Fayetteville, N.C. – Taitn Gray notched two hits and drove in four runs as the Charleston RiverDogs earned a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers at Segra Stadium on Wednesday night.
Gray, Tampa Bay’s No. 29 prospect, is now 7-for-15 to start the season with three extra base hits. He currently leads the Carolina League in hitting (.467), on base percentage (.571), and is second in hits (7).
Charleston jumped on the board early when Gray pummeled a two-run homer down the right-field line, pushing them ahead 2-0. The longball marked the first of his professional career.
In the bottom of the fourth, Fayetteville cut their deficit to 2-1 when Nick Monistare lined an RBI double to center to bring home Xavier Neyens.
RiverDogs starter Alex Wallace was stellar in his professional debut, tossing five innings while allowing just the one run. In the process he fanned three hitters and allowed just one hit.
The RiverDogs rallied again in the top of the sixth when Cooper Flemming brought home Caden Bodine with an RBI single to center. The next hitter was Gray, who rolled another single to center that scored Flemming and extended the lead to 4-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, Fayetteville took advantage of two walks and three RiverDogs errors that ultimately allowed the Woodpeckers to score four runs and take a 5-4 lead.
However, Charleston provided an instant counter punch in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. With Gray at the plate, Fayetteville pitcher Jose Varela didn’t come set before delivering his pitch resulting in a balk that brought home Flemming to knot the game at 5-5.
Later in the same plate appearance, Gray sent a sacrifice fly to left to push the RiverDogs ahead 6-5.
Left hander Bryce Shaffer tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the win and register his first save of the year. In the process, Trey Pooser earned his first victory of the campaign, after allowing two unearned runs over 1.2 frames of work.
With the win, Charleston moved to 2-3 while Fayetteville fell to 1-4. The two return to Segra Stadium tomorrow night for game three of the series with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:20 on the RiverDogs Broadcast Network.