Myrtle Beach Pelicans rally late to claim 20th win against Winston-Salem Dash

MYRTLE BEACH -- Forget extra innings.

L.V. Ware, Matt Kennelly and a few frames of solid relief pitching took care of that.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans beat Winston-Salem on Monday night at BB&T Coastal Field when Ware's high chopper to shortstop brought home Kennelly. It allowed the Birds to win the series opener 4-3 and get their 20th win of the season.

"We got the job done tonight, and it feels good," Kennelly said. "We're playing good baseball. ... It's all about coming around."

As far as the last play and inning went, however, it was more about the Pelicans being opportunistic.

Kennelly, the second batter in the inning, hit a soft grounder to Dash third baseman Jon Gilmore. Gilmore's throw was not only short, it skipped into the Myrtle Beach dugout. It put Kennelly on second with one out. A wild pitch then moved Kennelly to third.

After a Luis Sumoza walk, Ware came to the plate, and he didn't let the chance slip by.

He chopped a Leroy Hunt pitch into the dirt and back up into the air. Shortstop Eduardo Escobar, then, basically had no chance to catch Kennelly at home.

"With them holding the runner (Sumoza) on, they're banking on a double play," Kennelly said. "On contact, no matter where it is, I'm going home. If they make a play at me at home, I get in a rundown and hopefully give ourselves one more out. L.V. knocked it into the ground and I was able to score pretty easy."

Good thing. Kennelly joked that just about all the kids running the bases after the game would beat him in a footrace.

And the fastest part of the game-winning play may have been Ware's streak into right field to avoid his teammates mobbing him.

But it didn't matter against the Dash.

The Pelicans, who came into the game with exactly half as many wins as Winston-Salem, did what they needed to. Part of that had to do with another solid pitching performance.

Starting pitcher Brett Oberholtzer was rolling along until he allowed a two-run home in the top of the sixth inning. Immediately after giving up that shot to Seth Loman, however, Oberholtzer was removed from the game with an apparent injury.

He was charged with those two runs and seven hits in five-plus innings of work.

Angelo Paulino came in at that point, striking out three and scattering three hits in his two innings, and Benino Pruneda struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth.

Manager Rocket Wheeler then turned it over Yeliar Castro worked a scoreless ninth for his third win of the year.

Along with middle reliever Luis Avilan, the pitching staff allowed 12 hits, but only those three runs.

Noted

Atlanta Braves pitcher Scott Proctor joined the Pelicans on Monday, approximately 13 months after he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Proctor, 33, was drafted in the fifth round of the 1998 Major League draft and made his first appearance at the top level in 2004 (with the New York Yankees). He began his rehab process with the AAA Gwinnett Braves in April, but he was moved down in order to get him more work.

E--Gilmore (18, throw), Nelson (3, throw), Sime (6, fielding). LOB--Winston-Salem 11, Myrtle Beach 7. 3B -- Gilmore (3, Oberholtzer), Loman (2, Avilan).HR--Loman (14, 6th inning off Oberholtzer, 1 on, 0 out).

WP--Hunt, L. HBP--Bour (by Pruneda). Umpires--Home, Jay Pierce; First, Matt Cumbee. T--2:43. A--3,050.