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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Pull out Surreal 5-4, 13-Inning Win

June 25, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, SC - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans found themselves in another extra-inning marathon and with each passing inning, there were increasingly bizarre plays. The craziest was saved for last. A controversial double by Jared Prince scored Leury Garcia from first base with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th and gave the Birds a 5-4 win at BB&T Coastal Field on Friday.

Garcia singled with two outs in the 13th off lefty reliever Mitchell Clegg (2-4). Prince drove the next pitch deep into the gap in left-center field. Center fielder Eury Perez dove for the ball and seemingly made a catch that would send the game to the 14th. Base umpire John Bacon ruled that Perez trapped the ball, Garcia dashed home, the Pelicans celebrated and the Nationals fumed.

It was fitting that such a wild game had such a strange ending. The extra frames featured an ejection of Potomac manager Matthew LeCroy, a P-Nats rally to take the lead in the 11th, the Pelicans rallying for a run to extend the game and rally cut down when a base hit struck a baserunner, all before the surreal final play.

Tied at three in the sixth, Kennil Gomez and Joe Ortiz put up four scoreless innings for the Birds while Josh Smoker, Marcos Frias and Rob Wort posted zeroes for Potomac. The visitors put the first two men on in the 11th off Ortiz before Sandy Leon bunted into a 5-6-3 double play that drew the ire of LeCroy as he was ejected by Bacon. But J.R. Higley immediately singled home J.P. Ramirez from second base with the go-ahead run for Potomac.

Mitch Hilligoss led off the bottom half of the inning with a single off Wort, but was still at third with the Pelicans down to their final out. Jared Bolden rolled a grounder to short and beat the throw from Jose Lozada to tie the game. As they did the inning before, Myrtle Beach squandered a chance to win the game as Prince struck out to bring on the 12th.

Johan Yan came on and put two on with two out before Steven Souza hit a hard shot up the middle that looked like it could put Potomac back in front. But the ball hit baserunner Jeff Kobernus when he was moving from second to third, resulting in a strange final out. The Birds had another chance to walk-off in the 12th against Clegg, but Jared Hoying flew out to center to strand a pair as the Pelicans left eight men on base from the 10th to the 12th.

Yan (3-3) worked a scoreless 13th and got the win as the Pelicans were victorious in the longest game at BB&T Coastal Field this season in both innings and time (3:55).

Justin Grimm started for the Pelicans and turned in a solid start, allowing three runs in six innings. He scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out one. Trevor Holder allowed three runs, two earned, in his five and one-third-inning start for Potomac.

Hilligoss had four hits with a double an RBI and a run scored in the win for Myrtle Beach. Prince and Garcia both notched their third hit in their seventh and final plate appearances in the 13th-inning rally.

Leon had an RBI single in the fifth and in the sixth inning for Potomac. Souza tallied four hits to lead the Nationals.

The rubber game of this three-game set matches right-hander Barret Loux of the Pelicans against Potomac righty Paul Demny. First pitch at BB&T Coastal Field scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets for all Pelicans home games are available at the BB&T Coastal Field box office, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, and by phone at 843-918-6000 or 877-918-TIXX.

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