Pirates leap to the top of West Division

Published 1:51 am Wednesday, August 28, 2019

In the dwindling last days of the 2019 Appalachian League season, the Bristol Pirates have moved into first place in the West Division by winning seven of their last 10 games.

The Pirates (33-31) took two-of-three from Johnson City to move into the top spot in the division and will take on Danville (28-37) in the last three games of the season.

The Braves salvaged the last game of its three-game set with the Elizabethton Twins (31-33) with a 7-1 win on Sunday.

The Twins need a sweep of Greeneville in the last series of the year to avoid the first losing season in 31 years. In 1988 the Twins finished 33-37 and in 2015 had a 34-34 mark.

Johnson City (33-32) will visit Kingsport (33-32) in the last series of its season with all but Greeneville still alive for the division and a playoff spot. The Twins are two games from elimination.

The league announced it’s All-Star team with Danville’s Bryce Ball taking home Player of the Year honors.

Ball, 21, hit .324 with 13 home runs and 38 runs batted in. Ball had 25 extra-base hits and on August 12 was promoted to Class A South Atlantic League (Rome).

Braves left-hander Mitch Stallings, 24, was named Pitcher of the Year. Stallings had a record of 3-5 with a 2.25 earned run average with 69 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.14.

The rest of the All-Star team consists of Luis Dorante (Pulaski) Manager of the Year as the Yankees are running away with the best record for this season (42-23) as of Sunday.

Catcher Luis Leon (Princeton, .333, 3 HR, 25 RBI) First Base Ball, Second Base Francisco Acuna (Bristol, .299, 1 HR, 30 RBI), Shortstop Maikel Garcia (Burlington, .291, 1 HR, 34 RBI), Third Base Miguel Hiraldo (Bluefield, .303, 7 HR, 37 RBI), Outfield Max Smith (Twins, .292, 7 HR, 27 RBI), Spencer Horwitz (Bluefield, .330, 3 HR, 47 RBI), Diego Infante (Princeton, .282, 11 HR, 45 RBI), UTL- INF Vinnie Pasquantino (Burlington, .293, 12 HR, 48 RBI), UTL-OF Nick Schnell (Princeton, .286, 5 HR, 27 RBI) RHP Adrian Alcantara (Burlington, 2-4, 2.57 ERA) and Relief Pitcher Reyson Santos (Kingsport, 0-0, 2.57 ERA, 8 saves).

Twins outfielder Matt Wallner came on late with six home runs after a college season in which he led Southern Mississippi in homers. Wallner is hitting .269 with 28 runs batted in and 18 doubles.

Infielder Seth Gray hit just .217 but he hit 11 home runs and drove in 38 runs. Gray showed a lot of promise defensively at third base after being converted from an outfield spot.

Infielder Anthony Prato .266, hit two home runs and drove in 17 with three games left to play. Second baseman Charlie Mack hit .238 with seven homers and 27 RBI and outfielder Willie Joe Garry, Jr. after a hot July, tailed off in August and has a .235 batting mark with five home runs and 23 driven in.

Ben Gross led the Twins with a 3-3 win/loss record with a 4.30 ERA with 49 strikeouts and 14 walks over 52.1 innings.

Dylan Thomas recorded four saves with a 1-1 record and a 1.69 ERA. Tyler Benninghoff (6.28 ERA) and Andriu Marin (5.92) both had up and down seasons with 2-4 records.