Game Notes (July 16)
July 16, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power continues their three-game series against the Columbia Fireflies Tuesday evening at Appalachian Power Park, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Ryne Inman (7-6, 4.79 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while RHP Tylor Megill (3-1, 1.48 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia.
------------------------------------------------------
POWER BLANKS FIREFLIES IN OPENER: Clay Chandler dominated the Columbia Fireflies over seven strong innings while holding them to three hits, and the Power used a pair of homers from Ryan Ramiz and Austin Shenton to secure a 5-0 win in the series opener Monday night at Appalachian Power Park. Chandler started off very strong, locking up the first eight Firefly hitters before allowing an infield single to Gerson Molina in the top of the third. Meanwhile, Ramiz got the scoring going in the first, ripping a triple into the right-field corner and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Mike Salvatore to make it 1-0 West Virginia. Ramiz continued his torrid stretch in the third, smoking a 424-foot bomb to right that extended the Power lead to 2-0. Chandler fired a 1-2-3 fourth and worked around a leadoff double in the fifth to keep Columbia scoreless, while Shenton padded West Virginia's lead in the sixth with a two-run homer. Bobby Honeyman tacked on another run in the seventh with his fourth hit of the ballgame to push the Power's lead to 5-0, while Chandler wrapped up his outing in the seventh with six strikeouts. Kyle Hill tossed a perfect eighth with two strikeouts, while Sal Biasi spun a scoreless ninth to lock down the 5-0 win.
THE FLY SWATTER: Chandler turned in his second brilliant start against the Columbia Fireflies this season, hurling seven shutout innings and allowing three total baserunners, none of which made it past second base. The righty did not have to use more than 17 pitches in any inning. Overall, Chandler is 2-0 against the Fireflies this year with a spotless ERA, totaling 12 frames with 16 strikeouts. He worked through the seventh inning for the first time since June 4 at Hickory, and picked up his ninth quality start of the year (second-most on team, Steven Moyers, 12).
SWEET AS HONEY: Following a four-hit night with a double, an RBI and a run scored, Honeyman extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest active streak on the team. In this span, the infielder is averaging .370 (17-for-46) with a home run, five RBI and seven runs scored, and has only struck out six times. In fact, Honeyman has only fanned six times over his last 16 games, stretching across 65 at-bats. Honeyman is in the midst of his third hitting streak of eight games or more this season (May 13-20 and May 24-June 2 with identical .344 averages). The Stony Brook product is one of two batters with a hitting streak of 11 games or more this year (Jarred Kelenic, 18 games, April 11-May 2). Honeyman tallied the Power's fourth four-hit game of the season, and his 20th multi-hit game (second-most on team).
HOMERS ON HOMERS ON HOMERS: Ramiz homered on back-to-back days for the first time this season. In total, the Power has now had a slugger go yard in consecutive games six times this year (Kelenic, 3x, April 26 and 27 vs. Asheville; May 21 and 22 vs. Greensboro and May 26 and 28 vs. Lexington; Onil Pena, 2x, May 13 vs. Kannapolis and May 14 at Charleston and July 13 and 14 at Greensboro). With Ramiz and Shenton going deep Monday, the Power now has 80 home runs as a team this year, third-most in the South Atlantic League behind Greensboro (93) and Hickory (105). West Virginia has homered 44 times in 46 home games, the fourth-most home long balls in the SAL (Hickory, 65).
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAMIZ: Ramiz has continued to uptick his offense over the last few weeks, hitting safely in 10 of his last 13 games, dating back to June 30. In that stretch, the New Jersey native is boasting a .296 (16-for-54) clip with four homers, 12 RBI, nine runs scored and eight walks. Ramiz notched his 17th multi-hit game of the season, tied for third-most on the team. His 48 walks are tied for third-most in the South Atlantic League with Greg Cullen (Rome), Cadyn Grenier (Delmarva) and Terrin Vavra (Asheville).
A NEW CREW: On Monday, the Seattle Mariners announced the following roster moves affecting the Power's roster:
- C Dean Nevarez promoted to West Virginia from Short-Season Everett
- INF Austin Shenton promoted to West Virginia from Short-Season Everett
- RHP Evan Johnson promoted to West Virginia from Short-Season Everett
- RHP Reid Morgan promoted to West Virginia from Short-Season Everett
- INF Matt Sanders assigned to West Virginia from High-A Modesto
- INF Joseph Rosa promoted to High-A Modesto from West Virginia
- C David Sheaffer promoted to High-A Modesto from West Virginia
- LHP Steven Moyers promoted to High-A Modesto from West Virginia
- RHP Bryan Pall placed on the Power's injured list
- INF J.R. Davis released from the Mariners organization
POWER POINTS: Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 45 games... The Power has 10 shutout victories.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 16, 2019
- 'Birds Wilt Late, 'Claws Even Series - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Early Offense Paces West Virginia to 11-6 Win Tuesday - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Newton Stays Hot, Homers in Fireflies Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- Early Deficit Proves Too Much for Dogs in Augusta - Charleston RiverDogs
- Oller on Fire, Jackets Defeat Charleston 4-1 - Augusta GreenJackets
- Crawdads Walk-Off in 10th to Beat Kannapolis - Hickory Crawdads
- RECAP - Claws Plate Three in Ninth, Top Birds 7-4 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Suns Winning Streak Ends at Five - Hagerstown Suns
- Pitching, Long Ball Power Drive Past Tourists - Greenville Drive
- Lackey's Strong Outing Not Enough to Cure Road Woes - Asheville Tourists
- Fireflies Roster Move and Game Notes: July 16 at West Virginia (Game 92) - Columbia Fireflies
- Game Notes (July 16) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- All-Star Game Comes to Rome - Rome Emperors
- Hagerstown Suns: Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Braves Hang on Late in 4-3 Win vs Legends - Rome Emperors
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.
