Quinn Stewart Prepares for Bark in the Park

Published on June 20, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbus Catfish News Release


Columbus, GA - The Columbus Catfish (2-0) defeated the Charleston RiverDogs (0-2) by a final score of 11 to 8.

The game featured 2 starting pitcher who had ERA's below 2 upon entering, but their ERA's would not stay there. Jesse Darcy got the nod for Columbus and gave up 3 in the first inning, though only one was earned. Abraham Almonte led off the game with a double down the right field line, who then scored on a Darcy wild pitch. With the bases loaded, Shawn O'Malley threw a ball away to allow Jesus Montero and Austin Romine to score and give Charleston a 3-0 lead.

Columbus would answer in the bottom of the 1st against All-Star Lance Pendleton. Columbus batted around and plated Shawn O'Malley on a Greg Sexton single to left field. Quinn Stewart then doubled home both Chase Fontaine and Sexton with a shot over center fielder Almonte's head. Stephen Vogt then had a clutch 2-out single down the left field line to score Stewart.

Charleston put up 2 more in the 3rd when both Brad Suttle and Brandon Laird hit home runs to give themselves a 5-4 lead. Columbus answered in the bottom of the 4th when O'Malley's groundout scored Omar Luna, who had doubled to lead off the inning. The score would remain 5-5 until the 8th.

Charleston put up 2 in the top of the 8th when Austin Romine hit his first career home run off of Jose Mejias to score Jesus Montero and give Charleston a 7-5 lead. Columbus would not back down.

In the bottom of the 8th, Vogt led off with a walk, followed by a Luna single that Almonte misplayed to allow Vogt to get to 3rd and Luna to get to 2nd. Maiko Loyola then had his 4th hit of the night to drive in Vogt and make it a 7-6 game. O'Malley then hit an infield single to tie the game at 7 and score Luna. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Greg Sexton grounded into a force out at the plate, setting the stage for Quinn Stewart. Stewart already had hit 2 doubles, but got a 3-2 fastball and laced a bases clearing triple into the right centerfield gap to give Columbus a 10-7 lead. Reid Fronk hit a sacrifice fly to deep left center to score Stewart and make it 11-7. Charleston would score 1 in the 9th to make it an 11-8 final.

Columbus pounded out 16 hits, led by Maiko Loyola, who went 4-5 with 2 stolen bases, and Quinn Stewart, who went 4-5 with 2 runs, 5 runs batted in, 2 doubles and a triple. Shawn O'Malley was 2-4 with 2 runs, a walk, 3 stolen bases and 2 runs batted in while Omar Luna was 2-4 with 2 runs and a double. Jose Mejias picked up his first win as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays organization after allowing 2 runs in 2 innings of work.

Charleston was led by Brad Suttle, who was 2-5 with a home run, and Brandon Laird, who was 2-4 with a home run. It was also a big night for Austin Romine, who hit his first career home run which was also a go-ahead home run which would not hold up. Chace Vacek picked up his 3rd loss of the season after allowing 6 earned runs in his 1 inning of work.

The RiverDogs and Catfish resume their series tomorrow at 7 pm with a pitching match-up of Jason Ragan versus Wilkins De La Rosa.

The Catfish are the Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 20, 2008


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