to-back Ks to finish his sixth and final inning, putting an exclamation point on his night. This was the fifth time this season that Cotham has allowed either one or zero runs and he lowered his ERA for the year to 2.18.

Both pitchers started off the evening sharp, with Cotham and West Virginia's Ryan Hafner matching zeros for the first four innings. The RiverDogs dented home plate twice in the fifth inning when Arcia laced an RBI triple off the wall in right field. Arcia scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Culver that also knocked Hafner out of the game and gave the RiverDogs a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, the RiverDogs offense added two more. With one out, Kelvin De Leon's (3-4, RBI, 2 runs) third single of the game scored Dante Bichette, Jr. and a throwing error on the play allowed a second run to cross the plate.

The teams will face off in game three of the series on Saturday night at 7:05 pm. RHP Bryan Mitchell (2-2, 3.28 ERA) will get the start for the RiverDogs and LHP Zac Fuesser (0-0, 3.12 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for West Virginia.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 11, 2012


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