Link Report for Thurs. 9/11 -- Power Falls in Final; Minor League Seasons Complete

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Tuesday's Daily Menu:

 

West Virginia: LHP Dan Merklinger at Augusta (Giants), 5:55 PM Central Time pre-game, 6:05 PM gametime; Game Two of a Best-of-Five; Power down, 1-0, final three games would be in Charleston

 

Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t525

 

***

 

Box Score / Game Log:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_09_09_wvaafx_augafx_1

[battlekow]

Merklinger's doing a hell of a job so far.

[battlekow]

Brutal 6th inning for Mike Ramlow:

 

* Dom Duggan lines out to right fielder Caleb Gindl.

* Shane Jordan singles on a line drive to right fielder Caleb Gindl.

* Pitcher Change: Mike Ramlow replaces Daniel Merklinger.

* With Nick Noonan batting, Shane Jordan steals (1) 2nd base.

* Nick Noonan singles on a ground ball to center fielder Logan Schafer. Shane Jordan scores.

* Juan Ciriaco flies out to center fielder Logan Schafer.

* Dayton Buller singles on a pop up to first baseman Curt Rindal. Nick Noonan scores. Dayton Buller advances to 3rd, on throwing error by first baseman Curt Rindal.

* Angel Villalona homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Dayton Buller scores.

* Pitcher Change: Corey Frerichs replaces Mike Ramlow.

* Garrett Baker strikes out swinging, catcher Anderson De La Rosa to first baseman Curt Rindal.

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Daily Mail:

 

Green Jackets' four-run rally sends Power down 2-0

West Virginia heads home for Game 3 Thursday, needing three wins for elusive SAL title

 

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For the West Virginia Power, it's one and done.

 

The Power headed home to Charleston from here late Tuesday, down 2-0 in the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship Series to Augusta. For a second straight night of postseason baseball, the GreenJackets' strong pitching staff made it tough on the SAL's top hitting team.

 

Augusta scored four runs in the sixth inning for a 5-1 victory at Lake Olmstead Stadium behind the SAL's top pitcher, 19-year-old lefty Madison Bumgarner, who is 17-3 on the season, including two playoff wins.

 

So, the Northern Division champion Power needs three straight victories in the series from Thursday through Saturday nights at Appalachian Power Park if the Charleston franchise is to get its first SAL title team since 1990.

 

Charleston teams have now lost 11 straight in SAL Championship Series history, getting swept in 1991, 1992 and last season.

 

Power Manager Jeff Isom will send ace right-hander Evan Anundsen (12-8 in the regular season, 1-0 in the playoffs) to the mound Thursday at 7:05 (6:05 Central) in hopes of stopping that skid.

 

The Power lost the series opener 9-3 Monday and in going down 2-0 has only 12 hits.

 

In four straight playoff wins (two over Asheville in a Southern Division series sweep), Augusta has a 0.50 team earned run average after easily leading the SAL with a 2.95 ERA during the regular season.

 

Southern Division champ Augusta (a San Francisco Giants' farm team) closed its home season by winning 31 of its final 38 games at its pitcher-friendly home park.

 

In Tuesday's game, West Virginia starter Dan Merklinger allowed Augusta only two hits through five innings before the GreenJackets struck in the sixth.

 

The GreenJacket rally started off Merklinger with a one-out single by Shane Jordan. West Virginia brought in reliever Mike Ramlow, who was greeted by a Nick Noonan single to score Jordan for a 1-1 tie.

 

Two batters later, Dayton Buller's two-out pop behind first base fell between three Power fielders. Noonan never broke stride on the play and scored from first base for the Augusta lead. Angel Villalona followed with a two-run homer on Ramlow's next pitch.

 

Ramlow (1-1 in playoffs) took the loss. Bumgarner allowed the Power only one unearned run and four hits over six innings of work for the win. Mitch Lively closed the game with three perfect innings for the Augusta save.

