CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Salem Red Sox Game Notes

Published on May 5, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


The Sox and Dash battle in a Sunday afternoon rubber match at BB&T Ballpark.

First pitch at 2 PM.

Sunday Rubber: The Red Sox and Dash will let Sunday's contest decide the series following a pair of one-sided affairs on Friday and Saturday. The Dash used a pair of early homers from Mark Tracy to create separation in the opener, while Salem's Sean Coyle launched two home runs in the first two innings on Saturday, paving to the way to a 9-4 Red Sox victory. This is the fourth time this season that Salem has split the first two games of a three-game series. The Red Sox have not lost a rubber match yet, going 2-0 with one rainout. The winner of Sunday's game will own second place in the Carolina League Southern Division standings.

.394: Two more hits and a walk on Saturday night brought Garin Cecchini even closer to a .400 batting average for the full season. Last night's performance also perpetuated a pair of streaks, giving Cecchini an 11-game hitting streak and a 14-game on-base streak. Since April 18, Cecchini has reached base an outrageous 39 times in 14 games. That includes 24 hits, 12 for extra bases, and 15 walks (with just seven strikeouts). Since April 18, he's hitting .471 with a .591 OBP. In his last 23 games, Cecchini has gone 37-for-87 (.425), and when you include his 0-for-7 start to the season, his .394 season clip is still far and away the best in the league! Cecchini also leads the league with 16 extra-base hits and his .486 OBP.

Quick starters: Friday night notwithstanding, the Salem Red Sox have excelled in jumping on top of opponents early in ballgames this season. Staying in front has been a different issue. In 27 games, the Sox have scored the game's first run 18 times, the most in the league, even with Salem having played two fewer games than most of the league. But on the flip side of the coin, the Sox are just 10-8 when scoring first. Winston-Salem has only grabbed the game's first run 13 times in 28 games, but the Dash are a remarkable 12-1 when scoring first.

Natoli Naturally: Salem shortstop Nick Natoli matched a career-high with three hits on Saturday night, matching his performances from August 31, 2012, July 22, 2011, and July 4, 2011. It was his first three-hit night in a Salem uniform, and the Maryland native reached base four times in Salem's five-run win. Natoli is second on the team with 13 walks on the season, giving him a very respectable .302 on-base percentage. One of his three hits on Saturday was a triple, his first three-bagger of the season.

Henry Rules: Both Henry Owens and Henry Ramos represented their names well on Saturday evening. Owens dominated on the mound, surrendering just a two-run homer in his six-inning performance, which featured a career-high ten strikeouts. Nine of his ten strikeouts came on swing and misses, while he also induced one called third strike. Meanwhile, Ramos reached base three times with a walk in the second, a double in the sixth, and a triple in the ninth. Since starting the year 3-for-33, Ramos has gone 16-for-46, a .348 clip in his last 14 games.

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Carolina League Stories from May 5, 2013


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