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SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes

May 9, 2016 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Hagerstown Suns (20-9) at West Virginia Power (16-13)

Game 30 | May 9, 2016 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV

Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 6:45 pm

PITCHING MATCH-UP

RH Matthew DeRosier (1-0, 5.73) vs. RH Mitch Keller (2-1, 0.96)

DeRosier: Allowed 4 R on 7 H over 3.2 IP in 5/04 ND @ KAN with 2 K and 0 BB (7-4 Intimidators)

Keller: Allowed 1 R on 3 H over 7.0 IP in 5/04 ND @ CSC with 6 K and 1 BB (3-2 Power in 10)

LEADING OFF: West Virginia lost 4-3 to Hagerstown on Sunday afternoon. The Suns took a 1-0 lead in the third and added a run in the fourth against Power starting pitcher Dario Agrazal. Hagerstown's starter, Joan Baez, only allowed one hit over five innings. In the sixth, the Suns plated two more for a 4-0 lead. Tito Polo hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to halve the deficit. In the home half of the ninth, the Power scored once on a sac fly and left the tying run on the bases for the third straight game. Agrazal took the loss and Baez notched his first win. Mariano Rivera III earned his first SAL save in sending the Power to their fourth straight loss.

ON IT: Tito Polo has appeared in 22 games this season and has reached safely in 21 of those games. The outfielder is batting .281 with at least one base hit in 17 of his 22 games played. Polo has also showcased more Power this season than in the first four years of his career. The 21-year-old hit his fourth home run of the season on Sunday, setting a new career high. Polo hit three home runs in each of the last two seasons and had 10 in his career prior to 2016.

STOPPER STARTS NOW: Mitch Keller will make his sixth start of the year on Monday after going a career-best seven innings last week against Charleston. On Thursday, Keller was named as the South Atlantic League Player-of-the-Month for April. The 20-year-old went 2-1 with an 0.86 earned run average last month, striking out 28 and walking one over 21 innings of work. Keller's ERA is up to 0.96 after one May start, still good enough for the second-best ERA in the league, with 34 strikeouts compared to two walks.

READY TO GO: Infielder Cole Tucker was added to the Power roster today from Extended Spring Training. The 2014 first round pick hit .293 over 73 games for West Virginia last season with two home runs, 25 runs batted in and stole 26 bases. Tucker suffered a torn labrum and was placed on the Power Disabled List on August 9, 2015 and underwent shoulder surgery on August 26.

NO REST IN SIGHT: After Wednesday's off day, the Power are scheduled to play 27 games in 27 days. This is the longest stretch of the entire season without a scheduled day off.

WRONG WAY: West Virginia went 14-3 over its first 17 games this season. Since an 11-10 loss on April 24, the club is 2-10 and has slipped from first place with a two and a half game lead to fourth in the division, trailing Hickory by four and a half games.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: West Virginia hosts Hagerstown through Tuesday night. The Power will play 15 straight games against Northern Division opponents after playing 14 in a row against the Southern Division. West Virginia and Hagerstown play two series this year; this four game set and a three game series in August. The Suns lead the all-time series 84-69, but the Power lead the set at Appalachian Power Park 38-37.

POWER POINTS: The next former Power player to reach the Majors will be the 50th to do so in franchise history... The Pirates promoted Billy Roth to West Virginia Saturday. Roth, a right-hander from California, was selected in the 16th round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft from Vista High School.... To clear space on the active roster for Cole Tucker, the Pittsburgh Pirates transferred Logan Ratledge to Extended Spring Training...

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh beat St. Louis 10-5 Sunday and took two of three from the Cardinals in the series. Gregory Polanco and John Jaso homered to back Gerrit Cole's victory... Indianapolis was tripped 5-4 by Louisville. John Kuchno took the loss after allowing two runs over two and two-thirds.... Altoona bested Richmond 6-2. Jose Osuna and Stetson Allie homered in the win... Bradenton was idle on Mother's Day.

PROMO UPDATE: On May 21, the Power host the Hickory Crawdads on Armed Forces Night. Any active or retired member of the military will receive a free ticket and their immediate family members are offered a discounted ticket price.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN Radio 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. Adam Marco will call the action once again and will be joined by Greg Wong when the team plays at Appalachian Power Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 9, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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