Castellanos Shines in Debut; RiverDogs Roll to 8-2 Win
Daiwer Castellanos went 2-4 with four RBI in his debut with the team as the Charleston RiverDogs upended the Down East Wood Ducks 8-2 on Friday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Ben Peoples and Alex Ayala Jr limited the Wood Ducks to just three hits in front of
Daiwer Castellanos went 2-4 with four RBI in his debut with the team as the Charleston RiverDogs upended the Down East Wood Ducks 8-2 on Friday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Ben Peoples and Alex Ayala Jr limited the Wood Ducks to just three hits in front of 3,835 fans.
Down East (14-13, 47-46) opened the scoring in the first inning off of Peoples, registering the only run the starter would allow. Daniel Mateo tripled off the glove of right fielder Oneill Manzueta with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Marcus Smith to make it 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Peoples ended up tossing 5.0 innings and striking out five. He allowed one more hit the rest of the way.
The big inning for the RiverDogs (15-12, 61-32) came in the second as the first seven batters to step to the plate all reached. Bobby Seymour was hit by a pitch and Manzueta reached via infield single to open the stanza. Back-to-back RBI singles by Nathan Perry and Jelfry Marte put the RiverDogs on top 2-1. Julio Meza loaded the bases by reaching on catcher's interference and Castellanos took advantage by lining a two-RBI single to left on the first pitch he saw. A Shane Sasaki double drove in the final run of the frame as the home team moved ahead 5-1.
The offenses were silenced from that point until the seventh when Charleston took advantage of a Junior Paniagua error to add a run to the advantage. Willy Vasquez reached on the miscue, stole second base and later scored on a wild pitch. The final two runs scored in the eighth inning when Castellanos split the gap in right center with a two-run triple.
Down East did not have a baserunner against Ayala Jr. until the final frame when Abi Ortiz singled to start the inning. He advanced to second on a fielder's choice and scored on Mateo's two-out single into left. Ayala Jr. earned the save by tossing 4.0 innings with seven strikeouts.
Joining Castellanos with two hits was Marte. Mateo was the only Wood Ducks player with multiple hits.
Ballpark Fun
Prior to the game, the RiverDogs inducted Pittsburgh Pirates scout Jim Lester into the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame which lives in the concourse at The Joe. Lester has worked in the scouting departments of the Colorado Rockies, Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pirates throughout his scouting career that has lasted more than 30 years.
The RiverDogs aim to clinch a series win in game five of the set on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. RHP Daiveyon Whittle (1-4, 3.80) will take the mound first for the RiverDogs with Down East turning to RHP Jos Stephan (4-3, 3.73). It will be Anime Night at the ballpark in which the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a custom RiverDogs anime poster.
Single-game tickets are available for all RiverDogs home games at riverdogs.com. RiverDogs season tickets, flexible ticket plans, and group tickets, including options to the Segra Club at Riley Park, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS).