SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes

Published on April 14, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia Power (3-7) at Asheville Tourists (6-4)

Game 11 | April 14, 2013 | McCormick Field | Asheville, NC

Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 1:45 pm

TODAY'S MATCHUP

LH Joely Rodriguez (0-1, 5.00) vs. LH Eddie Butler (1-0, 0.00)

Rodriguez: Surrendered 4 R on 5 H over 4.0 with 2 K in 4/09 ND vs. CSC (10-7 RiverDogs in 11)

Butler: Allowed 0 R on 2 H with 7 K and 4 BB over 6.0 IP in 4/09 NS @ LEX (4-3 Tourists in 13)

THE LEAD OFF: West Virginia beat Asheville 14-9 on Saturday night. The clubs traded the lead early on until the Tourists went ahead 6-3 in the fourth inning. Stetson Allie cut the deficit to one with a fifth inning two-run home run, but Asheville went ahead 7-5 in the sixth on a Rosell Herrera home run. Trailing 9-6 going in the top of the ninth, Raul Fortunato hit a game-tying home run of Asheville closer Raul Fernandez. West Virginia added five more runs in the inning, including three on Allie's second home run of the game. Pat Ludwig notched the win while Fernandez took the loss. The Power and Tourists combined for 24 hits and 12 errors in a game that lasted three hours and twenty-one minutes. Eric Wood and Dilson Herrera also homered for West Virginia, who clinched at least a split of this four game series.

RISING TO THE TOP: The Power now lead the league in batting average. West Virginia entered this series Thursday night batting .246 (9th best) and are now hitting .286 after 44 hits over 119 at bats in the first three games of this set.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Stetson Allie and Raul Fortunato have eight game hitting streaks intact entering play today. Allie is batting .432 over his the last week, playing every day, with five home runs and 14 runs batted in. Fortunato's streak began on April 5 and the Power outfielder is hitting .353 during his eight game run.

DOUBLE DOWN: Josh Bell has three doubles this series and seven over his last six games to lead all South Atlantic League players but one (tied with Savannah's Kevin Plawecki). During Bell's six game hitting streak, he is batting .379 with 11 runs batted in. In 2012, Dan Gamache set a new Power record with 40 doubles during the season, though the second baseman never had more than six doubles over any six game stretch over the course of the entire year.

HELLO AGAIN: Asheville leads the all-time series with West Virginia 41-30, but only hold a two win edge in their own stadium against the Power. West Virginia is now 16-18 all-time in Asheville, where the next six meetings between the teams will take place. The Power will conclude this four game set today and return to McCormick Field in mid-July.

FOUR BY FOUR: Dilson Herrera started Saturday night's game with thee hits in his first three at bats, walked in the next two plate appearances, and then single in the ninth. Herrera is the fourth player this week to have a four-hit game. Stetson Allie and Eric Wood each had four hits in the Power loss on Tuesday evening. Josh Bell collected four hits in Thursday's series opening win at Asheville.

MR. IRWIN GOES TO PITTSBURGH: Multiple sources have reported that Phil Irwin will make his Major League debut today for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The right-hander was selected in the 21st round of the 2009 draft by Pittsburgh and pitched for the Power in 2010. Irwin will be the 29th player to have played for the Power and gone on to play in the Majors. He is the fourth to have played for West Virginia while a Pirates affiliate.

PROMO UPDATE- APRIL 19: The Power will welcome two Los Angeles Laker cheerleaders and have a Jerry West East Bank High jersey giveaway on NBA night. This event is presented by WCHS-TV and Fox 11.

POWER POINTS: On Saturday, Dilson Herrera became the first Power player this season to score four runs in a game... Eric Wood has hit home runs in two straight, becoming the second West Virginia player this season to homer in back-to-back games. Stetson Allie accomplished the feat earlier this week. Allie is also the first player this season to hit two home runs in a single game... Seven miscues on Saturday night matches the Power record for errors in a single game, originally set on July 22, 2009 against Savannah...

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 3-1 and will go for a series sweep today at PNC Park. Jeff Locke earned the win and Jason Grilli picked up his fifth save... Indianapolis split a twinbill with Columbus, falling 2-1 but winning the second game 5-0... Altoona lost 3-1 to Harrisburg in ten innings. All four runs were cored in extra innings... Bradenton beat St. Lucie 4-3 for their first win this season.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV, and online at wvpower.com. Adam Marco will call the action for all 140 games this season and will be joined by Mike Baggerman when the team plays at Appalachian Power Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 14, 2013


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