Game Notes (July 6)
July 6, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power continues their four-game series against the Lexington Legends Saturday night at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. RHP Devin Sweet (3-4, 3.59 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while RHP Charlie Neuweiler (3-8, 5.20 ERA) gets the call for Lexington.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIX-RUN FIFTH DROWNS POWER: Joseph Rosa drove in three runs, but the Lexington Legends used a six-run fifth inning to overcome West Virginia, 11-7, Friday night at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. The Power jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Julio Rodriguez and Jake Anchia, but the Legends cut the deficit in half with a solo home run by Rubendy Jaquez in the home half. Lexington knotted the game at two in the fourth on a run-scoring double from Chase Vallot before dropping a six-spot in the fifth that knocked Ryne Inman out of the ballgame. Lexington sent 10 men to the plate and scored six times on five hits. West Virginia kept it close with three runs in the sixth on a pair of RBI singles from Bobby Honeyman and Onil Pena, as well as a fielder's choice groundout by Rosa that brought in Honeyman. Freddy Fermin drilled a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Legends' lead to four, while both teams tacked on two runs in the eighth.
RISING ROSA: Following his 2-for-3 effort with a double, three RBI and a run scored Friday, Rosa notched his 20th multi-hit game of the season, the most multi-hit contests by any Power player this year. The infielder has strung together four consecutive multi-hit games, going 9-for-17 with four RBI and six runs scored against Hickory, Lexington and Kannapolis. Rosa had been hitless in his last 10 at-bats prior to this mini surge. The New York resident's three RBI are the most he has had in a game this season.
CHI, CHI, CHI, CHIA: After going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored Friday, Anchia extended his season-long on-base streak to 13 games (June 20-present). He has hit safely in all but one of those contests (June 30). During the second half, the West Virginia backstop is boasting a .300 (15-for-50) clip with two homers and nine RBI.
JULIOOOOO: Since his return from the injured list June 10, J-Rod has been an instant jolt to the Power lineup, averaging .272 (25-for-92) with four homers and 13 RBI. Julio tallied his eighth multi-hit game in that stretch last night, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
MARTIN STRONG AGAIN: For the second straight outing, new Power reliever Reeves Martin was solid on the hill, using just nine pitches to finish off the eighth inning after Matthew Willrodt ran into trouble. The University of New Orleans product allowed a base hit, but struck out Vallot looking to end the inning. In his two games since joining West Virginia July 1, Martin has ceded just two hits and picked up two strikeouts. The 2019 21st-round selection held a 6.23 ERA in four games with the Short-Season Everett AquaSox.
SHEAFFER CONTINUING TO SHINE: David Sheaffer produced another solid game at the plate for West Virginia, going 2-for-4 with a run scored Friday night. Sheaffer has registered five multi-hit games in his 15 games played with the Power thus far, and has recorded a hit in 11 of those 15 contests. He is averaging .316 with one homer and eight RBI overall with West Virginia, the best average on the team amongst qualified players since his first game June 15 at Hagerstown.
SEEING DOUBLE: Pena cracked his 20th double of the season in the top of the eighth inning against C.J. Eldred Friday. The Power infielder's 20 doubles are tied for ninth-most in the South Atlantic League (Nathan Eaton and Terrin Vavra, 25). Meanwhile, he also notched his 30th extra-base hit, which is tied for sixth-most on the circuit.
FEELING EXTRA: Manny Pazos laced a double in the third inning to set up West Virginia's first scoring opportunity of the evening. The Power's backstop two-bagger was his first extra base hit since May 31 with Modesto, and just his third with West Virginia this year (April 6 at Greenville and April 18 at Asheville).
RAMPAGING RYAN: Ryan Ramiz posted a career-high four RBI Thursday with his late-inning long ball. The Freehold, N.J., native's fifth home run of the season also slotted in as the Power's third grand slam, joining Dean Nevarez (May 26 vs. Lexington) and Anchia (June 10 vs. Delmarva). West Virginia had not hit a grand slam on the road since Deon Stafford smacked one in Rome August 11, 2018. Ramiz also registered the Power's fourth four-RBI game of the year.
POWER POINTS: West Virginia went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position, stranding five men on base... Willrodt allowed a season-high five runs yesterday... Pena notched his first RBI since June 29 vs. Kannapolis with his sixth-inning single... Ramiz's 45 walks are fourth-best in the SAL... Devin Sweet is making his first career start against Lexington.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 6, 2019
- Asheville Uses Late Rally to Beat Rome 4-0 - Rome Emperors
- Eight-Run First Powers 'Birds by Suns - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Burt Homers, RiverDogs Roll in Greenville - Charleston RiverDogs
- Drive Fall to RiverDogs on Saturday - Greenville Drive
- Shorebirds Cloud Suns with Eight-Run First - Hagerstown Suns
- West Virginia Pitching Too Much for Legends in Game Three - Lexington Legends
- Reed Crushes Walk off Homerun in 7-6 Victory - Hickory Crawdads
- Intimidators Win Third-Straight in Slugfest in North Augusta - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Kannapolis Wins Series with 9-5 Victory - Augusta GreenJackets
- Sweet Strikes out Career-High 10 Batters in 4-1 Win - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Hoppers Take Two from Claws on Saturday - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Schmidt, Harlow and Bosiokovic Combine to Shutout Braves - Asheville Tourists
- Fireflies Game Notes: July 6 at Hickory (Game 83) - Columbia Fireflies
- Game Notes (July 6) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Hagerstown Suns: Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Bill on Baseball: Hoppers Let One Slip Through Fingers - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Newton's Four-Hit Night Flusters Hickory - Columbia Fireflies
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.