 

The lone West Virginia run came in the fourth. Logan Schafer began the inning with a single, moved to third on Steffan Wilson's one-out double down the left field line and scored the first run of the game on a passed ball on Buller.

 

Left-hander Scott Barnes (3-2) will get the GreenJackets' start in Game 3 Thursday night.

[Mass Haas]

Too bad the travel day in this series is Wednesday, the only evening we could have focused on that broadcast rather than the Brewers.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power in danger of getting swept again

By Ryan Pritt, Charleston Gazette

 

It may seem like déjà vu all over again, and in fact it is.

 

After Tuesday night's 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Augusta GreenJackets, the West Virginia Power now faces an 0-2 deficit in the South Atlantic League championship series for the second straight year, and another loss will end their season.

 

After a day off Wednesday, the series resumes at 7:05 (6:05 Central) tonight at Appalachian Power Park.

 

The good news for Power fans may be that at least the team has been in this situation before.

 

The bad news is that last year, when faced with the same predicament, the Power responded by getting hammered 6-0, completing a sweep at the hands of the Columbus Catfish. In fact, Charleston-based Sally League teams have lost 11 straight championship series games, getting swept in 2007, and in 1991 and 1992 as the Charleston Wheelers.

 

Unfortunately, there are several similarities between this year's team and last year's team.

 

Just like last season, West Virginia's high-octane offense has been stymied at the season's most crucial time. As it did in 2007, the Power entered the 2008 playoffs as the SAL's leader in batting average and runs. Mirroring the 2007 team's struggles, the Power has been held to four runs combined in the first two games of this year's championship series.

 

Last season, the Power's Game 1 pitching opponent was Lewis Rollins, who led the SAL in wins and was second in strikeouts during the 2007 regular season. Tuesday night in Game 2, it was Augusta's Madison Bumgarner who shut West Virginia down. Bumgarner was this year's Sally League pitcher of the year and led the league in wins and strikeouts.

 

After being pushed to a deciding Game 3 in the opening round of the playoffs last year by the Hickory Crawdads, the Power ran into a Catfish club that made quick work of its opening round opponent, and after sweeping down the Power went 5-0 in the postseason.

 

West Virginia overcame a 1-0 deficit in this year's opening round against the Lake County Captains, winning the series 2-1. But with another loss tonight, it could guarantee an undefeated playoff record for an opposing Southern Division team for the second straight year. Augusta ousted the Asheville Tourists in a two-game sweep in the first round last week.

 

Power fans are pinning their hopes on the right arm of tonight's starter, Evan Anundsen. Despite modest regular-season numbers (12-8, 4.28 era, 102 strikeouts), Anundsen was lights-out in his Game 2 playoff start against Lake County, going seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, walking one and striking out six.

 

But for the Power and its 11-game championship series skid, there is no goat to blame, no curse of the Babe, not even a rival's jersey buried deep within the concrete of 3-year-old Appalachian Power Park.

 

It's just bad offense.

 

Zelous Wheeler and Steffan Wilson were both among the Southern Atlantic League's top 10 in RBIs this season, but neither player has driven in a run thus far in the championship series.

 

Caleb Gindl and Eric Fryer both hit over .300 during the regular season, ranking them among the top 13 in the Sally League, but the two are a combined 4-for-15 against Augusta in the first two games.

 

There is no doubt that if Fryer, Wheeler, Wilson, Gindl and the other Power hitters can't find a way to resurrect an offense that blistered opposing pitching during the regular season, history just may repeat itself.

 

For the fourth straight time.

[Mass Haas]

Tough matchup history-wise

West Virginia's starter tonight will be right-hander Evan Anundsen, who gave up four earned runs in four innings in his only regular-season start against the GreenJackets, which came Aug. 11.

Lefty Scott Barnes, who allowed one hit in seven shutout innings in the same game, will take the mound for the GreenJackets.

