Pelicans take rubber match with Dash, advance to Mills Cup championship series

The Pelicans were in a hole when they returned to Myrtle Beach, but manager Mark Johnson wasn’t panicked.

With two of his best starters in the back of his pocket, Johnson was confident that his club would finish off Winston-Salem in the Carolina League southern division championship series.

After the Dash won Game 1 in Winston-Salem, the Pelicans won two straight one-run games at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark, including a 4-3 win on Friday in the winner-take-all Game 3 to advance to the Mills Cup championship series.

In a masterful Game 2 start, Myrtle Beach’s Brad Markey had a no-hitter through seven innings and eventually picked up the victory in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Dash. Pelicans starter Jonathan Martinez – who led the Carolina League in ERA with a 2.56 mark during the regular season – was victorious in Game 3 as he gave up two earned runs on five hits and no walks and struck out three in six innings of work.

“The guys responded – like they always do. Throughout the whole season, they’ve been good about taking negatives and turning them to positives. They learn from their experiences, turn the page, regroup and start the new day,” said Johnson, the Carolina League 2015 Manager of the Year. “It’s a really intellectual team that understands that we’re here to get better every day. When we were down 1-0, it wasn’t a big deal it seemed like. It’s special coming back home and having Markey and Martinez starting. We had a good feeling about it and the vibe was good the last two days and today, you felt the confidence in the air.”

And Myrtle Beach got a boost from a rehabilitating major league player.

Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler – who joined the Pelicans on Friday for a rehab assignment – came up big in the club’s crucial first inning. Soler hit a double and was driven in on a bases-clearing double by catcher Victor Caratini as Myrtle Beach took a quick 3-0 lead.

“It felt really good to score those three runs in the first,” Soler said through a translator. “I thought we were gonna score more but any time you can get up early like that, it’s big. … I felt really good out there. The most important thing was I helped the team win.”

Said Pelicans infielder Jason Vosler: “We had a lot of confidence going into this game and we knew we were gonna win. We came out hot and set the tone in that first inning, played a good game and pulled it out.”

The Dash didn’t go away easily.

Adam Engel cut Winston-Salem’s deficit to 1 with a two-run homer in the third inning.

Pelicans designated hitter Chesny Young drove in Gleyber Torres – the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com – on a single in the seventh inning to put Myrtle Beach up 4-2.

Then, the Dash gave the Pelicans some trouble in the ninth. After Eddy Alvarez grounded out, Jake Peter reached on a fielding error by Torres. Trey Michalczewski then hit a ground-rule double and Keon Barnum drove in Peter on a groundout to bring Winston-Salem within 1.

However, Nick Basto grounded out as the Pelicans reached the Mills Cup championship series, where they will play the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Part of what’s gotten Myrtle Beach this far has been the club’s pitching.

The Pelicans are loaded with solid arms and starters Daury Torrez and Jen-Ho Tseng didn’t even take the mound in the three-game series with Winston-Salem. Torrez was 10-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 23 starts and Tseng was 7-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 starts during the regular season.

“Can’t say enough about them. They’ve done it all year long,” Johnson said of his club’s pitching. “They’ve continued to go deep in the game; my starters have gone five, six, seven innings nearly every outing. What it’s done has allowed rest for our bullpen; they haven’t been overworked for five months. So everybody’s pretty much fresh and I think everybody is where they need to be.”

Myrtle Beach won the Carolina League southern division first-half title to clinch an automatic postseason berth. The Pelicans didn’t win the second half crown, however, as the Dash edged the club in the standings.

Had Myrtle Beach won the second half, it would’ve hosted all three games. Instead, the Pelicans were given the option to start Game 1 on the road and finish the series at home or start Game 1 at home and finish the series on the road.

The Pelicans’ decision to hold off on playing at home paid off.

“There was never a doubt in our minds that we couldn’t pull it off,” Vosler said.

Said Johnson: “It’s just been a really incredible year. The guys have been true professionals; they’ve come in every day and worked their butts off. It’s kind of paid off. They play the game the right way. We’ve led the league in a few [categories]. It goes without saying, these guys deserve it; they’ve worked their butts off to be able to get to this point. To be able to finish this [series] off is a special feeling.”

Meanwhile, Dash starter Brandon Brennan received the loss as he struck out one, gave up four earned runs, five hits and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. Trey Michalczewski was Winston-Salem’s leading hitter Friday as he was 2-for-4 with a double. Michalczewski batted .364 (4-for-11) in the three-game series, and Nolan Earley batted .333 (3-for-9).

The Pelicans and Dash went at it against each other this year as Myrtle Beach took the season series 15-14 and over the three-game southern division championship series, the run margin was 10-10.

Winston-Salem finished the season with a 76-65 record.

“They were a great team; they played us close every game,” Vosler said. “First game they beat us and the next two days we were beating them – not good – but beating them by a few in the ninth inning and they cut it close both times. They played us really well.”

Now the Pelicans are set on taking down Wilmington, which will host the first two games of the Mills Cup championship series.

And there’s no shortage of tenacity in the Myrtle Beach clubhouse.

“We’re confident we’re the best team in this league and we’re confident we’re gonna win; that’s what we’re gonna do,” Vosler said. “We’re gonna get a ring.”

Game 1 of the Mills Cup championship will be in Wilmington at 5:05 p.m. Sunday. The Pelicans lead the season series against the Blue Rocks 10-8.

Myrtle Beach went 4-4 against Wilmington while playing each other eight times in the final 11 games of the regular season.

Johnson said he feels his club has a good scouting report on Wilmington.

“We just came from there before the playoffs started. We have a pretty good understanding of the team and the way they need to be pitched and the way we need to play them on defense,” he said. “We’re pretty comfortable and I’m sure they feel the same way, too. They know us now and we know them; it should be a good series.”

Said Pelicans first baseman Jacob Rogers: “They want us. We want them.”

Note: Soler is expected to travel with the Pelicans to Wilmington and will play at least one more game with the team.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 2:13 AM with the headline "Pelicans take rubber match with Dash, advance to Mills Cup championship series."