SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power falls 8-4 in ten

May 11, 2012 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The West Virginia Power fell 8-4 in ten innings to the Charleston RiverDogs at Appalachian Power Park on Friday evening. The Power rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth before the RiverDogs plated four in the tenth to secure the victory.

Both starting pitchers fared well over the first four innings as West Virginia's Ryan Hafner and Charleston's Caleb Cotham matched zeros until the fifth. The RiverDogs tallied two runs off Hafner in the fifth inning and scored twice more in the sixth off Power reliever Robbie Kilcrease in the sixth to build a 4-0 lead.

West Virginia was held in check offensively with three hits over the first seven and sent no more than four batters to the plate in any inning until the ninth. In the bottom of the eighth, the Power broke up the shutout without the benefit of a hit. Jodaneli Carvajal was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on another groundout.

Trailing 4-1 in the home half of the ninth, West Virginia sent seven batters to the plate against RiverDogs reliever Phil Weatherell. Junior Sosa walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on a single by Jose Osuna. Gregory Polanco followed with a base hit that scored Sosa. After a Willy Garcia strikeout, Carvajal struck out swinging but reached first on a wild pitch. Carlos Mesa then drove an 0-1 pitch into the left field corner that scored Osuna and Polanco to tie the game. Power manager Rick Sofield waved Carvajal home on the hit as well and the infielder was thrown out at the plate trying to score the winning run.

The RiverDogs scored four runs against Orlando Castro in the top of the tenth inning to retake the lead for good. The Power were retired in order in the bottom of the tenth to end the game.

Castro (1-4) was charged with the loss while Weatherell (2-1) gained the win. Polanco and Dan Gamache had two hits each for West Virginia, which lost its sixth straight game. The Power have not won since the final game of a three-game winning streak on May 4 at Asheville.

West Virginia and Charleston continue this series on Saturday with a 7:05 pm. The Power send Zac Fuesser to the mound against the RiverDogs Bryan Mitchell at Appalachian Power Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 11, 2012


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