Peter Hissey’s first professional grand slam and Matt Spring’s three-run blast highlighted a seven-run fourth inning that propelled the Salem Sox to a 10-3 victory over Myrtle Beach on the final day of the 2011 regular season. Stolmy Pimentel earned his sixth victory, holding Myrtle Beach to two runs on two hits in seven strong innings. Salem finished with a record of 64-75, 33-37 in the second half, and won four in a row and five of the last six to complete the slate.
Salem opened up a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on Monday night, utilizing two singles and three walks to score three times. Josue Peley drilled the first of his two hits to drive in the first run, and the Sox scored twice more on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.
Two innings later, the Red Sox loaded the bases again via Peley’s double, Zach Gentile’s strikeout wild pitch, and Drew Dominguez’ hit-by-pitch. With one out, Hissey lifted a deep fly down the left-field line that snuck over the fence and inside the foul pole for a grand slam. The four-run shot was Hissey’s second homer of the season, both of which came against the Pelicans. In fact, all three of Hissey’s professional home runs have been belted against Myrtle Beach.
The slam made it 7-0, but the Sox were not done in the fourth. Heiker Meneses reached on Leury Garcia’s fielding error, Bryce Brentz singled Meneses to third, and then Matt Spring clobbered his second homer in as many days to shoot Salem to a 10-0 edge. Spring’s seventh Carolina League dinger gave the Sox a comfortable cushion for the pitcher’s to embrace.
Pimentel peppered the strike zone, surrendering back-to-back hits in the fourth inning but none others. Garcia doubled to lead off the fourth and Jared Prince smothered a two-run homer to make it 10-2, but Pimentel set down 11 of the next 13, hitting two batters who never passed first base. The Dominican righthander improved to 6-4 and lowered his Carolina League ERA to 4.53.
In relief, Manny Rivera permitted one run on two innings, striking out a pair in his perfect ninth to end the season. Myrtle Beach used seven different pitchers in their final game before the postseason, with Kasey Kiker suffering the loss, allowing three runs in a third of a frame on the mound.
Every member of Salem’s lineup reached base and scored a run, with Spring and Peley registering multi-hit evenings to complete the campaign. The two home runs gave Salem 93 round-trippers for the season, the most for any Salem Sox squad since the Red Sox returned to the Roanoke Valley in 2009.
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Chris Graham
