SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia beats Kannapolis

Published on May 13, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The West Virginia Power beat the Kannapolis Intimidators 5-2 Friday night at Appalachian Power Park. Andy Vasquez tripled in three runs in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and put the Power ahead for good.

The Intimidators took a 1-0 lead against Power starter Jameson Taillon in the second inning when Drew Lee doubled in Dan Black. West Virginia answered in the home half of the innings when Justin Howard singled, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Kawika Emsley-Pai.

In the top of the fourth, Kannapolis loaded the bases with two outs on a hit batter, a single, and a walk. Taillon induced a groundout from John Spatola to close the inning. The Power loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning against Intimidators starter Paul Burnside on a single and two walks. With Vasquez at the plate, Steven Upchurch replaced Burnside and surrendered a triple to send the Power up 4-1. Vasquez scored on a ground out by Gift Ngoepe to extend the West Virginia advantage.

Tyler Waldron replaced Taillon in the fifth and pitched two scoreless innings, and was followed by Zac Fuesser, who pitched a pair of shutout innings of his own. Kannapolis's final run came in the ninth when Spatola hit a solo home run off Brooks Pounders.

Waldron (4-1) earned the win in relief of Taillon, who pitched four innings of four hit ball in his fourth professional appearance. Waldron was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day and was pitching for the first time since April 26. Burnside (3-1) was charged with the loss and saw his earned run average climb from 2.70 to 3.55 with four runs allowed.

Ngoepe, Howard, and Mel Rojas Jr. had two hits each for West Virginia, which snapped a two game losing streak, while Lee and Spatola had the only multi-hit games for the Intimidators, which saw their six game winning streak broken.

West Virginia and Kannapolis continue this series on Saturday night at 7:05 pm. Brandon Cumpton will get the start for the Power against Ryan Buch for the Intimidators at Appalachian Power Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 13, 2011


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