Owens masterful again in Salem’s 5-2 triumph

Five days after dealing six hitless innings in the first-ever Salem Red Sox no-hitter, Henry Owens once against held his foe without a base hit on Monday night in Woodbridge. Owens departed after five, and Salem lost the shutout in the sixth and the no-no in the seventh, but the Red Sox hung on for a 5-2 victory over Potomac to even up the three-game set at one game apiece. The two squads will decide the serieson Tuesday at noon.

While Stefan Welch went yard for the third straight game and Blake Schwartz tossed seven strong innings for Potomac, Owens easily grabbed all headlines for his second amazing performance in the last week. In his two starts, Owens has pitched 11 masterful innings, allowing no hits and no runs, striking out 19 and walking seven. During these 11 frames, only three balls have been hit out of the infield against the tall lefthander. In addition, he did not allow in a hit in his final four innings on July 11; hence, Owens has held his foe hitless in 15 consecutive innings since Myrtle Beach’s Patrick Cantwell led off the top of the third with a single 11 days ago at LewisGale Field.

The pitch count climbed to 90 when Owens collected his ninth strikeout of the game on Monday, completing five innings with 51 strikes and nine strikeouts. But three walks and a hit batter caused the throws to accumulate, and despite the no-no into the sixth, Owens was pulled. Madison Younginer gave up a run on two walks and a hit-batter in the sixth, but the no-hitter remained intact until Justin Miller led off the seventh with a hard single to left field.

Offensively, Welch continued his amazing run with two hits and three RBI. The Australian infielder drove in Keury De La Cruz with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie. And with the Sox leading 3-1 in the top of the ninth, Welch launched his third homer in the last three games, catapulting a two-run blast to provide a vitally important insurance policy for the Red Sox. Salem’s other pair of runs came on Tim Roberson’s two-run homer in the fifth, the second Carolina League round-tripper for Roberson.

Potomac’s first run came on a crafty double-steal with two outs in the last of the sixth. With men at the corners, Salem threw down to second base when Cutter Dykstra attempted to steal. When Blake Swihart released, Caleb Ramsey broke home from third. Both runners were safe and the shutout was gone.

In the ninth, Potomac plated one more run on Cole Leonida’s infield single against Matt Price, and with the Nationals trailing 5-2, they brought the tying run to the plate. Adrian Nieto, pinch-hitting for Randolph Oduber, launched a towering fly to right field, but it was caught in medium depth right for the out that ended the game.

Owens improved to 8-4 with the win, shrinking his ERA to 2.78. Opponents have just 62 hits in 97 innings against Owens this year, a paltry .182 batting average against. Despite permitting just three runs on six hits in seven innings, Schwartz suffered the setback, falling to 7-4.

With a 3-3 record through six games of the week-long road trip, the Sox search for a series win and a winning trip in Tuesday’s series finale, scheduled for noon. Mickey Pena will make the start for Salem opposite Potomac’s Brian Rauh.