CarL1 Potomac Nationals

P-Nats Escape Unscathed in Opener

Published on May 18, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


KINSTON, NC- In the first game of the year between the Kinston Indians and Potomac Nationals, a casual observer would expect a slugfest rather than a pitcher's duel when taking even a cursory glance at the stats of the two teams. The K-Tribe came into the contest leading the Carolina League in hitting with a .283 team batting average led by powerful third-base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall. With both starting pitcher's ERAs approaching double-digits, the idea of a pitcher's duel was far from the first thing on minds of the two squads.

But baseball is a funny game with surprises from the most unexpected places as the 466 fans in attendance at Grainger Stadium were treated to a pitching gem by both P-Nat starter Will Atwood and K-Tribe hurler Russell Young. The lefty gunslingers exchanged zeroes for six innings with Atwood recording his best outing of the season. Atwood threw six scoreless frames, surrendering only two hits while striking out six. Young matched Atwood's performance by throwing six scoreless stanzas of his own, striking out three and giving up seven hits in the process.

Once the starters exited with the game knotted at zero, both bullpens kept the scoreboard free of crooked numbers into the late innings. For the K-Tribe, Chen-Chang Lee tossed two spotless frames while Clint Everts did the same for the Nationals. Everts, however, ran into trouble in the eighth, exiting the contest with one out and runners on first and second. Atahualpa Severino (1-0) came in on relief to strike out Chisenhall and coax a groundout from Matt Brown.

In the top of the ninth with the score still tied, the P-Nats were able to scratch out a single run without hitting a ball out of the infield. Jesus Valdez chopped one over the pitcher Matt Meyer (1-1), then advanced to third on Chisenhall's 11th error of the year. A Brian Peacock slow roller to the right side brought home Valdez to give the P-Nats the slimmest of leads at 1-0.

All in all, the P-Nats recorded eight hits, five never left the infield.

"Wahpah" headed back out to the mound looking to end the contest, but walked two in the inning and was replaced by flamethrower Cole Kimball. Kimball started slowly by walking the first batter he faced to load the bases with only one out. The big right-hander had his hand in the lion's mouth but escaped unscathed by striking out Adam Davis swinging and Johnny Drennan on a groundout to Dan Lyons to pick up his first save in the Carolina League.

These two teams will come back to Grainger Stadium Tuesday night as game two will feature a phenomenal pitching matchup with Jeff Mandel (4-1, 2.25) facing lefty Eric Berger (3-2, 2.12) going tete a tete from Kinston with first pitch slated for 7:05 ET. You can catch all the action live on www.potomacnationals.com with Dan McGinn and Anthony Masterson starting with the pregame show at 6:40 ET.

For more information on tickets, daily promotions, and all things P-Nats, call (703) 590-2311 or log onto www.potomacnationals.com to join the party!

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Carolina League Stories from May 18, 2009


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