AtL Lancaster Stormers

Kirkland Drives Barnstormers To Sweep

Published on July 15, 2012 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Lancaster Stormers News Release


Barnstormers arch nemesis Corey Thurman stumped much of the Lancaster lineup on Sunday evening but could not get a handle on Kody Kirkland.

The Lancaster third baseman slammed two homers and drove in all four Barnstormers runs in a 4-2 win over the York Revolution in a rain-shortened game at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

With the win, Lancaster completed a three-game weekend sweep of the Revolution and tied a franchise record by winning seven in a row. It is the fifth time in eight seasons that a Barnstormers win streak has reached seven games.

Thurman (8-2) was attempting to beat Lancaster for the ninth time in a regular season game in his career. He ran into trouble in the second inning, allowing a leadoff single to center by Tommy Everidge and a one-out flare to right by Ryan Harvey. Kirkland came to the plate and slugged his sixth home run of the season to the playground in left center, staking the Barnstormers to the early 3-0 lead.

The Barnstormers picked up their fifth and sixth hits of the evening to start the third but fell quiet through the middle innings.

Alan Johnson (8-4) retired the leadoff batter in all six innings. In the second and third, he allowed back-to-back singles with two outs and escaped on a line drive both time. He settled down in the fourth and fifth but ran into two-out trouble in the sixth when Andres Perez smoked a single into left on a 3-2 pitch, and Chris Nowak followed with his 12th home run of the season over the huge wall in left.

One out into the seventh, Kirkland took care of another Thurman offering, slamming it onto the hillside in right center for a 4-2 lead. It would be the final play of the evening as skies opened before Brad Boyer could step in the box.

Heavier rains came later, making certain that York would have no shot at a comeback.

The Barnstormers are off on Monday before opening a three-game series against Camden at Clipper Magazine at 11:00 AM on Tuesday. Lancaster will send John Halama (5-5) to the hill. The Riversharks have not announced their starters for the series. Fans may tune into 1600-AM, WPDC beginning with the Dugout Report at 10:45.

NOTES: Johnson has won five consecutive appearances, and the Barnstormers are 9-1 in his last 10...Lancaster pitching allowed only one walk in the series...Johnson tossed the eighth quality start for the Barnstormers in the last nine games...Jaime Pedroza singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games...Adam Godwin went 2-for-3 to extend his streak to 11...Blake Gailen had a 10-game streak come to an end...Kirkland had Lancaster's seventh multi-homer game of the season...Lancaster is 33-10 since May 27.

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Atlantic League Stories from July 15, 2012


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