Improbable 11th Inning Leads Stars to Walk-Off

Published on August 5, 2012 under Southern League (SL1)
Huntsville Stars News Release


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Facing a four-run deficit in the 11th inning on Saturday, the Huntsville Stars scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning to walk off with a 6-5 victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

In a pitchers duel to begin the game, the Blue Wahoos struck first. Following a double by right fielder Josh Fellhauer, a RBI double by first baseman Beau Mills off of Stars starting pitcher Ariel Pena gave Pensacola 1-0 lead.

From that point on, Pena was phenomenal. In his second start since being dealt to the Brewers organization, the 23-year-old righty gave up that run on six hits while striking out six batters through seven innings.

Fortunately for Pena, he was able to earn a no-decision once the Stars tied up the ballgame with one swing of the bat. While pinch hitting for Pena in the seventh, T.J Mittelstaedt crushed a solo home run to right field off of Blue Wahoos reliever Drew Hayes to tie the game up at 1-1.

The game stayed that way until the 11th inning where Pensacola put together a damaging two-out rally off of Stars reliever Kyle Heckathorn. Second baseman Brodie Greene started it all off with a single. Following a stolen base by Greene, a RBI single by catcher Tucker Barnhart broke the 1-1 tie. The next at-bat, pinch-hitter Andrew Means blasted a two-run homerun to give Pensacola a 4-1 lead. Following a single by shortstop Billy Hamilton, three consecutive Stars throwing errors (two botched pickoffs by Heckathorn, one by center fielder Josh Prince) allowed Hamilton to score without a pitch being thrown to make the score 5-1.

However, the Stars were able to put together their improbable comeback against Pensacola reliever Mark Serrano in the bottom half of the frame. To spark the rally, a walk to right fielder Kentrail Davis was followed by a single from pinch-hitter Adam Weisenburger. Both Davis and Weisenburger then scored on back-to-back RBI singles from Prince and shortstop Jean Segura to make the score 5-3. With Prince and Segura aboard, first baseman Hunter Morris blasted a walk-off, three-run home run to dead center field off Serrano to win the game.

For the Stars, the walk-off win was their third of the season and their second since the month of May. Also, the four-run deficit was the largest Huntsville has come back from to win a game this season.

On offense, the walk-off blast by Morris tied him for the league lead in homers with 21. It was his first walk-off hit since his high school playing days at Grissom High (Huntsville). Aside from Morris, Segura finished off the night 3-for-6 at the dish. The multi-hit game for him was his fourth with the Huntsville Stars in seven total contests. Both Prince and Mittelstaedt each had two hits for Huntsville.

Game three of a five-game series will begin on Sunday as the Stars will send RHP Josh Stinson (11-6, 3.25 ERA) to the mound. First pitch is at 4:03 p.m.

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Southern League Stories from August 5, 2012


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