2019: The All-Star Cardiac Kids
March 26 was Opening Day for the 2020 MLB season… or at least it would have been, if not for the COVID-19 outbreak that has put our entire world, and basically all sports, on an indefinite hold. However, without the coronavirus, today would be MiLB Opening Day. With 15 seasons in the books for the West Virginia Power, we’ve been turning back the calendar and revisiting each of the first 15 Opening Days in Power history.
We opened the first chapter of the West Virginia Power with the 2005 Opening Day game in Hagerstown. Friday, we looked back at the first home opener in team history in 2006. The winning streak continued Saturday with the 2007 opener, and then we dredged through the rain-soaked 2008 debut. We relived the excitement from the 2009 All-Star season, moved on to the 2010 campaign, and dove into the 2011 opener. We broke down one of the heaviest MLB-laden teams in the 2012 season, and then we saw a return trip to the postseason in 2013. After looking through the team’s worst overall record ever in 2014, we dove into the team with the best record in Power history in 2015. Then, we reminisced on the incredible season for Mitch Keller in 2016, and pushed on to the 2017 campaign, where Luis Escobar set the single-season Power strikeout record. We covered our penultimate season breakdown in 2018 yesterday, and now it’s time to wrap things up with the 2019 season.
Last year had a ton of twists and turns for fans of the West Virginia Power. First, a new affiliate strolled into town, as the Power joined up with the Seattle Mariners following a 10-year relationship with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Second, this season had a little something extra to it, as it was not only the 15th season of Power baseball, but also the second All-Star season in the Power era. Needless to say, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance off the field, and yet, this group of players managed to match that level on the field.
David Berg’s group ended up posting a 69–70 record in 2019, missing out on the playoffs mainly due to Delmarva having one of the greatest historical seasons in Minor League history. However, there was a ton of talent in West Virginia, while sluggers like Bobby Honeyman, Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez, along with hurlers Dayeison Arias, Clay Chandler, Logan Gilbert, Steven Moyers, Bryan Pall, Devin Sweet and more.
Nearly every member of the Power had some kind of defining moment in 2019, with Honeyman and Kelenic notching 18-game hitting streaks and Julio robbing two homers and blistering 450-plus foot bombs, while Arias had a 20-plus-inning scoreless streak, Chandler threw up a miniscule sub-0.50 ERA in April (0.31 ERA, the second-best mark in the SAL in April), Gilbert dominated the league straight up, Moyers tied the Power record for quality starts in a single season, Pall turned in one of the most resilient seasons (in his debut year) ever, and Sweet tossed the first nine-inning complete game in Power history.
Even with all of those memories, you’re still leaving out Dean Nevarez’s two home run game, with the latter walking it off against Asheville in April, while Jake Anchia drilled a walk-off dinger against Kannapolis about two and a half weeks after his eighth-inning grand slam stunned Delmarva as they were trying to secure a playoff berth. We also cannot forget Ryne Inman’s nine-inning complete game shutout in Lakewood in August, also the first of that variety in Power history, coming a little less than two weeks after Sweet’s gem. Oh, and remember when Nick Rodriguez hit a home run as the pitcher? Yeah, we definitely do. Like I said, this team was full of heart-stopping, incredible feats day in and day out.
The 2019 season began in intriguing fashion as well, with the Power heading south to Greenville, S.C., to open the season at Fluor Field at the West End for the first time in team history. Of course, West Virginia had just faced Greenville a season ago in Charleston and got whacked, 8–1, but that’s not what played out this time.
Logan Gilbert made his professional debut for the Power and was brilliant, ceding just two hits over four shutout innings with five strikeouts. In fact, neither team scored in regulation, as West Virginia’s Opening Day match-up went to extra innings for the third time in team history. Both teams combined for four hits total, but the Power’s bullpen trio of David Ellingson, Arias and Sweet was able to contain the Drive’s offense just a tad more. The Power broke through in the top of the 10th, as Anchia singled in Cesar Trejo to start the frame and give West Virginia a 1–0 lead they would not relinquish. Sweet locked down the win in the bottom half of the stanza, finishing off a three-inning, one-hit relief gem in his Power debut.
