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SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 21)

May 21, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power open up a four-game road series in Columbia, South Carolina, against the Fireflies tonight, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. from Spirit Communications Park. RHP Max Kranick makes his first start for the Power.

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HEAVY RAIN SUSPENDS SATURDAY'S GAME: West Virginia got off to a hot start in Saturday's contest, as Deon Stafford clubbed a two-run homer to dead center field, his fourth of the season, that put the Power up 2-0. However, after West Virginia starter Gavin Wallace allowed a leadoff walk to Brewer Hicklen in the second, the rain made it too difficult for play to continue, and the game was suspended in the top of the second with no outs and a runner on first.

LEGENDS CLAIM HOMER-HEAVY GAME: Despite home runs from Stafford, Oneil Cruz and Rodolfo Castro, Lexington was able to hold on for a 6-4 win in the completion of Saturday's suspended contest, as a fifth-inning homer from Travis Jones proved to be the deciding blow in Sunday's first game at Appalachian Power Park. When play resumed on Sunday, Evan Piechota took over for Wallace on the mound with a runner on first and nobody out in the top of the second. Two batters in, Dennicher Carrasco tied the game off Piechota with a two-run homer. The Legends tacked on two more in the third before West Virginia responded in with a pair of solo shots from Cruz and Castro in the third and fourth innings, respectively, to knot the game at four. Jones untied the game with his roundtripper in the fifth, and Lexington added an insurance run in the ninth off Blake Cederlind to seal the win. In the loss, Piechota spun a career-high 6.2 innings pitched, the most innings tossed by a West Virginia reliever in 2018. The Power also registered five multi-hit efforts in the game from Castro, Cruz, Ryan Peurifoy, Lolo Sanchez and Stafford.

FIVE-RUN COMEBACK NOT ENOUGH IN 7-6 LOSS: Down 6-1 in the fourth, the Power put together an incredible comeback effort, but it was ultimately not enough as Lexington won the second Sunday affair, 7-6, to take the series three games to one. After West Virginia opened up a 1-0 lead in the first on a balk by Legends starter Janser Lara that plated Sanchez, Lexington stormed back with six runs between the third and fourth innings to go up 6-1. West Virginia cut into the deficit with two in the fourth, including Cruz's second home run of the day, before tieing the game with three runs in the sixth against Robert Garcia. However, the Legends would push one across in the seventh against Matt Seelinger as Brewer Hicklen legged out an infield single that brought in Julio Gonzalez and gave Lexington a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish. In the loss, Beau Sulser twirled two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and fanning three, while Power starter Hunter Stratton was tagged for six runs on seven hits over four innings.

HOLY HOMERS: With four home runs across both games on Sunday, West Virginia has 42 homers as a team in 2018, third-best in the South Atlantic League behind Asheville (43) and Lexington (45). Every Power slugger has at least one homer except Raul Hernandez and Brett Pope, who have played in a combined eight games for West Virginia.

BACK IN CRUZ CONTROL: With his pair of solo homers in Sunday's games, Cruz became the fifth Power player to homer in consecutive games (Ben Bengtson, Castro, Peurifoy and Stafford).The Dominican native now has seven homers on the year, the most of any West Virginia slugger. After posting a .215 average in April, Cruz has really turned it on in the month of May, boasting a .355 (22-for-62) clip, the highest May average of any Power player, while swatting three homers and driving in eight runs. The infielder has also significantly improved his defensive skills, as the infielder has only made four errors in his 16 May contests compared to 11 April miscues in 22 games.

ONE RUN NOT SO FUN: Following Sunday's 7-6 loss to Lexington, the Power are now 8-5 in one-run games in 2018, posting a .615 winning percentage that is tied with Augusta for second-best in the league. In games decided by two runs or less, West Virginia is 14-9 (.609), second-best among all South Atlantic League teams to Greensboro (.636).

KRANICK MAKES FIRST START FOR POWER: Max Kranick will make his first start of the season for West Virginia after getting promoted to the Power on May 18 from rookie-level Bristol. Kranick, a 2016 11th-round draft pick out of Valley View (PA) HS, missed most of 2017 with shoulder fatigue, but did spin a career-best six innings on August 22, 2017, as one of his five starts last season. Over those five outings, the Scranton, Penn., native went 1-0 with a 1.11 ERA between the GCL and Bristol, tossing 24.1 innings and striking out 18 batters while walking just six.

POWER POINTS: The Power went 5-for-41 (.122) with runners in scoring position across their four-game series with Lexington... West Virginia dropped its first series decision since Rome took three of four from the Power in late April...

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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