Reliever Kanekoa Texeira of the Winston-Salem Warthogs had one thought when his fastball in the ninth inning last night came screaming off the bat of Wilmington's Anthony Seratelli.
The thought could be construed as a prayer.
"I was just thinking, ‘I hope it hits one of us in the glove, and then the game is over.' " Texeira said.
It did and it was.
Shortstop Greg Paiml speared Seratelli's liner a couple of feet above the dirt and the Warthogs hung on for a wild 7-6 victory in front of a crowd of 3,005 at Ernie Shore Field.
The circumstances could not have been more dire when Seratelli stepped in against Texeira with runners at first and second and two out in the final inning of the first game of the three-game series.
The Warthogs had already choked off one run at the plate when first baseman Brett Bonvechio fielded a wayward grounder and threw Chris McConnell out at the plate.
But Seratelli had done serious damage earlier, blasting a three-run homer in the seventh to vault the Blue Rocks to a 6-5 lead.
The Warthogs clawed back ahead with two runs in the eighth, but lost Manager Tim Blackwell in the process. Blackwell was ejected (for only the second time in a season and a half) for arguing a play at first.
Although the Warthogs tied the game on the groundout, Blackwell charged umpire Matt Arcovio from the third-base coaches box, arguing that Seratelli, the first baseman, had pulled his foot off the bag well before the throw arrived. Only moments after Blackwell retired to the clubhouse, Paulo Orlando slapped a single into center to drive home Paiml with the go-ahead run.
Texeira, recently named to the Carolina League's all-star team, did himself no favors by giving up singles to two of the first three batters in faced in the ninth. But with runners at the corners and one out, Jeff Bianchi hit a grounder that rolled foul two-thirds of the way up the line before curving fair.
Bonevechio, a free agent who joined the Warthogs on Tuesday, alertly fielded the grounder and threw home to nail the lead runner. Texeira then worked the count to 1-1 on Seratelli before throwing two outside fastballs.
Seratelli, a left-handed hitter, fouled the first off the leg of Manager Darryl Kennedy in the third-base coaches box. He hit the second on a line to Paiml for the final out.
After notching his 14th save -- which ranks second in the CL -- Texeira shrugged off the pressure of closing a tight game.
"I love it," Texeria said. "It's the excitement, man.
"You're the hero or zero. It's fun being that guy."
Blackwell said that's the attitude that, along with some wicked pitches, gives Texeira a shot at pitching relief in higher classifications.
The Warthogs have won four of 11 games since ace Aaron Poreda was promoted to Class AA Birmingham, and Texeira has saved all four of them.
"He can have that short memory when something dangerous happens," Blackwell said.
The Warthogs' victory, and the way they won it, was a lift for a team that has been treading water in the CL's Southern Division for weeks. They fell behind 1-0 and 3-2 before scoring three in the sixth on a rally built around Francisco Hernandez's sharp two-run double into the left-field corner.
They could have scored more, but failed to produce with runner on third and one out in the fifth and runners at second and third with nobody out after Hernandez' double in the sixth. McConnell twice thwarted the Warthogs in the sixth, first fielding a grounder by C.J. Lang and throwing Bonevechio out at home, and then ranging far into the hole to nail the speedy Paulo Orlando at first.
"That was a nice rally at the end when some guys came through with some clutch hits," Blackwell said. "We had some scoring opportunities and hopefully we can cash in on those scoring opportunities -- no matter how infrequent they can be."
The Warthogs and Blue Rocks will play the second game of the series today at 6 p.m. Right-hander Anthony Carter (0-2, 9.00) is scheduled to pitch for the Warthogs against right-hander Matt Kniginyzky (2-6, 3.61).
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
WILM. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi
Dyson cf 5 0 0 0 Orlando cf 5 1 2 1
McCnnll ss 5 1 3 0 Sanchez rf 4 0 1 1
Mertins dh 5 1 2 0 Allen dh 4 1 1 0
Dckrsn rf 5 1 2 0 Shelby lf 4 1 2 0
Bianchi 2b 5 1 3 2 Rthrfd 3b 3 2 1 0
Seratelli 1b 4 2 1 3 Bnvcho 1b 3 1 2 2
Morizio c 2 0 0 0 Hrndz c 3 0 2 2
Perez 3b 4 0 1 1 Paiml ss 3 1 0 0
Bigler lf 3 0 0 0 Lang 2b 3 0 0 1
Totals 38 6 12 6 Totals 32 7 11 7
Wilmington 100 101 300 -- 6
Winston-Salem 011 003 02x -- 7
E--McConnell, Lang. LOB--Wilmington 9, Winston-Salem 6. 2B--McccConnell, Perez, Mertins, Bonvechio 2, Paiml, Shelby. 3B -- Retherford, Orlando. HR -- Bianchi, Seratelli. SB--Bianchi, Seratelli, Sanchez. CS--Orlando.
Wilmington IP H R ER BB SO
Teaford 5 8 5 5 2 6
Haltiwanger 2 1 0 0 0 2
de la Vara, L (3-3) 2/3 1 2 2 1 0
Chambliss 1/3 1 0 0 0 0
Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO
Zaleski 42/3 6 2 1 2 3
Dubee 21/3 4 4 4 2 2
Brooks, W (2-3) 1 0 0 0 0 3
Texeira, S, 14 1 2 0 0 0 0
WP--de la Vara. T--2:51. A--3,005.
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