SAL1 Lexington Legends

Legends Win Again, Defeat Kannapolis 8-3

Published on May 31, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Lexington Legends News Release


APPLEBEE'S PARK (Lexington, Ky.) -- On the Legends' dog day of the season, the team continued to mark its home territory. With a lively crowd for the Bark in the Park promotion night, Lexington earned its first back-to-back series win set since April. Lexington improved its meek record at home with a surprising effort from the mound and a second straight day of good vibrations at the plate for the 8-3 win over Kannapolis.

Lexington jumped out to an early advantage in their first turn at the plate. Brian Pellegrini smacked a bases loaded grounder and avoided a double play at first to score Ronnie Ramirez.

Kannapolis struck back quickly in the second when leadoff man Matt Inouye worked his way around the diamond before tagging home on a high popup. That run would prove to be the only Kannapolis score of the night, part of a surprising performance from new starter Thomas Vessella. Vassella picked up the win after pitching seven innings for two hits and one earned run.

Vassella's dominating performance is no surprise to those in the know. He had a strong year with the Tri-City Valleycats last year, finishing fifth among pitchers in runs allowed, third in hits allowed and had two scoreless outings on his way to a 2-7 record in the New York-Penn league. In only his second appearance for Lexington this year, Vassella finished the night with 11 innings-pitched, eight hits, one earned run and nine strikeouts total this year.

The momentum swung back to Kannapolis in the bottom of the second when Jonathan Fixler's blooper to right field quickly stretched into a triple to score Steve Brown. Fixler would head home on Cat Everett's routine groundout for a 3-1 lead.

Lexington sent a pair of runners home to further stretch their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Eric Taylor sent a ball to the outfield to drive in Craig Corrado in the home half of the fourth, before Max Sapp flew out to score Ronnie Ramirez from third.

The Legends came into the fifth ahead 5-1. Vasella worked his way through the top half, bringing former Legend and current Kannapolis reliever Santo Luis to the mound in the bottom. Luis, who struck out 99 batters in just over 75 innings in 2007 with the Legends, held up for two frames but gave up three runs in the seventh to the surging Legends offense.

Jordan Powell came on in the eighth and was met with complications. With unearned runs waiting in the base paths, two men were sent across to bring the score to 8-3. Powell closed out the ninth without incident, sealing the deal for Vassella and a strong close to the month of May.

Join the Lexington Legends tomorrow night as they try to make it three straight on their way to the All-Star break coming up in June. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM.

Check out the Lexington Legends Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 31, 2008


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