Leach Strong Again In Power Victory
September 1, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
Kannapolis, NC (September 1, 2009) - Five days after Brian Leach came an out away from tossing a complete game shutout against the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the right hander from the University of Southern Mississippi held the Kannapolis Intimidators scoreless over six and a third at FieldCrest Cannon Stadium as the West Virginia Power took the first game of a crucial three game series with a 7-3 victory over the Intimidators.
Tony Sanchez knocked in Starling Marte to plate West Virginia's first run for the second night in a row. Marte and Robbie Grossman began the first inning on back-to-back singles and Sanchez's sacrifice fly to right field scored Marte to give the Power a 1-0 lead. They did most of their damage in the third inning where they scored four times on five hits. Grossman started the inning with his second single of the contest and scored along with Calvin Anderson on Kyle Morgan's double. Morgan scored moments later on Quincy Latimore's double off the wall in left center field and Latimore plated the final run of the inning on Adenson Chourio's two-out single.
Marte reached on a bunt single with one out in the top of the sixth inning and came home a few moments later when Sanchez belted his seventh homerun of the season to give the Power a 7-0 lead. Kannapolis scored all of their runs with two outs in the eighth inning. With runners on second and first, Brandon Short hit a groundball to third base that Bobby Spain couldn't handle, and the error allowed Kenny Williams to score. The next batter, Jon Gilmore blasted a double to left center field which plated the final two runs.
Leach (7-3) allowed just a pair of hits and retired ten straight batters at one point to earn the victory. He has not allowed a run in 15 innings. James Albury (5-1) was tagged for five runs on seven hits over three innings and suffered his first loss of the season. West Virginia is now three games behind Kannapolis with six games remaining.
West Virginia improved to 64-67 overall, and 37-24 in the second half after the win, while the Intimidators fell to 78-55 overall and 41-22 in the second half after the loss. Starling Marte, Calvin Anderson and Robbie Grossman all turned in two-hit performances. Kyle Morgan's run in the third inning extended his games with a run scored streak to nine games. Marte has scored and hit safely over his last four games and Tony Sanchez extended his on base streak to 17 games. Bobby Spain singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games and Adenson Chourio's third inning single extended his hitting streak to six games.
West Virginia will continue the three game series with the Kannapolis Intimidators at FieldCrest Cannon Stadium on Wednesday night. The Power will start right hander Aaron Pribanic (3-1, 2.42) and the Intimidators will counter with right hander Nevin Griffith (3-5, 4.45). The first pitch will be delivered at 7:05 PM.
South Atlantic League Stories from September 1, 2009
- Inside-The-Park Home Run Sinks Suns - Hagerstown Suns
- Grasshoppers spring past Crawdads in opener - Hickory Crawdads
- Rome Shutout Twice - Rome Emperors
- A Two-For-Tuesday For Kyeong Kang - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Charleston Sweeps Tuesday Doubleheader From Rome - Charleston RiverDogs
- Huntzinger, Bullpen Halt Hot Rods, 3-0, for Drive's 12th Shutout - Greenville Drive
- West Virgina powers by Kannapolis, 7-3 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Asheville Comes Up Short In Game One - Asheville Tourists
- Leach Strong Again In Power Victory - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Pellegrini ties single-season HR mark in Legends win - Lexington Legends
- Pitching Earns GreenJackets Earn Key Twinbill Sweep - Augusta GreenJackets
- Weird Hit Wins it for Lakewood - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- GreenJackets Take Twin Bill - Savannah Sand Gnats
- McLouth to Rehab in Rome - Rome Emperors
- Tree Planting Scheduled for Wednesday - Rome Emperors
- Bolden promoted to AAA Oklahoma City - Hickory Crawdads
- GreenJackets Extend "Fan Appreciation Weekend" - Augusta GreenJackets
- BlueClaws Clinch 2009 Attendance Title - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Former Sand Gnat Josh Thole Called Up To New York - Savannah Sand Gnats
- RiverDogs Return Thursday for Final Homestand - Charleston RiverDogs
- Beckham Named South Atlantic League All-Star - Bowling Green Hot Rods
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