Medina gets Pulaski even in Appy semifinals
After dropping a 6-5 decision in Game 1 of the Appalachian League semifinals on Saturday night, Pulaski manager Luis Dorante -- a former Minor League backstop -- channeled a Hall of Fame catcher in delivering a message to his team."It's not over until it's over," Dorante reminded his club before
After dropping a 6-5 decision in Game 1 of the Appalachian League semifinals on Saturday night, Pulaski manager Luis Dorante -- a former Minor League backstop -- channeled a Hall of Fame catcher in delivering a message to his team.
"It's not over until it's over," Dorante reminded his club before 18-year-old
Box score
The Yankees' 27th-ranked prospect tossed five scoreless innings as Pulaski beat Bluefield, 6-4, at Bowen Field to even the best-of-3 series at one win apiece. Medina gave up three hits and a pair of walks while striking out five.
"We got a bunch of kids that are 18, 19 and [it's] probably their first time facing a playoff atmosphere and Medina was not fazed by that," Dorante said. "We saw that in the first inning. He was around the zone and we said to ourselves, 'He's going to have his 'A' game for us tonight.' All the pitches were working."
In 10 appearances with Pulaski and in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, Medina (2-2) posted a 5.35 ERA with 39 strikeouts and a .214 opponents' batting average over 38 2/3 innings.
The Yankees slugged three homers in support of Medina, getting solo shots from
"It was huge to come in and get some good at-bats and hit the ball out of the park," Dorante said. "For them, it's a lot of building back the confidence that they had during the regular season. They were patient enough to get the fastball that they were looking for."
For Surum, it was the second time he's gone deep in 43 Minor League games.
Complete playoff coverage
The decisive third game is Monday in Bluefield.
In other playoff action:
Greeneville 3, Elizabethton 2
Gerard Gilberto is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @GerardGilberto4.