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

 

West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen at home vs. Augusta (Giants), 5:55 PM Central Time pre-game, 6:05 PM gametime; Game Three of a Best-of-Five; Power down, 2-0

 

Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t525

 

***

 

Box Score / Game Log:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_09_11_augafx_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power faces another elimination game

by Michael Dailey

Charleston Daily Mail sports writer

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Another day, another elimination game.

 

That's what the West Virginia Power faces tonight when it takes the field in game three of the South Atlantic League Championship Series at Appalachian Power Park.

 

After dropping a pair of road games to the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets to open the series, West Virginia now must win one game to keep the best-of-five series alive and three straight to claim the franchise's first league title since 1990.

 

The first pitch is slated for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central), with West Virginia sending ace Evan Anundsen (12-8 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) to the mound against Augusta's Scott Barnes (3-2, 1.38 ERA in the regular season).

 

Anundsen is 1-1 against Augusta this season, with his loss coming to Barnes in the GreenJackets' 6-0 win on Aug. 11. Barnes is 1-0 against the Power.

 

The Power will host games four and five on Friday and Saturday evenings if necessary.

 

So far in the series, pitching has bested the hitting as the GreenJackets' league-best pitching staff (2.95 ERA) has limited the Power's league-best hitting club (.276) to just four runs and 14 hits.

 

West Virginia is batting 14-of-66 (.212) in the series.

 

"There's a reason why they're No. 1 in pitching in our league and they've shown it to us the first two games," Power Manager Jeff Isom said.

 

Anundsen's outing will be his second straight with his team facing playoff elimination.

 

After the Power lost the opener to Lake County (Ohio) in the Northern Division playoffs, Anundsen won game two of the best-of-three series.

 

"We had our backs against the wall and he comes in and throws an awesome game against Lake County," Isom said of Anundsen. "He went seven innings and gave up two hits. He really responded for us right there."

 

Isom holds out hope for a similar come-from-behind win against the GreenJackets.

 

"We're down 2-0 at this point and our backs are against the wall again," Isom said. "But I don't think this is anything that's too unfamiliar for us. We just need to take care of business at our place now."

 

In an effort to do just that, the Power players and coaches are approaching game three with confidence and surprisingly little stress.

 

"We've got to win three straight at home if we want to win a championship here," Isom said. "We've told our guys since the start of the season that they were going to be judged by how you played in the regular season.

 

"The playoffs are great, and winning a championship would be great, but we've had a successful season up to this point, so there's no pressure on us. We've just got to go out there and win ball games, have fun and just do what we've been doing to put ourselves in this position."

 

West Virginia is 3-7 this season against Augusta, including 2-2 at Appalachian Power Park.

[TheCrew07]

WV down to their last AB... Gindl is one of the few Power hitters to have a good series.

 

Wilson triples off the wall to lead off the bottom of the 9th.

 

Gindl grounds out to score Wilson and nothing happens after that, Power swept.

 

 

Mass,

I'd like to thank you especially but all of the staffers as well who contributed to the Link Reports all year. Thank you very much for all your efforts.

[wvpowerblkwel]

Guys...it has been a great season! Thanks for your efforts! I guess with the exception of following some of my "old boys", our association with the Brewers is drawing to an end here in Charleston? I sure hope not, but even if it's so, I'll be lurking around following up on the guys I have gotten to know as they came thru town. This year we hosted Caleb Gindl and Rob Bryson, and they both made baseball season a pleasure for me and my family. I'm sure I'll be around, but I doubt you guys will be interested in my photos next season unless I make a few road trips to see my guys! Thanks for all the discussion here on Brewerfan...it has been fun and informative!

 

WVPowerblkwel...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Augusta (Giants) 4, West Virginia 3

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

GREENJACKETS SWEEP POWER TO CLAIM SAL CROWN

 

The Augusta GreenJackets defeated the West Virginia Power 4-3 on Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park and swept the best of five series to claim their first South Atlantic League Championship since 1999.

