Waldichuk spins gem to keep Pulaski alive

Pulaski had its back to the wall in the Appalachian League semifinals, but Ken Waldichuk delivered the best start of his career to keep his team alive. 
The Yankees left-hander pitched a career-high 4 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and matching a personal best with nine strikeouts, as Pulaski blanked Burlington, 6-0, in Game 2 of the best-of-3 series on Saturday at Calfee Park.  

Gameday box score
Waldichuk had his ups and downs over the final weeks of the regular season, compiling a 5.68 ERA across 12 innings in four starts through August. But he found his stuff at the right time against the Royals, throwing 43 of 62 pitches for strikes. 
Perfect through three innings, the fifth-round pick in this year's Draft finally yielded a hit when Diego Hernandez beat out an infield single leading off the fourth. Hernandez got no further as Waldichuk fanned the next three batters. 
Back for the fifth, the 21-year-old answered by getting Jake Means to fly to center before Mikey Filia struck out after a seven-pitch battle. That closed the book on Waldichuk, who continued his success against Burlington. The St. Mary's prospect also held the Royals scoreless on July 21 and has not given up a run in 7 2/3 innings against them. 
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Righty Jhonatan Munoz (1-0) struck out five over 2 1/3 innings, working around a hit and walk. Hayden Wesneski finished up, fanning four and giving up one hit.

Yankees No. 23 prospectRyder Green and Jake Pries blasted solo homers for Pulaski, while 12th-ranked Antonio Cabello finished with two hits and two RBIs.
Adrian Alcantara (0-1) took the loss for Burlington, giving up three runs -- one earned -- on five hits with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. 
The deciding game is Sunday in Pulaski.
In other Appy League playoff action:
Johnson City 7, Bristol 4
Cardinals No. 7 prospect Jhon Torres and Chandler Redmond went deep to pull the Cardinals even with the Pirates in the other semifinal series. With the game tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning, Torres crushed the sixth pitch of his at-bat over the left-center field wall for a solo shot. Redmond followed an inning later with a solo blast of his own. Torres padded the lead with a sacrifice fly. Will Guay (1-0) allowed three walks but fanned four in 1 2/3 hitless innings for the win. Game 3 is Sunday in Johnson City. Gameday box score