SAL1 Lexington Legends

Legends Erupt For 18 Hits In 13-2 Win

Published on April 8, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Lexington Legends News Release


APPLEBEE'S PARK (Lexington, KY) - The Lexington Legends reclaimed their homefield advantage as they warmed up their bats against the Greenville Drive in their second game in Applebee's Park. An exceptional effort from the pitching staff coupled with a seven-run fourth inning explosion led to the most runs scored in nearly two years and a respectable win over the Drive.

Legends starting pitcher Leandro Cepedes had a rocky start with 10 balls in the first inning. He hit Greenfield's Che-Hsuan Lin and walked shortstop Yamaico Navarro, who stole second base and advanced to third. The inning was put away when DH Josh Reddick groundout at first.

After giving up two scores in the bottom of the first, Greenville Drive pitcher Jose Alvarez took a lot of contact during the second inning with plenty of foul balls, but ultimately he outlasted the bottom of the Legends lineup with three straight strikeouts in the second.

After a scoreless third inning, Greenville's Navarro led off with a single and later advanced to third. He was joined at second after David Mailman singled and stole second. With two runners in scoring position, Cespedes got Anthony Rizzo to fly out to shortstop Robert Mena to end the inning and keep the shutout alive.

The Legends pulled away in the bottom of the fourth fueled by catcher Max Sapp's leadoff homer to right center. The Drive then handed the ball to reliever Ryne Lawson with one out and two on. Mena then singled on a line drive to centerfield to bring centerfielder Nick Moresi to third and while he advanced to second on the throw. Lawson then walked two in a row to score Moresi.

With DH Russell Dixon at bat Lawson tossed a wild pitch that allowed Mena to streak in from third and runners to advance to second and third. Dixon reached base on balls before Steve Brown grounded out to shortstop allowing Cusick to score. Max Sapp stepped in for his second at-bat of the fourth and put an exclamation point on the inning as he knocked a single to center that scored Corrado and Dixon before advancing to third on a Drive error. Brandon Barnes then singled to left to put Sapp in scoring position, but Carkeek flew out to the left field to end the inning.

Cepedes went on to allow a single and strikeout Greenville's David Marks to put an end to his 5 scoreless innings and earn the first home win of the young season. He was relieved by right hander Jordan Powell to start the sixth inning. Yamaico Navarro later scored off a leadoff double from a Manny Arambarris RBI single before Powell took control and struck out two in a row.

The Drive went on to score a run in the sixth and seventh innings as Lexington tacked on three runs in the fifth and one run in the seventh for insurance. Right-hander Brett Robinson led the Legends to scoreless eighth and ninth innings, allowing no hits and no walks to finish the whirlwind night.

The Legends 13-run offensive explosion is the highest score Lexington has put up since a 13-2 win at Savannah on July 27, 2006.

Lexington returns to Applebee's Park tomorrow to take on the Greenville Drive in the third game in the four-game set. Jake Leonhardt (0-1) takes the mound for the Legends, as the Drive will start Chris Province.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 8, 2008


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