 

Shane Jordan and Nick Noonan started the game with back-to-back base hits. Dayton Buller walked to load the bases and Thomas Neal brought in the first run of the game with a bases loaded walk. Garrett Baker reached on Zelous Wheeler's fielding error at third to bring in the second run of the inning.

 

West Virginia cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second on Matt Cline's two-out RBI single. The GreenJackets plated their final two runs on Noonan's two-out single in the fourth inning. Caleb Gindl belted his first postseason homer in the bottom of the fourth to bring the Power within two. Steffan Wilson began the ninth inning with a triple and scored the final run of the game on Gindl's groundout.

 

Scott Barnes (2-0) allowed a pair of runs on five hits over six innings and earned the victory. Evan Anundsen (1-1) was pulled two-thirds of the way through the first inning because he had thrown 40 pitches. He allowed a pair of runs on two hits and was tagged with the loss. Andrew De La Garza allowed a run on two hits over two innings to earn his third save of the post season.

 

The franchise has now lost 12 straight games in the Championship Round, a stretch that goes all the way back to 1991. Steffan Wilson paced the Power with a 3-for-4 performance. He was the only Power player with a multi-hit game on the night.

 

The loss ends West Virginia's successful 2008 season. They finished the year with a record of 77-62 after starting the year 3-12. They will begin the 2009 season at home against the Lexington Legends on Thursday, April 9th.

 

West Virginia Box Score

Rob Wooten finished with three scoreless innings to keep it close...

 

West Virginia Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power swept away

Augusta wraps up Sally League title with 4-3 victory

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

On a night that held the cruel prospect of elimination, the early omens did not bode favorably for the home team.

 

After just two pitches, the Augusta GreenJackets already had advanced base-runners to first and second - the result of solid singles to center and right, respectively.

 

Two walks and an error followed in the inning, giving the GreenJackets two quick runs and sending them on to a 4-3 victory over the West Virginia Power and the South Atlantic League championship Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

A festive crowd of 2,715 seemed to sense the Power's do-or-die predicament and was noticeably noisier and more expressive than usual, especially in key moments. Manager Jeff Isom called it the best crowd of the season.

 

The GreenJacket victory completed a three-game sweep in the best-of-five series and, amazingly enough, handed the Charleston franchise its 12th straight loss in SAL championship series play.

 

In addition to these three losses, the Power dropped three in a row last year and three in each of the 1991 and '92 finals when the team called itself the Charleston Wheelers and was a Cincinnati Reds affiliate.

 

For the Power, a Northern Division championship and a berth in the championship round scarcely seemed possible four months ago. The team opened the season with 12 losses in its first 15 games and ended the first half with a 32-37 record.

 

"After watching the first half,'' Power outfielder Caleb Gindl said after the game, "you wouldn't think we had a shot.''

 

All in all, Gindl added, the season offered a good lesson in perseverance.

 

"I learned to never give up, no matter how far down you are,'' he said. "It looked like we didn't have a shot in the first half. We came back in the second half and made it this far. We had a great run. [i learned to] never get down. Keep your head up and keep plugging away no matter what the situation.''

 

Added infielder Zelous Wheeler, "We had fun. This team had tight chemistry. Things didn't go our way, but we played well.''

 

Similarly, Isom found solace in the team's turnaround.

 

"It's been an exciting year for us,'' said the first-year Power manager. "We go from struggling in the first half to playing for the championship.

 

We look at this as a victory for us the way the second half went. I'm very pleased with every one of our players. They improved as the season went on. I'm very pleased with the effort and what they did on the field in the second half.''

 

Against Augusta, however, the league's top-hitting team generated little offense in the three games, finishing with just seven runs and 21 hits against a pitching staff that led the league with a 2.95 earned run average.

 

But the GreenJackets, a Giants farm club, did more than lead the league in ERA.

 

"We were 93-50, and that's the best winning percentage in all of professional baseball,'' said Augusta manager Andy Skeels. "I'm here to tell you that.''

