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July 15, 2005
WV Power Down Lakewood Blue Claws 5–3
by Grant Traylor
Huntington News Network Sportswriter
Lakewood, NJ (HNN) – The West Virginia Power is quickly learning how to win close games as they defeated the Lakewood Blue Claws 5–3 on Thursday evening, July 14, 2005.
Ryan Braun led the Power surge with a solo home run and three RBI in the victory.
The victory is West Virginia's third in four contests with all the games being decided by two runs or less.
West Virginia jumped out to an early 1–0 lead in a way that is becoming familiar to South Atlantic League teams.
Alcides Escobar led the game off with a single, stole second and scored on Braun's groundout to give the Power the advantage.
Lakewood clawed their way back into the game in the bottom of the second as West Virginia pitcher Josh Baker endured control problems.
After giving up a leadoff single to Jason Jaramillo, Baker walked Ryan Frith to give Lakewood runners on first and second with no one out.
A sacrifice by Sean Gamble moved the runners to second and third before a wild pitch by Baker plated Jaramillo.
However, Baker was able to get a ground out and strike out to leave Frith stranded at third and the game knotted at 1.
Lakewood threatened again in the third, but the West Virginia defense flexed its muscle to prevent any runs.
After a leadoff walk, Braun started a double play that gave Baker two outs and some relief as he continued to battle control problems.
However, he would not record another out as a single by Doug Gredvig and a walk to Samuel Orr gave the Blue Claws another chance with men in scoring position.
Baker was lifted in favor for Steven Hammond, who instantly gave up a single to Jaramillo. However, Joshua Brady gunned down Gredvig trying to score on the play and the game remained knotted at 1.
West Virginia took advantage for good in the fifth inning when Nestor Corredor reached and went to second on a throwing error by Jaramillo.
Corredor then scored on Braun's sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Power a 2–1 lead.
The Power put the game out of reach in the sixth inning after tagging starter Maximino De La Cruz.
Hasan Rasheed led off with a double then moved to third on a groundout. He came across and scored on a single by Carlos Corporan, who moved to third on a throwing error by Frith.
A wild pitch plated Corporan to give West Virginia a 4–1 lead after six innings of play.
Braun continued his strong all–around performance in the seventh inning when he knocked a pitch over the left–center field wall to give West Virginia a 5–1 advantage.
Lakewood mounted a rally in the eighth, scoring a pair on a homerun by Gredvig to cut the lead to 5–3 and had a chance of climbing back in the ninth.
Reliever Eric Thomas gave up a pair of singles with one out to end his night and Robert Hinton was called on to get the save.
Following a strikeout, Hinton walked Michael Dzurilla to load the bases for Gredvig, who had homered in the last inning.
With the game in the balance, Gredvig stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and a prime opportunity to please the home crowd. However, Hinton caught him looking for the final out to preserve the victory.
With the win, West Virginia moves to 9–11 on the season while Lakewood fell to 9–11.
The two teams meet in the series finale Friday, July 15, 2005 at 7:05 p.m.
