Game #116 Preview — Power vs. Fireflies
Game #116 — Home Game #59
Columbia Fireflies (20–29, 54–62) vs. WV Power (23–26, 60–55)
Wednesday, August 15–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, WV)
POWER FALLS TO ROME AFTER WILD NINTH INNING: West Virginia rallied to plate three runs in the ninth inning, but Rome matched their effort in the home half of the frame and walked it off in a 5–4 win in the series finale Monday evening at State Mutual Stadium. With the Power trailing 2–1 entering the final frame, Rafelin Lorenzo reached on a fielding error by Marcos Almonte. After Kyle Watson replaced him on the basepaths, Ryan Peurifoy sacrificed him over to second with a bunt back to the pitcher. Calvin Mitchell then ripped a pinch-hit single to right, scoring Watson and knotting the game at two. Two batters later, Lolo Sanchezbeat out an infield single to third, while Almonte’s throw sailed wide of first, letting two runs score and West Virginia open up a 4–2 lead. However, Rome came right back in the bottom half of the frame against Drew Fischer. AJ Graffanino led off the inning with a double before Jefrey Ramos worked a walk and Drew Lugbauer singled in Graffanino to make it a one-run game. Fischer then hit Harris with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out before striking out Brendan Venter. The next batter, Almonte, poked a single into right field that plated Derian Cruz and Lugbauer to give Rome the walk-off victory.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: RHP Max Kranick (3–4, 4.22 ERA) toes the rubber for West Virginia, while Columbia counters with righty Zac Grotz (1–5, 5.98 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Travis Swaggerty — CF
Lolo Sanchez — LF
Calvin Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — C
Raul Hernandez — DH
Dylan Busby — 3B
Robbie Glendinning — 2B
Luke Mangieri — 1B
Connor Kaiser— SS
Max Kranick — RHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
SURGING STAFFORD: Deon Stafford had quite the series against the Rome Braves after going 1-for-3 with an RBI, a triple and three runs scored Sunday afternoon. Stafford’s three-bagger was his fifth of the season, second-most on the team to Oneil Cruz (7), while he scored three runs for just the second time in his professional career (April 14 at Hickory). Over the three games he hit in during the series, the Philadelphia native averaged .308 (4-for-13) with a grand slam, the first of his career, and seven RBI, including his career-best six-RBI effort Saturday, where he became the first Power batter to record six RBI in a single game since former West Virginia infielder Chase Simpson accomplished the feat August 5, 2015, against Greenville. Since coming off the DL August 4, the backstop is averaging .344 (10-for-29) with three home runs and 11 RBI. This surge comes after posting a .159 July clip, his worst month of the season.
HAMMERIN’ HERNANDEZ: Raul Hernandez has mashed since coming off the shelf in early July, boasting a .407 (33-for-81) clip with a home run and 15 RBI in 23 second-half contests. In the month of August, Hernandez is riding a ridiculous .559 (19-for-34) stroke with four doubles, four RBI and four runs scored over 10 games. His .559 average in the month leads all South Atlantic League sluggers. He has also been a force as the designated hitter for the Power this season. In eight starts as the DH, the backstop is averaging .630 (17-for-27) with three doubles and four RBI. Hernandez also recorded his 11th multi-hit game of the season Monday, along with his fifth three-hit affair.
GOOD START: John Pomeroy has had an easy transition to the South Atlantic League since joining West Virginia on August 8. He made his SAL debut Friday in the series opener against Rome, spinning a scoreless inning and striking out two batters. The Mossyrock, Wash., native replicated that effort in the finale Monday night, setting down all three batters he faced. Pomeroy has not allowed a run in his last seven outings, dating back to July 27 when he was in the New York-Penn League with the Short-Season A West Virginia Black Bears. The right-hander is in his first season back since undergoing Tommy John surgery in early April 2017 after suffering a torn UCL at the end of 2016.
SURGING SANCHEZ: Sanchez has hit safely in each of his last five games, a new season-best. Over this five-game stretch, Sanchez is averaging .375 (6-for-16) with five runs scored and an RBI. With his 2-for-3 effort Monday, the Dominican native posted his 20th multi-hit game of the season, third-most on the Power (Cruz, 30; Mitchell 26).
COMING AND GOING: The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a flurry of roster moves over the last two days affecting the West Virginia Power: 2018 draft picks OF Travis Swaggerty (1st Rd), INF Connor Kaiser (3rd Rd) and INF Luke Mangieri (25th Rd) were all promoted to the Power earlier today, while INF Dylan Busby rejoined the team after completing his rehab assignment with the Bristol Pirates. In corresponding moves, INFs Ben Bengtson and Kyle Watson, along with OF Fabricio Macias, were all assigned to the Black Bears, while INF Oneil Cruz was placed on the DL.
PLAYOFF PUSH: Though West Virginia fell in the series finale to Rome, Kannapolis also dropped its finale to Lexington Monday, keeping the Power 1.5 games back of the Intimidators for the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division Wild Card spot. If Lakewood takes home the second-half Northern Division title, which they currently lead by 4.5 games over the Hickory Crawdads, the second Northern Division playoff spot would go to the next best overall record in the division, which is currently Kannapolis at 62–54. West Virginia has 19 games remaining in the 2018 season, with four of its five series coming against teams with sub-.500 records in 2018. Of those five series, only one comes against a Northern Division foe, when West Virginia welcomes the Hagerstown Suns to town from August 27–30.
ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 & 1340 AM in the Kanawha Valley, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. David Kahn and John Kocsis will handle play-by-play duties in 2018. Wednesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
