Updated August 02 2017
Forest City traveled down to Lexington County for a pair of seven inning games against the Lexington County Blowfish (20-28, 11-10) on Tuesday night. The Owls (32-18, 13-10) split the doubleheader, clinching a first round home playoff game on Tuesday.
Game 1:
Game one of the doubleheader was an offensive barrage by the Owls. However, it was the Blowfish who broke open the scoring in the opening inning on an RBI groundout by Nick Guimbarda (Presbyterian) that brought in Marshawn Taylor (Grambling) to score.
After that, Forest City scored ten unanswered runs to blow the game open and push the contest out of reach for Lexington.
The Owls grabbed the lead in the 2nd with a two-run homerun (2) off the bat of Joel McDaniel (Appalachian State), putting Forest City on top 2-1.
In the 4th, Forest City extended the lead starting with an RBI double by Alex Conaway (Lander). Moment’s later, Chase Barbary (Western Carolina) drove in two more on a two-RBI double making it 5-1 Owls.
On the mound, Forest City looked to left-hander Danny Poidomani (Stevens Institute) for the start. Poidomani tossed five innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six batters.
Poidomani’s cushion got more comfortable on the mound in the 5th, as two more Owls runs scored. First, it was an RBI single for Seth Hoagland (Iona) followed by another RBI double by Conaway. Hoagland went 4-4 on the night with four runs scored and two RBI’s.
In the 6th, the Owls added their final runs as the meat of the order combined for back-to-back homeruns. Chris Chatfield (South Florida) went first, launching a two-run homerun (9) to right field, making it 9-1.
Next, Hoagland crushed a solo homerun to right field (4), giving Forest City an insurmountable 10-1 lead.
The Blowfish mustered up three runs in the 6th themselves to make the final score more respectable, but in the end the Owls lead was too big. Forest City held on to win game one 10-4.
Game 2:
Game two of the doubleheader followed 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Forest City picked up where they left off from game one in the second game, jumping on Lexington starting pitcher Christian Aragon (USC-Aiken).
The Owls struck for three runs in the opening frame, starting with an RBI double by Chris Chatfield (South Florida).
Two batters later, AJ Wright (UMBC) increased the lead with a two-RBI single with two outs that made it 3-0 Forest City. Wright went 3-3 in game two with two RBI’s and a double.
On the mound, the Owls went with right-hander Alec Bivins (Mars Hill). In the 2nd, Bivins ran into some trouble against the Blowfish offense.
Lexington County’s offense put up five runs on the Forest City ace in the 2nd, highlighted by a two-run homerun by Zach Spivey (Bethune-Cookman).
Besides that inning, in which Bivins allowed five runs on five hits, the right-hander held the opposition scoreless with only one hit allowed in five innings pitched.
Meanwhile, after the 1st, the Owls offense stalled and never did anything else the rest of the night.
Despite being the better team in 13 of 14 innings played between both games, Forest City came away with a split against the Blowfish as Lexington County took game two of the doubleheader 5-3.
The Owls return to action on Thursday after a day off on Wednesday as Forest City travels to Florence to take on the Redwolves at 7:05 p.m.
You can listen to all the action of the game on the Forest City Owls Radio Network and on WCAB 590AM.
To find out more about 2017 Owls playoff tickets or 2018 Owls Season Tickets, please contact the Owls Office at 828-245-0000 or visit the website at www.forestcitybaseball.com.
The Coastal Plain League is the nation’s premier summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 22nd season in 2018, the CPL features 16 teams playing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL has had over 1,450 alumni drafted and 111 of those – including 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander – make their Major League debut; while another notable alum – Russell Wilson – won Super Bowl XLVIII. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com and follow us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @CPLBaseball..Contact:Zachary Penrice
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