Bluefield's Gold delivers in Appy League semis

Ryan Gold figured there was no time like the present to help not only himself but his club ease whatever tension it might have in the first playoff game of 2017.
It took a tough at-bat to do so, but the 19-year-old came through just in time on Saturday night.

Gold homered, then drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double in the seventh inning as Rookie-level Bluefield held on to defeat Pulaski, 6-5, in the opener of the best-of-3 Appalachian League semifinals at Calfee Park. The catcher also was intentionally walked and drove in three runs in his first career postseason appearance.
"It was huge to get this win tonight," the La Habra, California, native said. "We have 100 percent confidence that we can get things done in two games, even though it won't be easy. We're not going to come out soft tomorrow. We'll come out and play our game, bring our bats and rely on our pitching and defense, like always. We're ready to go and try and get this over in two."
Box score
A .302 hitter in 39 games during the regular season, Gold helped Bluefield jump out to an early lead. Following a leadoff walk to Brandon Grudzielanek in the second, he pulled a ball over the right-center field fence for a two-run homer and a 3-0 cushion. He struck out in the third and was intentionally walked in the fifth. Batting with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh, Gold worked the count full before lining a double to right that snapped a 5-5 tie.
"They had given me a free pass in the previous at-bat and I knew they didn't want to give me anything to hit," the 2016 27th-round pick said. "It was a lefty-lefty matchup and I was sitting off-speed and looking to go to the opposite field. [Reliever Anderson Severino] started me off with a curve that missed and came back with a fastball I fouled off. He threw me another curve that was low and another fastball, which I fouled off again before running it full. He hung the 3-2 pitch and it got me out in front, but I stayed back enough to pull it over the first baseman's head. With [Ryan Noda] off on the pitch, he was able to score from first, and that was it."
Gold made his professional debut last summer and batted .280 in 29 games before exceeding that in 2017.  In 68 career regular-season games, the lefty-swinging catcher has a .294/.373/.452 slash line with 23 extra-base hits and 44 RBIs. But nothing to date could rival his clutch at-bat on Saturday night.

"It was a really big moment because our bullpen has been shutdown this year," he said. "We're pretty confident that with the guys we have coming out of the 'pen, we'd get the job done. We just needed that one hit and that one run to give us that shot of confidence."
Blue Jays No. 25 prospectKevin Smith delivered an RBI single and walked twice. Chavez Young led off the game for Bluefield with a home run.
Connor Law (1-0) picked up the win in relief, despite allowing two runs and three hits over three innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Frederick Cuevas had three hits, including a solo homer, while Victor Rey went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
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Severino (0-1) retired one batter and surrendered one run, one hit and a walk.
The Jays have a chance to move on to the Finals as the series shifts to Bluefield for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon.
In other playoff action:
Twins at Astros, postponed
Game 1 of the other semifinals between Elizabethton and Greeneville was postponed due to rain. The Twins and Astros will play the opener of their best-of-3 series on Sunday night.