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SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Stowers' Absurd Night, Contreras' Strong Start Prove All You Need Is Pitching and Defense

August 8, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


HICKORY, N.C. - Right fielder Josh Stower's tremendous defensive night aided Roansy Contreras' six shutout innings on the evening as the RiverDogs leaned on pitching and defense to come out on top in a 3-1 win over the Hickory Crawdads in Thursday night's road trip opener at L.P. Frans Stadium.

Stowers carried the RiverDogs (59-57, 22-24) through the early portion of the contest, making two stunning grabs to keep the Crawdads (68-43, 27-18) off the board in the bottom of the first. The Louisville product first laid out in right-center to rob Rangers first rounder Josh Jung of extra bases with a runner on first before leaping at the wall to pull a Tyreque Reed homer back into the ballpark on the very next pitch to retire the side. Stowers' incredible individual run carried over into the top of the second when he laced the first pitch he saw into left field for a double. After an astute advance to third base on a grounder from catcher Mickey Gasper, Stowers took off on contact and scored on Eric Wagaman's slow chop back to the mound to put the RiverDogs out to an early 1-0 lead.

The early run looked like it would be enough as Hickory didn't manage to score their first run until the final frame. Contreras (W, 8-5) took advantage of several stellar defensive plays behind him but threw the ball well, scattering four hits over six scoreless frames while striking out three. Over his last seven starts, the 19-year-old righty has allowed just nine earned runs over 40 innings (2.03), lowering his overall ERA under 4.00 for the first time since May 6.

Stowers continued to come up in the clutch throughout the night, including laying out to take one away from catcher Matt Whately in the third with a runner on and leaping into the extended netting into the right field foul grounds to retire Reed again in the fifth. The second rounder also added his 29th and 30th stolen bases of the year in the win, bringing his career total to 50 in his first 142 professional games.

Wagaman's fourth home run of the season, a two-run blast off Crawdads starter Grant Wolfram (L, 4-3), was more than enough cushion. The Charleston offense needed just three hits to tally their eighth win in their last 10, tying their hottest ten-game stretch of the season last accomplished from April 25 to May 5. It marked first time this year that the RiverDogs lineup tallied three hits or fewer in a win.

Dalton Lehnen worked the final three innings to close out his second save with Charleston this season. The lefty yielded just a run when Ryan Anderson tripled with one down in the ninth and scored on pinch-hitter Pedro Gonzalez's sacrifice fly.

Upcoming

Charleston continues their four-day swing in Hickory on Friday night from L.P. Frans Stadium. Right-hander Yoendrys Gomez (0-1, 4.15) will make his third start in a RiverDogs uniform and his second straight outing against the Crawdads. The 19-year-old standout, rated the Yankees' No. 8 prospect at the mid-season by the MLB Pipeline, is coming off a shortened start his last time out when he was forced to exit after just 2 2/3 innings when taking a glancing comebacker off his pitching hand last Friday. The Crawdads will counter with fellow teenage arm Ronny Henriquez (3-6, 4.66), who lasted just three innings and gave up a pair of runs last Friday against Charleston. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

Catch the game on WTMA 1250 AM in the tri-county area and online streaming on the TuneIn Radio app. Fans can "Make Fun" with the RiverDogs all season long down at The Joe. Single-game tickets, including options to the Riley Park Club, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS). A full schedule and list of game times for the 2019 season are available at riverdogs.com.

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