The Charleston RiverDogs collected five hits on Saturday night in another close victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and four of them never left the infield. The fifth, and final, hit was the decisive one as Angel Mateo dumped an RBI double into shallow center field to guide the Dogs to a 3-2 win at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. A crowd of 3,481 witnessed the home team earn their fifth straight win.
Santiago Suarez gave up some hard contact in the top of the first inning as Fayetteville (23-33, 52-70) took a quick lead. With one out, Jancel Villaroel singled to left to start the attack. Two batters later, Caden Powell took a mighty cut at the first pitch of his at-bat and connected for a long two-run home run to left that started the scoring. The long ball was Powell’s second of the year.
For the first five innings of the contest, the RiverDogs (36-21, 63-59) were held without a hit. That changed when Adrian Santana put down a bunt single and advanced to third on a throwing error by Powell at third base in the sixth. Despite doing so with only one out, Santana was stranded at third.
Small ball allowed Charleston to pull even in the seventh. Mateo began that rally with a soft line drive over the mound that turned into an infield single. Walks to Carlos Colmenarez and Jose Perez followed as the bases became loaded with one down. After a shallow fly ball to left off the bat of Ricardo Gonzalez failed to score a run, Narciso Polanco stepped in and rolled a groundball up the middle. Second baseman Drew Vogel made a diving attempt, and the ball glanced off the end of his glove as two runs scored.
That set the stage for the eighth when the RiverDogs moved on top. With two outs, Enderson Delgado beat out an infield single and motored into scoring position when the play was compounded by a Powell throwing error at the hot corner. Mateo followed with a shallow fly ball to center that dropped among three Fayetteville defenders to hand the RiverDogs a lead at 3-2.
Gerlin Rosario retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the win and complete an outing in which he retired all five batters he faced. Cade Halemanu also turned in 1.1 innings of scoreless work out of the bullpen. Suarez bounced back from the early home run to work 6.0 strong innings with two runs allowed on four hits. He struck out seven. The RiverDogs allowed just one hit after the top of the first inning.
Mateo was the only player in the game with multiple hits, finishing 2-4 with a double. Polanco reached base three times.
Ballpark Fun
The RiverDogs kickstarted their mascot Charlie T. RiverDogs presidential candidacy during the game on Saturday evening. The first 1,000 fans to sign a petition nominating Charlie for President received a free t-shirt.
The final home game of the regular season is set for Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. as the RiverDogs set their sights on a sweep. LHP Jeremy Pilon (0-0, 1.29) will start on the mound for the RiverDogs with RHP Julio Marte (2-5, 6.65) working opposite him for Fayetteville. Parking is free and kids can run the bases after the game. The team will also be celebrating Charlie’s birthday with mascots from around the Lowcountry.
The RiverDogs continue their hunt for a fourth-consecutive Carolina League championship in 2024. The full schedule of games is available here.
Charleston 3, Fayetteville 2
August 31, 2024
Click here for the box score
Fayetteville (R-H-E): 2-4-2
Charleston (R-H-E): 3-5-0
Win: Rosario (3-1)
Loss: Trehey (0-2)
Save:
HR: Fayetteville: Caden Powell (2, 1st inning, 1 on base)
HR: Charleston: JNone