 

In winning five straight postseason games, Augusta pitchers yielded just five runs and 29 hits.

 

After the GreenJackets took a 2-0 first-inning lead, the Power scored in the second on singles by Steffan Wilson, Curt Rindal and Matt Cline.

 

The GreenJackets scored two in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, but Gindl homered to right-center in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Leading off the ninth, Wilson tripled high off the wall in left and came home on Gindl's infield out.

 

POWER POINTS: The Power finished 77-62 in the regular season and 3-5 in the postseason. ... Augusta starter Scott Barnes pitched for St. John's University in the spring and was taken in the eighth round of the June draft. He entered Thursday's game with a 1.38 ERA and had allowed just 15 hits in 32 innings with the GreenJackets. Against the Power Thursday, he allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. ... Wilson had three of the Power's seven hits. ... The Charleston franchise's last SAL title came in 1990.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power swept in SAL Championship Series

by Michael Dailey

Charleston Daily Mail sports writer

 

It's been 18 long seasons since the last South Atlantic League championship banner was hoisted in Charleston.

 

On Thursday evening, the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets extended the championship drought for at least another season.

 

The GreenJackets completed a three-game sweep of the West Virginia Power in the SAL Championship Series with a 4-3 win in front of 2,715 fans at Appalachian Power Park.

 

The win clinched Augusta's first league title since the 1999 season, and was the club's 16th win in its last 21 games. Augusta went 5-0 in the postseason.

 

"We went 93-50 this year and that's the best winning percentage in any league, so I think that shows that we've playing well the whole season," said Augusta skipper Andy Skeels, after a champagne shower. "But we played real well going down the stretch.

 

"Our pitching carried us and we got some timely hits along the way. It all worked out very well."

 

Augusta starter Scott Barnes picked up his second win of the season over the Power in allowing five hits and two runs over six innings.

 

David Mixon pitched a perfect seventh inning before giving way to Andrew De La Garza, who earned a save in tossing two innings.

 

West Virginia fell behind 2-0 in the first inning as the GreenJackets jumped on Charleston starter Evan Anundsen early.

 

A pair of singles, two walks and an error helped chase Anundsen after just two-thirds of an inning.

 

Augusta plated its final two runs on a two-out double by Nick Noonan, who finished the series 5-of-12 (.417), with four runs and three RBI.

 

For the Power, the loss was the franchise's 12th straight in the SAL Championship Series, having also been swept in 1991, 1992 and 2007.

 

Still, the Power didn't go down without a fight.

 

West Virginia plated a run in the second on an RBI single by Matt Cline to cut the Augusta lead to 2-1.

 

Caleb Gindl slashed the lead to 4-2 with a solo homer to right center in the fourth inning.

 

The Power plated the game's final run in the bottom of the ninth when Steffan Wilson led off the inning with a triple off the left-center field wall.

 

Wilson scored on a Gindl groundout, before De La Garza ended the season by striking out Curt Rindal.

 

"We just tried to keep battling," said Power third baseman Zelous Wheeler. "Things just didn't go our way. They got a couple of breaks here and there, but we battled our butts off and we had a good season."

 

Even with the abrupt and disappointing end of the season, Power Manager Jeff Isom is proud of the great strides the team made this season.

 

"I'll look back on this season and reflect on how we started the season," said Isom, of the Power's 32-37 first half record. "Things weren't very good. We didn't hit the ball, we didn't pitch the ball very well and our defense was in question as well.

 

"But our guys made great adjustments along the way. As the season went on into the second half, it was really great for our staff to just watch these players get better as the season went on."

 

The Power went 45-25 in the SAL season's second half and finished with an overall record of 77-62.

[BillScottCanRake]

Jim, I wanted to take a few seconds to say how much I really appreciate all the hard work you put into the Minor League Forum this season, from the Link Report to the Transaction threads to Diaries and Alumni threads.

 

Hopefully the Brewers can right the ship and make the last half of September an enjoyable playoff run.

 

Thanks again!