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Pelicans eliminate Warthogs 11-5
Minor-league baseball comes to an end at Ernie Shore Field after 53 seasons
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Ryne Reynoso pitched seven innings for the Pelicans to pick up the victory.
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Published: September 7, 2008
Close the book on the season for the Winston-Salem Warthogs and for minor-league baseball at Ernie Shore Field.
Myrtle Beach beat Winston-Salem 11-5 yesterday to win the best-of-5 series 3-1 and advance to the Carolina League Championship series, where it will face Potomac starting on Monday.
Six Pelicans collected two hits apiece and four drove in two or more runs as the team belted out 15 hits against seven different Warthogs pitchers.
Myrtle Beach erupted for six runs in the seventh inning to erase a 3-2 deficit, and then added three more in the eighth to take an 11-3 lead.
The Pelicans sent 10 batters to the plate, cranked out six hits and scored six runs against four different Warthogs relievers to break the game open during the pivotal seventh inning.
"In essence, that was your ballgame right there," said Manager Tim Blackwell of the Warthogs. "They took advantage of their scoring chances and had us in a tough spot. You've just got to give them credit. They are a very good team. Even when we had the lead, I never felt comfortable. They've got a lot of weapons in that lineup."
Michael Dubee entered the game in relief of starter Jacob Rasner in the sixth inning, but came unraveled in the seventh.
Back-to-back singles by Phillip Britton and Gorkys Hernandez got things going, and a sacrifice bunt by Travis Jones moved Britton and Hernandez up one base each.
With one out, Eric Campbell was intentionally walked to load the bases, then cleanup hitter Ernesto Mejia laced a two-run single to left field to put the Pelicans ahead 4-3.
Matt Davis came in to relieve Dubee and gave up an RBI double to Tyler Flowers. After striking out Brandon Hicks, Davis was removed for left-hander Wander Perez to face lefty Jason Heyward.
But Heyward ripped a single to right field that drove in Mejia for a 6-3 lead, prompting Blackwell to once again go to the bullpen in favor of right-handed Nathan Jones to face Concepcion Rodriguez.
Rodriguez banged a double off the wall in left-center that scored Flowers and Heyward for an 8-3 lead, and the rout was on.
"Tough to overcome that, especially that late in the game," Blackwell said. "I thought I pushed the right buttons in those situations, but again, credit them for getting it done. They made the key hits and did what they needed."
Rasner was effective in his five innings for the Warthogs, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven and leaving with a 3-2 lead. The bullpen combined to allow nine runs on nine hits in four innings.
Winston-Salem took the lead in the second inning. Estee Harris led off with a double and scored on a single by Greg Paiml that tied the score at 1. Brett Bonvechio, who walked with one out, came in to score on a double off the right-field wall by Dale Mollenhauser. Paiml scored on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Hernandez for a 3-1 lead.
But it was the inability to add to the lead in the third inning that angered Blackwell. Joe Persichina singled to lead off and advanced to second on a single by John Shelby. Both runners advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Estee Harris, but Salvador Sanchez struck out and Persichina was thrown out at home after trying to advance on a wild pitch by Ryne Reynoso.
"Kind of been the trend with us all year," Blackwell said. "We haven't been able to consistently take advantage of scoring situations like that, where we even get in our own way sometimes. In games like these, it comes back to bite you. Instead of getting a 4-1 or 5-1 lead in that situation, we settle for nothing. We've still got the lead, but it changes the dynamics of the game."
Reynoso scatteredd seven hits and allowed three runs in seven innings.
"It's a disappointing way to end our season, but I can't say enough great things about our fans and the support we have gotten here at Ernie Shore," Blackwell said. "There is a lot of history here, We're not really sure of what next year holds for us, but we've all seen the new park going up and it's really something."
Ernie Shore Field has been home to minor-league baseball for 53 years, and Winston-Salem has won 11 Carolina League championships during that span. The field has been sold to Wake Forest and the franchise will move into its new downtown ballpark for the start of the 2009 season.
M.B. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi
Hrnndez cf 5 3 2 0 Rthrfrd 3b 5 0 0 0
Jones 2b 4 2 2 2 Prshin 1b 4 1 3 0
Campbell 3b 3 2 2 0 Shelby cf 4 1 1 0
Mejia 1b 4 1 1 3 Harris lf 3 1 1 1
Flowers c 4 1 2 2 Sanchz rf 4 0 0 0
Hicks ss 5 0 1 1 Bnvcho dh 1 1 0 0
Heyward rf 4 1 2 1 Gaines dh 1 0 1 1
Rodrgz lf 5 0 1 2 Paiml ss 4 1 1 1
Britton dh 5 1 2 0 Mllnhrl 2b 3 0 1 1
Herndez c 3 0 1 1
Totals 39 11 15 11 Totals 32 5 9 5
Myrtle Beach 100 010 630 -- 11
Winston-Salem 030 000 020 -- 5
E--Hicks. DP--Myrtle Beach 1. LOB--Myrtle Beach 9, Winston-Salem 5. 2B--Jones, Heyward, Flowers, Rodriguez, Harris, Mollenhauer, Gaines. 3B--Hernandez. SAC--Jones, Harris. SF--Mejia, Jones, Hernandez. SB--Tripp. CS--Abreu.
Myrtle Beach IP H R ER BB SO
Reynoso W, 1-0 7 7 3 3 2 3
Wilson 1 2 2 0 0 1
Gearrin 1 0 0 0 0 1
Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO
Rasner 5 6 2 2 1 7
Dubee L, 0-1 11/3 3 4 4 2 2
Davis 1/3 1 1 1 0 1
Perez 0 1 1 1 0 2
Jones 1/3 2 3 3 2 1
Mabee 1 2 0 0 0 0
Zaleski 1 0 0 0 0 0
T--3:05. A--650.
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