Pilots Walk-Off over Hi-Toms
July 25, 2016 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Peninsula Pilots News Release
HAMPTON, Va. - The Peninsula Pilots snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-4 walk-off victory over the High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms on Monday night at War Memorial Stadium. Tied at four in the bottom of the ninth inning, Cole Austin (West Virginia) launched a fly ball that was inches away from clearing the fence and the speedster settled for a one-out triple. Following an intentional walk to Will Shepherd (Liberty), Kurt Sinnen (Old Dominion) hit a ground ball to the right side of a drawn in infield and Austin beat the tag to give the Pilots the walk-off victory. Robbie Hiser (Norfolk State) improved his record to 2-1 after throwing a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.
Shepherd, who won the first annual Kevin Eadie Spirit Award, wasted no time in getting the Pilots on the board with a leadoff bomb to right-center in the bottom of the first.
The Pilots posed another threat in the second, as Nick Walker (Old Dominion) blasted a one-out double off the left field wall. Logan Augustine (Lincoln Memorial) moved Walker to third on a ground out. With two outs, Franco Guardascione (Jacksonville) drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hi-Toms pitcher Steven Bower (North Georgia) loaded the bases after walking Cole Austin (West Virginia), but he got out of the inning with no further damage.
Brett Smith (ODU) earned the start on the mound for the Pilots, keeping HP-Thomasville off the board for the first two innings. The Hi-Toms tied it up in the third. The inning started with a leadoff bloop single to left by Cesar Trejo (UNC-Greensboro), who advanced to second on a throwing error by Smith. Callahan Moltzan (Scottsdale CC) singled to left, and Trejo advanced to third, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by David Scheaffer (The Master's University).
Sinnen led off the bottom of the third with a single, Poduslenko drew a walk, and Kyle McPherson (JMU) loaded the bases with a single to right. Bower recorded his fifth walk of the game, plating Sinnen and putting the Pilots back on top. A wild pitch that scored Poduslenko then pushed the lead 3-2.
Smith completed the fourth inning, maintaining the lead in spite of an off-the-wall triple to center by Hunter Slater (Southern Mississippi), who scored on an error on the play. Norfolk State teammates Michael and Devin Hemmerich followed with three innings combining for five strikeouts. The Hi-Toms tied it up in the sixth on a pair of unearned runs.
Alex Shauger (Chipola) tossed a scoreless eighth to keep the game tied before the Pilots walked off in the ninth for their league-leading 29th victory.
The Pilots embark on a four-game road trip starting with a matchup against Fayetteville on Tuesday. The team will return home on Saturday night for Star Wars Night against Petersburg. For more information regarding the season, please visit www.peninsulapilots.com. For up to the minute details on Pilots Baseball be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PeninsulaPilots. Use the #PilotsNation to spread the word about the Pilots!
The Coastal Plain League is the nation's premier summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 20th season in 2016, the CPL features 16 teams playing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL has had nearly 1,300 alumni drafted and 87 of those - including 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander - make their Major League debut; while another notable alum - Russell Wilson - won Super Bowl XLVIII. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com and follow us via Twitter @CPLBaseball.
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Coastal Plain League Stories from July 25, 2016
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- Pilots Walk-Off over Hi-Toms - Peninsula Pilots
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