CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

Published on September 5, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


RHP Stolmy Pimentel (5-4, 4.84) at LHP Chad Bell (3-2, 3.01)

BRING ON THE K-TRIBE: The Pelicans have known since mid-June that they'd be headed to the 2011 best-of-five Southern Division Championship Series beginning at BB&T Coastal Field on Wednesday, September 7 and Thursday, September 8. They finally found out who they would play yesterday afternoon when the Kinston Indians swept a doubleheader at Potomac to clinch the Southern Division second-half title and set up a playoff matchup with the Pelicans. The Indians, who will move to Zebulon, NC for the 2012 season, are making a push to leave on a high note and will host game three of the series on Friday, September 9 and if necessary, the remaining two games on Saturday and Sunday. The Kinston twinbill sweep of Potomac handed the Northern Division second-half crown to the Frederick Keys, who also won the division in the first half. The Keys will host the P-Nats in the first two games of the Northern Division Championship Series before the scene shifts to Woodbridge for the next two games and because of Frederick's double-half titles, a deciding fifth game would be back in Frederick.

QUITE THE SEASON SERIES: The final year of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans-Kinston Indians rivalry has seen many tight games between the two clubs. They split the 20-game season set 10-10 with the home team winning six of ten at both BB&T Coastal Field and Grainger Stadium. 13 games were decided by one or two runs, including 11 straight meetings from May 12-August 4. The Birds and K-Tribe made history on June 12 in Kinston when they played the longest game in the history of the Carolina League, a 23-inning 3-2 Indians victory. In the record-breaking affair, 15 players logged eight or more at bats and both catchers, Zach Zaneski of Myrtle Beach and Kinston's Roberto Perez, caught every inning. 15 pitchers, seven for the Pelicans and eight for the K-Tribe, combined to throw 654 pitches, 339 of them by Myrtle Beach. It was the second 23-inning game in Minor League Baseball this season, Jupiter won 2-1 at home against Clearwater in a Florida State League game on May 23. The Indians and Pelicans have met twice before in the CL postseason, with the second-half champ beating the first-half winner both times. Myrtle Beach took out Kinston 2-1 in the 1999 SDCS on their way to a split-championship and the K-Tribe swept the Birds 2-0 in the 2002 SDCS before falling to Lynchburg 3-1 in the Mills Cup Championship Series.

SOUTHERN DIVISION SPLITS: With a loss to Salem in tonight's regular season finale, the Pelicans would fall into a 30-30 split in games within the division, with 10-10 splits against all three intra-division rivals, Salem, Kinston and Winston-Salem. The Birds dropped four of their first five meetings with the Red Sox and won eight of the next nine before losing three straight. The Pelicans also split 20 games with the Potomac Nationals. They lost one season series in 2011 when they went 9-10, with one cancelled game, against the Northern Division first-and-second-half champion Frederick Keys. The only two season sets that Myrtle Beach won were against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (12-8) and the Lynchburg Hillcats (11-9).

LOOKING BACK: The SDCS between Myrtle Beach and Kinston that begins Wednesday pits the first-half champion Pelicans against the second-half champion Indians. In the last ten years of the Carolina League playoffs there have been 12 first-round meetings between first- and second-half winners. The second-half winner has gone 7-5, but the five teams that won only the first half that got past the opening round all won the Mills Cup. Surprisingly, in eight matchups between a double-half winner and a wild card team, the wild card has gone 5-3 in the first round.

FRESH PRINCE OF BELLAIRE: The newest Pelican joined the club last night and has been activated for tonight's regular season finale. Right-handed pitcher Matt West joins Myrtle Beach after a stellar 2011 campaign with Short Season-A Spokane. In 23 relief appearances, West went 1-2 with nine saves, striking out 35 batters while walking just one in 26 innings of work. A second-round pick in the 2007 draft out of Bellaire High School on the outskirts of his native Houston, West spent the first four seasons of his professional career as a third baseman before becoming a pitcher this season. Matt hit .301 in the Arizona League in 2007 before moving up to Short Season-A Spokane in 2008, where he helped lead the Indians to the Northwest League championship. He played the last two seasons with low-A Hickory before transitioning to the mound. The Pelicans hope West can duplicate the success of their last third baseman-turned-pitcher, Johan Yan. A sidewinding righty, Yan went 10-for-10 in save chances and posted a 1.26 ERA for the Pelicans in 2011 before earning a call-up to Double-A Frisco in mid-July. Yan has dominated in 18 games with the RoughRiders as well, allowing one earned run in 25 and two-thirds innings (0.35 ERA).

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Carolina League Stories from September 5, 2011


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