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The thrills just keep on coming

August 2, 2007 - South Coast League (SCL)
Anderson Joes News Release


For the second time in three days, the Joes hit a walk-off home run, this time to beat the Aiken Foxhounds, 8-5, Thursday.

Rafael Alvarez's three-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth inning capped an eight-run comeback for the Joes in front of 927 rabid fans at Anderson Memorial Stadium, giving the Joes their sixth walk-off win of the season.

Anderson fell in an early hole before their monumental comeback.

Scott Houin made sure to give Aiken an early lead when his bases loaded triple helped put the Foxhounds ahead 4-0 in the second inning. A Tony Harper home run made it 5-0 in the middle of the fifth inning before the Joes starter slowing chipping away.

Anderson scored a single run every inning from the fourth to the eighth to get within a 5-4 margin.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Joes sent Desi Wilson -- who hit Tuesday's walk-off homer -- to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Wilson singled, at which point pitcher Dallas Mahan came in to pinch-run.

In the next at-bat, a throwing error by pitcher Mark Dewey on a Brandon Carter bunt allowed Carter to reach safely and Mahan to advance to third. Next, Heath Keel's RBI single scored Mahan and set up Alvarez.

The slugging right fielder, who had thrown a runner out at the plate to end the ninth inning, stepped in the batter's box 0-for-4 on the night.

"I just wanted to stay away from the double play," Alvarez said. "I had been struggling all night. ...I told myself, "Time to make some good contact" and just hit a fly ball, move the runners over. I tried to get something going on and then good things happened."

The home run, Alvarez' second in his first 13 games, sailed over the left-centerfield fence to seal Anderson's sixth overall walk-off win and third in the last two weeks alone. The victory only adds to a week that has already seen the Joes play the longest game in league history, score the most runs in a game in team history and hit what was at the time the only game-ending home run for the Joes this season -- all in separate games.

Anderson (10-11, 23-43 overall) has now won three games in a row, while Aiken (8-13, 30-36) has lost four straight.

Austin Redwine earned the win for the Joes, improving to 4-0, while Dewey's blown save and loss dropped him to 0-3.

Notable offensive performers for Anderson included Carter, who went 3-5 with two runs and an RBI, and Richard Quihuis-Bell, who went 3-for-3 and scored twice. Aiken couldn't run away from the Joes, despite an early 5-0 lead./Photo: Shawn M. Knox Images But it was Alvarez who left Thursday's game the hero, mobbed by the entire Joes roster, bullpen included, as soon as he reached home plate.

"You see big celebrations on ESPN and now you hit a walk-off homer and people start punching you," Alvarez said with a grin. "Everyone wants to copy that when they celebrate and I'm just happy to help this team."

Anderson and Aiken meet again for game two of the series Friday at 7:05 p.m.

Left-hander Pete Nickerson (0-3) is scheduled to start for the Joes, while the Foxhounds have not yet announced a starter.

The Joes aim, with a win, to get to an even 11-11 record Friday. If successful, Anderson would posses its first .500 record in any capacity since its 1-1 mark on May 20.

"We never quit, we always battle, we never throw the towel down," Alvarez said. "We have a brand new team, we're here to compete and trying to get first place this half. We have the team to do it and we're showing it to the people who come to the park."



South Coast League Stories from August 2, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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