SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WEST VIRGINIA POWER: Game Notes (June 9)

Published on June 9, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Following last night's doubleheader sweep, the Power goes for their sixth win in a row tonight against the Hickory Crawdads, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. from L.P. Frans Stadium. RHP Hunter Stratton (1-3, 6.89 ERA) is on the bump for West Virginia and below.

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BOLTON TAKES NO-HITTER INTO FIFTH IN OPENER: Cody Bolton worked a no-hitter through 4.1 innings as the Power breezed by Hickory, 4-0, in game one of Friday's doubleheader at L.P. Frans Stadium. Bolton ultimately had his no-hit bid broken up with one down in the fifth when Kole Enright singled up the middle. After a walk and a bloop single to center, Bolton was lifted for Beau Sulser with the bases loaded and one out. Sulser came up huge, striking out Pedro Gonzalez and Preston Scott in succession to end the threat. From there, the Darmouth product dominated, striking out five in total over his 2.2 innings to secure West Virginia's sixth shutout win of the season. The Power supported Bolton's effort with more early offense, as they scored first for the fifth straight game. John Bormann provided the first tally with an RBI double that he ripped into the left-field corner in the second, while three more runs came in to score in the third on a Deon Stafford single and a fielder's choice groundout from Chris Sharpe.

CEDERLIND LEADS SHUTOUT IN GAME TWO: Blake Cederlind worked three shutout innings in his first spot start for West Virginia in 2018, allowing just a leadoff single to Gonzalez before retiring the next nine men he faced in order. Samuel Reyes took over in the fourth and spun two sterling frames in his Power debut, ceding a lone single while earning his first win with West Virginia. Joel Cesar continued his dominance since returning from the disabled list, as he tossed the final two innings to pick up his first save of the season and finish off the doubleheader sweep of the Crawdads with a 2-0 Power win in game two. Bormann supplied the early offense again, as he singled in Rodolfo Castro in the first against Crawdads righty Werner Leal. Castro tallied the other run in the third with a sacrifice fly.

FIRING BLANKS: With their 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Hickory Friday, the Power posted back-to-back shutout wins for the first time since July 12-14, 2016, when West Virginia recorded three consecutive shutouts against the Augusta GreenJackets. The Power also notched their first two-hitter since Mike Wallace held the BlueClaws to a pair of hits in Lakewood on August 30, 2017, in the back half of a twin bill. West Virginia threw consecutive two-hitters for the first time in team history (2005-present) Friday. The Power have a 7-4 shutout record in 2018, making them one of four teams in the South Atlantic League with seven or more shutout wins (Delmarva, 7; Augusta, 9; Lakewood, 11).

SOARING, FLYING: After throwing 4.1 shutout innings in Friday's series opener, Bolton has now spun 15.1 scoreless frames in his three starts since joining West Virginia May 21. In that stretch, he has allowed only seven hits and four walks while striking out 19 batters, holding opposing sluggers to a .130 clip against him and boasting a 2-0 record.

BEST BAT AND DEON: Stafford's 2-for-3 effort Friday gave him his fourth straight multi-hit game, the first time he has done that in 2018. His record for consecutive multi-hit games is five (7/24-7/31/17). The Saint Joseph's product notched his 13th multi-hit game of 2018, third-most on the team (Oneil Cruz, 16; Calvin Mitchell, 19).The backstop is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak where he is boasting a .423 (11-for-26) clip with a home run and six RBI.

MULTI-HIT MITCHELL: Mitchell went 3-for-3 with a run scored in Friday's twin bill opener, extending his hitting streak to nine games (his third streak of six games or more in 2018), although it ended in game two as the left-handed slugger went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. During his streak, he hit .429 (15-for-35) with a home run and four RBI. Mitchell has hit safely in 17 of his last 21 games, and in 25 of his last 33 contests since May 1. Overall, Mitchell's .332 stroke is third-best in the SAL (and tops in the Pirates organization) while his 16 doubles are tied for second-most and his 70 hits rank second in the league. Mitchell has found more success on the road in 2018, boasting a .366 (34-for-93) clip (23 games) compared to a .305 (36-for-118) stroke at home (33 games).

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Stafford and Mitchell were named South Atlantic League All-Stars Tuesday, with the pair set to represent the Power at this year's Midsummer Classic in Greensboro, N.C., on June 19 at First National Bank Field. Stafford received his second consecutive All-Star nod, while Mitchell secured his first mid-season accolade. Stafford is the first Power catcher to garner an All-Star selection since Reese McGuire in 2014.

POWER POINTS: Ben Bengtson extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in both games of Friday's twin bill. Bengtson is averaging .323 (10-for-31) with five RBI in that span... The Power went 5-for-14 with RISP Friday.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 & 1340 AM in the Kanawha Valley, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. David Kahn and John Kocsis will handle play-by-play duties in 2018.

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