SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Williams' Slam Propels RiverDogs As Charleston Sweeps Savannah, 7-4

Published on April 10, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


Right fielder Dave Williams blasted a first inning grand slam and Charleston held on for a 7-4 victory and a four-game sweep over the Savannah Sand Gnats in South Atlantic League action Thursday night in front of 5,342 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The red-hot RiverDogs improve to 7-1 on the early season while Savannah drops its fifth straight and slips to 3-5. Coupled with Asheville's 3-1 loss at Kannapolis, Charleston takes sole possession of first place in the first-half Southern Division standings.

Charleston continued its torrid early-season hitting Thursday night with 10 base knocks. After recording 16 hits on Tuesday and another 16 on Wednesday, the RiverDogs have accounted for 42 hits in their last three outings.

After Savannah went down in order to start the game, Charleston loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. Justin Snyder hit a one-out single and Bradley Suttle drew a walk against Sand Gnats starter Josh Stinson (0-1). Jesus Montero then hit into a fielder's choice and Brandon Laird reached on an infield single.

With the count 1-2, Williams slugged the RiverDogs' first grand slam of the season over the left field scoreboard. It was Williams' first homer of the season and first professional long ball in his 70th career game. The Rutgers product now has nine RBI in six games played this season.

Charleston starting pitcher Noel Castillo (1-0) picked up his first victory of the season as he went five complete innings and allowed two runs on four hits. In the process, he fanned five and walked a pair.

Reliever Jesse Hoover replaced Castillo in the sixth and pitched 2.2 innings and struck out four Sand Gnats, while Chace Vacek picked up his second save of the young season. Vacek pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing one hit and two walks.

Savannah chipped at Charleston's 4-0 lead in the top of the third with two outs when Matt Bouchard doubled down the right field line and scored on Richard Pena's single to left to make the score 4-1.

Charleston added another run in the bottom of the third when Montero opened the inning with a double to center and scored on Austin Romine's RBI double to right to increase the RiverDogs' lead to 5-1.

The Sand Gnats plated another run in the fifth with two outs when Bouchard reached on an error by Suttle and Pena drew a walk. With two on base, Richard Lucas doubled to left to make the score 5-2.

The RiverDogs took advantage of five free passes in the fifth inning and scored twice. Williams scored on a wild pitch and Snyder drove home the hosts' seventh tally of the game when he drew a bases-loaded walk.

Savannah wasn't finished offensively, scoring one more in the sixth when Greg Veloz doubled and Raul Reyes singled him home, cutting Charleston's lead to 7-3. The visitors added their fourth run in the eighth when Francisco Pena drew a walk, moved to third on Reyes' single and scored on a throwing error by the RiverDogs' Snyder.

Williams, named as the game's MVP, went 2-for-3 with a grand slam and a walk, two runs scored, four runs batted in, two stolen bases and one putout. Also recording two hits for Charleston were Snyder, Montero and Romine.

Savannah, which collected eight hits on the night, was led offensively by Lucas and Reyes, who each had a pair of hits.

Stinson lasted four frames and was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks. Reliever John Holtzkom replaced Stinson and went only two-thirds of an inning as he walked five batters and allowed two runs on no hits.

On Friday Charleston opens a four-game home series against the Rome Braves. The RiverDogs are slated to start righty Adam Olbrychowski (0-1, 180 ERA) and Braves will counter with lefthander Eric Barrett (0-1, 2.25 ERA).

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 10, 2008


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