The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-6) and the Charleston RiverDogs (4-3) played four at Segra Stadium on Friday night. Gabel Pentecost was on the mound for Fayetteville against Ethan Storm of Charleston.
Fayetteville starter Gabel Pentecost pitched one inning, allowing three walks and two strikeouts, throwing 32 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. Charlie Weber was the new pitcher for Fayetteville at the top of the second inning.
The game was scoreless for the first two and a half innings until the bottom of the third inning. Fayetteville second baseman Brandon Forrester hit a triple to left field, followed by center fielder Kevin Alvarez hitting a ground ball RBI single to right field. Forrester scored to put the Woodpeckers up 1-0. With two outs, Xavier Neyens was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
Charlie Weber pitched three innings, allowing one hit, two walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 58 pitches, of which 36 were strikes. Gabel Pentecost was the new Fayetteville pitcher at the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Charleston catcher Caden Bodine hit a solo home run to right field, and the game was tied 1-1. It was Bodine’s first home run of the season. A groundout by Taitn Gray and a pop-out by Daniel Pierce ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Charleston had runners on second and third base when Alberth Palma hit into a fielder’s choice to pitcher Gabel Pentecost. Brody Donay scored to give the RiverDogs a 2-1 lead with one out. A sacrifice fly to left field by Dean Moss brought home James Quinn-Irons to extend its lead to 3-1.
Moving to the top of the seventh inning, Charleston had a runner on first base when Taitn Gray hit a two-run home run to center field, and the RiverDogs made it 5-1. It was Gray’s second home run of the season. Later, Charleston had runners on the corners when James Quinn-Irons hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Daniel Pierce scored for a 6-1 lead.
Gabel Pentecost pitched 2.2 innings, allowing six hits, six runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 69 pitches, of which 48 were strikes. Jhoster Baez replaced Pentecost. With two outs, Baez got Alberth Palma to flyout to center fielder Kevin Alverez for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the eighth inning, Charleston had runners on the corners when Taitn Gray hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Cooper Flemming scored for a 7-1 lead with two outs. Daniel Pierce followed up with a soft line drive RBI single to right field. Caden Bodine scored for an 8-1 lead. A flyout by Brailer Guerrero ended the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners when center fielder Kevin Alvarez hit a line drive RBI single to center field. Brandon Forrester scored, and the Woodpeckers trailed the RiverDogs 8-2. The Woodpeckers had runners on first and second base with nobody out, but Xavier Neyens, Josh Wakefield, and Arturo Flores were unable to bring them home.
Leomar Rosario was the new pitcher for Fayetteville at the top of the ninth inning. Jhoster Baez pitched 1.1 innings, allowing three hits and two runs, throwing 17 pitches, of which 12 were strikes. Rosario allowed a hit and three strikeouts, throwing 19 pitches, of which 12 were strikes, to get the three outs.
The Fayetteville Woodpeckers would go on to drop their fifth game in a row with an 8-1 loss. They finished the night with six hits, committed one error, went 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Fayetteville center fielder Kevin Alvarez went 2 for 4 with two singles and two RBIs. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Gabel Pentecost, and the win went to Charleston starter Ethan Storm.
The Woodpeckers and RiverDogs play game five on Saturday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Ethan Pecko (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Luke Jackson (0-0, 3.86 ERA) of Charleston.
