Akron 9, Reading 4 (Akron leads best-of-five series 1-0)
Reading jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but errors proved to be their demise as
they lost the opener of their best-of-five series with Akron 9-4. Neil Sellers,
Domonic Brown and Kevin Nelson strung together three straight singles to load
the bases with one out in the second and Freddy Galvis hit a groundball to first
baseman Beau Mills that scored Sellers from third. On the play, a throwing error
by Akron shortstop Carlos Rivera allowed Brown to score, giving Reading their
early lead.
Akron cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third with an RBI double from
Josh Rodriguez. An inning later, an error by Sellers put runners on first and
second, but it appeared that starter Matthew Way would pitch out of the jam when
he retired the next two hitters. After a base hit loaded the bases, Jared Head
doubled to center to score two runs and put Akron up 3-2.
Things stayed pretty quiet until the bottom of the sixth when Akron would
plate two more runs when John Drennan would launch a two-run shot to center as
the Aeros extended their lead to 5-1. Things started to look better for Reading
when Chance Chapman got them out of the sixth and threw a one-two-three seventh
inning. In the top of the eighth, Reading rallied for two runs off reliever
Steven Wright. With runners on first and third and one out, Mike Spidale hit a
ground ball that plated one run and Ozzie Chavez followed with an RBI double as
Reading made it a 5-4 game.
After Chapman gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth, Mike Zagurski came on in relief. What should have been a sacrifice bunt to put a
runner on second with one out actually turned into runners on first and third
with nobody out on a throwing error by Nelson. An RBI single and a sacrifice fly
put Akron's lead back to five as they led 9-4 going to the final inning.
Josh Judy, who had come on to get the final out of the eighth inning, threw a
perfect ninth for Akron to give them a one-game to none lead in the best-of-five
series.
Lakewood 4, Kannapolis 2
Matt Way pitched a gem, his seven inning effort went a long way in winning game one
of the South Atlantic League Northern Division Championship Series by the score
of 4-2 on Wednesday night. The series is a best-of-three that continues in
Lakewood on Friday night.
The
Intimidators got on the board first as two base hits and a double plated a run
in the very first inning off of Matthew Way, but the lefty then settled down and
did so in a big way. Way
ended up pitching seven innings, allowing just the one run in the first inning.
He struck out seven and walked just one. The lefty from Alaska was a member of
the 2009 draft class and has made a quick impression on the coaching staff to
earn him a start in the first game of the series and he didn't disappoint.
The
BlueClaws got on the board in the second inning with an unearned run as
Sebastian Valle led off with a ground ball to short that was thrown high and
into the seats behind first base. After a sacrifice bunt from Brian Gump, Travis Mattair punched a single through a drawn-in infield to tie the game at one-to-one.
The
BlueClaws grabbed two runs in the third inning as D'Arby Myers walked to leadoff
before Anthony Gose singled. With runners on second and third, Travis d'Arnaud
singled in Myers to take a 2-1 lead. The other run came in as starter Charlie
Leesman threw a wild pitch.
Leesman,
the South Atlantic League leader in wins in the regular season, went five
innings and allowed three runs, two earned. Those numbers were a far cry from
what Leesman did against Lakewood in the regular season when he retired 20
straight BlueClaws hitters. He allowed eight hits in the game on Wednesday.
The
BlueClaws left runners on second and third in both the fourth and sixth and left
the bases loaded in the seventh but broke through again with a run in the
eighth.With
one out, Myers walked again, was singled to third by Gose and scored on a
sacrifice fly to centerfield to make it 4-1. The BlueClaws though left the bases
loaded again in the inning.
 |
| Travis Mattair delivers an RBI single in Lakewood's 4-2 win over Kannapolis. The best-of-three series now comes to Lakewood for Game Two on Friday night. |
In
the bottom of the eighth the BlueClaws brought in Austin Hyatt and he delivered
with a one-two-three inning, but things got interesting in the ninth. Santo
Hernandez came on and allowed a leadoff single before recording the first out.
He then balked twice and sent Luis Sierra to third. With the runner on third,
Hernandez walked Dan Black before an RBI groundout made it 4-2. Hernandez then
faced Kenny Williams, who almost tripled down the line in right but the ball was
called foul. Hernandez then came back to strike out Williams to end the
ballgame.
The best-of-three series now shifts to Lakewood on Friday
night, when the 'Claws can clinch the series and head to the South Atlantic
League Finals with a win.