SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Win In 15

Published on July 22, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The West Virginia Power walked off with a 7-6 extra inning win on Thursday, beating the Savannah Sand Gnats in 15 innings at Appalachian Power Park. Jose Hernandez walked with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom if the inning to give West Virginia its fourth consecutive victory

Savannah took a 1-0 lead against Jason Erickson in the first inning, but West Virginia managed to tie the game at one after two. Ramon Cabrera scored when Bengie Gonzalez reached on an error charged to third baseman, Jefry Marte.

The Sand Gnats recaptured the lead with a two run top of the third, keyed by a single from Travis Ozga. This 3-1 lead held till the fifth inning, when David Rubinstein singled, Aaron Baker walked, and Hernandez singled them both home.

The Power notched their first lead in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Elevys Gonzalez doubled and was driven in on a Bengie Gonzalez base hit. This advantage put Erickson in line for a win after six innings of five-hit ball.

The 4-3 West Virginia lead stuck till the top of the ninth. With Gabriel Alvarado on the mound, R.J. Harris led off the inning with a double and eventually scored on an error charged to Hernandez. The Power put the winning run on base in the bottom of the inning, but Evan Chambers was caught stealing to send the game to extras.

The game remained tied at four into the twelfth inning despite the fact that West Virginia had scoring chances in both the tenth and eleventh innings. Savannah scored twice in the top of the twelfth inning off Marc Baca as Harris tripled in Cesar Puello and Alex Gregory. The Power rallied in the home half of the inning on a solo home run by Baker and a run-scoring double by Rogelio Noris.

After two and a half scoreless innings, Savannah manager Pedro Lopez opted not to bring in another reliever, but instead brought Harris in from left field to pitch in the bottom of the fifteenth. With two outs in the inning, Harris walked four consecutive batters including Hernandez with the bases loaded to end the game.

The game was the longest of the season for the Power, surpassing the longest game inning-wise by an additional four. It was also the longest in terms of time, lasting four hours and 57 minutes. On Sunday, West Virginia played an 11 inning game at Delmarva, which lasted three hours and 41 minutes, the previous season-highs in innings and time.

Maurice Bankston (5-4) pitched three and a third scoreless innings to earn the win, while Harris (0-1) was charged with the loss. The clubs combined to use ten pitchers, allowing a combined 25 hits over 110 at bats. Nine different players had two or more hits, led by Elevys Gonzalez with three. Hernandez and Ozga drove in three runs each for their respective teams.

West Virginia and Savannah close out their season series at Appalachian Power Park on Friday. Melkin Laureano and Colin McHugh will start for the Power and Sand Gants with a 7:05 first pitched slated.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 22, 2010


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