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SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Keithley's Walkoff Single Staves Off Disaster

September 5, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


HAGERSTOWN, MD -- With five heart-wrenching runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Lake County Captains erased a 5-0 Hagerstown Suns lead and seven innings of two-hit ball by Hagerstown starter Patrick Lehman. With one improbable two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth, the Suns (25-40) pulled Municipal Stadium back into party mode, downing the Captains (38-30), 6-5, on a walk-off single by third baseman James Keithley.

After watching its bullpen collapse in dramatic fashion, the Hagerstown offense opened its half of the ninth inning with consecutive uninspiring pop-ups. But designated hitter Brett Newsome showed poise beyond his two days of experience in the South Atlantic League by drawing a two-out walk, and pinch-runner Valerio Heredia wasted no time making his mark on the basepaths.

With Keithley at the plate, Heredia stole second and trotted into third as Lake County catcher Adam Abraham's throw bounced into the outfield. His teammates having generated a rally without a hit, Keithley delivered the dagger, drilling a grounder past the Captains' third baseman to plate Heredia and send his teammates pouring out of the dugout.

The Suns celebrated not only Keithley's hit, but also the ability to move past their epic final-hour meltdown. After Lehman and reliever Chris Rivera limited Lake County to three hits over the first eight innings of the game, left-handers Austin Garrett and Clayton Dill (2-0) were torched for five runs on five hits in the top of the ninth, punctuated by a two-out John Allman triple off the centerfield wall that scored the final two runs of the comeback.

Lehman was thus robbed of a win after fanning nine Captains over seven dominant innings, in one of the finest pitching performances of the season for Hagerstown. Rivera followed Lehman by striking out three more Lake County batsmen in the eighth.

Newsome, meanwhile, powered the Suns offense in the early innings, going three-for-four with two RBIs and a run in just his second game with Hagerstown since being promoted from the Gulf Coast League. Newsome singled and scored the first Suns run of the game in the second, then tripled the Hagerstown lead in the third with a double to left-centerfield, scoring first baseman Tyler Moore and catcher Travis Reagan, who had each singled with two outs.

Second baseman Steve Lombardozzi added a run-scoring single in the fourth to put the Suns up 4-0. In the sixth, left fielder Robby Jacobsen followed a triple by centerfielder Chris Curran with an RBI double to give Hagerstown a seemingly untouchable 5-0 lead.

The Suns of course, would end up needing one more big hit from Keithley, who finished the game as one of four Hagerstown batters with two hits, joining Lombardozzi, Moore and right-fielder J.R. Higley.

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