Pilots Suffer First Loss
June 4, 2016 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Peninsula Pilots News Release
HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. - A late rally by the Peninsula Pilots fell short as they suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Holly Springs Salamanders 6-4 on Saturday night at Holly Springs Ballpark.
Trailing by four in the ninth inning, the Pilots (3-1) displayed some late game dramatics. Joe Poduslenko (Seton Hall) led off the inning with a hit by pitch and moved to second on an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Nick Walker (Old Dominion) brought home Poduslenko with a single to left-center. After a double play fizzled the rally, another hit by pitch and a double by Will Shepherd (Liberty) made it 6-4 and the Pilots were showing life again. With runners on second and third with two outs, a fly out ended the game and gave the Salamanders (1-4) their first win of the season.
J.T. Rogoszewski (UNC) tossed seven innings of one-run ball to earn the first victory of the season for the Salamanders. The right-hander scattered seven hits and struck out five on the night. Brett Smith (Old Dominion) took the loss with four runs (two earned) over four innings of work.
Peninsula struck first with Evan Fernandez (Jacksonville) and Kurt Sinnen (Old Dominion) knocking back-to-back one-out singles. After a strikeout, Devin Mahoney (St. Louis) brought in Fernandez with a single up the middle.
Holly Springs wasted no time as they scored three runs aided by two errors in the bottom half of the inning. Jon Rosoff (West Point) reached on an error to lead off the inning. Drew Butler (Campbell) followed with a single and error that allowed Rosoff to score. After a fielder's choice put two runners in scoring position, Bradley Brown (Wingate) made the Pilots pay with a two-run single to put the Salamanders ahead 3-1 without recording an out.
The Salamanders tacked on runs in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. In the fifth, Harlan tripled to center field to lead off the inning and came around to score on Rosoff's single. In the seventh, a sacrifice fly by Butler and a RBI single by Dillon Stewart (UNC-Greensboro) put the Salamanders ahead 6-1.
The Pilots found the scoreboard again in the eighth when Mahoney hit a two-out double and Josh Close (Liberty), who pinch-ran for Mahoney, scored on an error to cut the deficit to 6-2. Peninsula added two more in the ninth to make things interesting but stranded runners on second and third to suffer their first loss of the season.
Despite giving up three runs in the first, Smith turned in a solid start by tossing four innings and giving up four runs, two of which were earned. Michael Parmentier (Norfolk State) and Chase Randolph (Lincoln Memorial) each followed with a scoreless inning. Paul Hall Jr. (Virginia Tech) tossed an inning with two runs before Tim Edwards (Seton Hall) pitched a scoreless inning by striking out the side.
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Coastal Plain League Stories from June 4, 2016
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