CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Potomac punches ticket to Mills Cup Finals

Published on September 5, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


WILMINGTON, Del..- Just call him the clincher. For the third time this season, Ross Detwiler earned the win in a clinching game as the Potomac Nationals wrapped up the Northern Division championship. Detwiler combined with three relievers on a four-hit, 1-0 shutout of the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Game 3 of the Northern Division Championship Series.

Potomac scored the only run of the game in the top of the third inning. Michael Burgess led off with a ground rule double that bounced over the left field fence. Jhonatan Solano followed by bunting him over to third on the very next pitch. Boomer Whiting, getting his first start in the series, then drove in Burgess with a sacrifice fly to left.

It did not come easy for the Nationals and Detwiler (1-0), who ended up stranding 12 Wilmington runners on the bases.

The Blue Rocks loaded the bases against the left-hander with two outs in the bottom of the first inning on a pair of walks and a fielding error on third baseman Stephen King. Detwiler found his way out of the jam on his 28th pitch of the inning as Kurt Mertins grounded out to second to end the frame.

Detwiler then settled down and cruised through his next four innings retiring nine in-a-row at one point; however, the former first-round pick ran into trouble in the sixth. Wilmington again loaded the bases on a Brad Correll base hit and two Detwiler walks.

That would be the end of the line for the 22-year-old as Randy Knorr went to his bullpen to bring in left-hander Atahualpa Severino. The Dominican, who had stranded 14 of the 17 runners he inherited on the season, got Josh Johnson to fly out to shallow right field and Jeff Howell to strike out ending the inning.

The Blue Rocks put pressure on the P-Nats again in the seventh as a Jarrod Dyson bunt single and two Severino walks loaded the bases with two outs; however, the 24-year-old got tough and struck out Jeff Bianchi on a 2-2 pitch to retire the side.

Osvaldo Rodriguez came on in the eighth inning and walked Mertins and gave up a bunt single to Johnson to put runners at first and second with no outs. King atoned for his two previous errors, he committed another in the second, by starting an around-the-horn double play to get the first two outs. Josh Wilkie then came on to retire Dyson on a fly ball to left for the final out of the inning.

The Carolina League All-Star Wilkie tossed a perfect ninth, striking out a pair before getting Cody Strait to pop out to short to end the game.

Detwiler ended up going 5 1/3 innings allowing no runs on two hits with four strikeouts and five walks. Wilmington starter Everett Teaford (0-1) suffered the tough-luck loss allowing just the one run on only two hits while matching a career-high with nine strikeouts and walking only one.

The Potomac Nationals will make the first trip to the Carolina League Championship Series in franchise history since 1989 on Monday as the P-Nats will take on either the Myrtle Beach Pelicans or the Winston-Salem Warthogs in a best-of-five series beginning in the Southern Division city on Monday night. The Mills Cup Finals will return to Pfitzner Stadium on Thursday, September 11, for Game 3 beginning at 7:05 p.m. Games four and five if needed would also be at the Pfitz with both starting at 7:05 p.m.

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Carolina League Stories from September 5, 2008


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