It’s playoff time and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans are taking on the Winston-Salem Dash, the High-A affiliate of the White Sox, in the Southern Division Championship Series.
The Pelicans dropped the opener behind Duane Underwood Jr. Myrtle Beach forced a third and deciding game Thursday night with a 4-3 win over the Dash. Brad Markey took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and David Berg saved it for the Pelicans after a two-hour and 44 minute rain delay.
High Class–A – Myrtle Beach Pelicans
The Pelicans opened the Carolina League playoffs on Wednesday with a road loss to Winston-Salem 4-2. Duane Underwood Jr. was on the mound for Myrtle Beach and ran into trouble in the first inning. Underwood Jr. gave up three earned runs on two home runs. Underwood settled down, allowing four earned runs and striking out three in six innings, but the damage had already been done. Josh Conway worked around two hits in an inning, while James Farris struck out two in the eighth inning.
The pitching of the Dash had the Myrtle Beach offense back on their heels all game as the Pelicans only managed five hits. Jacob Rogers (1-for-3) led off the third inning with a single and Jeffrey Baez (2-for-3 with a double) had a one out double. But the Pelicans were only able to score one run as Rogers came home on a ground out. Myrtle Beach cut the lead in half in the eighth inning after Gleyber Torres (1-for-3 with a home run) hit a mammoth solo home run to left field.
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The big story Thursday before rain delayed the game for close to three hours was starter Brad Markey, as the current Carolina League Pitcher of the Week carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Markey ended up striking out eight and being charged with an unearned in eight innings. Michael Heesch ran into trouble as soon as he took over in the ninth, giving up a hit and walking two batters before exiting without retiring a hitter.
David Berg took over for the Pelicans with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth after a rain delay of two hours and 44 minutes. With Myrtle Beach clinging to a 4-1 lead, ground outs to Jacob Rogers and Danny Lockhart allowed two runs to score and make it a 4-3 game. A wild pitch put the tying run on third base. Berg struck out Nick Basto to end the game.
Myrtle Beach hung on and won 4-3. Myrtle Beach and Winston-Salem will play for the Southern Division Championship on Friday night. The winner moves on, the loser goes home.
Pin-Chieh Chen swung a hot bat for the Pelicans as he singled with one out in the third inning and scored after base hits by Mark Zagunis and Jason Vosler. Myrtle Beach added a run in the fifth inning when Chesny Young led off with a single and came home on a double from Chen. Jeffrey Baez started the sixth inning with a single and a stolen base. A two out base hit from Young brought in Baez, who avoided a tag at home. The play led to an ejection for Dash manager Tim Esmay. Chen followed with a base hit to drive in Young.
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