The 1–0 victory became quite familiar for West Virginia that season, as the Power would secure six 1–0 triumphs that year, a new single-season record for the club. The most memorable of those 1–0 wins was the pair in mid-June, when the Power claimed back-to-back 1–0 victories over the Shorebirds to sweep the eventual first-half Northern Division champions.
West Virginia had quite the propensity for late-inning magic as well, notching seven walk-off wins in 2019, with two homers, two singles, two sacrifice flies and a walk ending those games. One of these walk-offs came after the Power was being no-hit, while another capped a comeback from a five-run eighth-inning deficit, and others you could just see coming. This team was absolutely relentless, and they had a ton of fun with their celebrations.
Of course, the Power was blessed to have the top three Mariners prospects on their team to start the season: Gilbert, Kelenic and J-Rod. Though Gilbert and Kelenic were both in Modesto before the end of the first half, they helped craft one of the top months in team history in April, when West Virginia went 17–7, the second-best start ever for the Power. Gilbert went 1–0 with a 1.59 ERA in five starts, while Kelenic mashed 11 homers in 50 games to go along with a .309 average during his time in Charleston.
We’ve broken them down ad nauseam before, but suffice it to say, those two were fun to watch, as was the J-Rod show, even though Julio missed most of the first half due to a hairline fracture in his wrist. Julio played with such a vibrant enthusiasm that you couldn’t help but love him and relish watching him out on the field day in and day out.
And of course, we cannot talk about the 2019 season without the All-Star Game. West Virginia hosted the SAL’s Midsummer Classic for the second time in Power history in 2019, and it was a smashing success. From a memorable FanFest Monday evening to Curtis Terry crushing 30 long balls to win the Home Run Derby to Doran Turchin’s three-run eighth-inning double to vault the Northern Division ahead for good in the All-Star Game, the entire All-Star festivities were brimming with can’t miss moments. The ballpark was sold out with 6,237 fans in attendance, and they were all treated to a tremendous evening.
Anchia, Arias, Chandler and Pall represented West Virginia in the Midsummer Classic, with Anchia earning the starting catcher nod for the Northern Division. Meanwhile, Pall pitched a scoreless second inning and Arias secured the final out in a 6–2 Northern Division win.
While that quartet represented West Virginia at the season’s midway point, it was Honeyman who stood above the rest at year’s end, and deservedly so. Honeyman snagged Postseason All-Star honors at third base for the second straight year of his career (2018 with Short-Season Everett), the first Power player to claim that accolade at the hot corner since 2007 (Taylor Green).
Since July 3, Honeyman was the best hitter in the South Atlantic League, averaging .341 (also the third-best mark in all of Class A and A+ baseball) with two homers, 25 RBI, 28 runs and just 24 strikeouts in 182 at-bats. In that stretch, Honeyman worked in his 18-game hitting streak, the longest of his career, and also hit safely in 38 of his final 47 games. The infielder led the Power with 33 multi-hit games as well.
As for record-holders, it was the pitching staff who etched their way into the Power record books, accumulating 1270 strikeouts, the most by the club in a single season in Power history, while tying the team’s season mark for shutouts in a campaign (13).
Individually, Inman and Sweet lit up the strike zone, with Inman boasting 146 punchouts (3rd-most in Power history) and Sweet racking up 131 (tied for 5th-most in Power history). Also, Arias notched 13 saves, tied for fourth-most in Power history.
Sweet recorded 12 strikeouts in his complete game performance against Rome in late July, the second-most punchouts by a West Virginia starter in Power history (Tyler Glasnow, 13, 2013). The Greensboro native put himself on the prospect radar in the second half, compiling a 2.59 ERA in his first 12 pro starts, the third-lowest mark in the league from June 16 to the end of the season. Inman also locked in a 12-strikeout night during his complete game shutout in Lakewood a few weeks later.
That’s a wrap on our look back through the first 15 years of Power history. We hope you’ve enjoyed reminiscing on these wonderful memories, and we can’t wait to create 15 more years of these moments with you soon!
