Braves find a way
Rome fights its way to a 4-3 win against West Virginia.
Rome fights its way to a 4-3 home win against the West Virginia Power.
There were no eye-opening stats as Rome manager Randy Ingle glossed over the box score Saturday night.
But with a team that executed every scoring opportunity it had, the Braves didn’t need any numbers to pick up a victory.
Rome made the most of its five hits in the game to defeat the West Virginia Power 4-3 at State Mutual Stadium on Saturday evening. An Anthony Concepcion sacrifice fly scoring Justin Ellison provided the winning run in the seventh inning. It was Rome’s fifth win in its last eight games, and the team is less than three games away from firstplace Greenville in the South Atlantic League Southern Division.
“We did not have too many big hits, but when we did have them we executed,” Ingle said. “We did what we were supposed to, just getting guys over when we had the chance. You do all that, you’re going to win most games.”
Three of Rome’s five hits in the game went for extra bases, and four of the six players who reached base for Rome eventually scored, often by sacrifice. It was the type of scrappiness that allowed the Braves to win despite nobody reaching base more than once.
Concepcion was the only player with two RBIs, beginning with an RBI triple in the fifth to tie the game at 2-all. Only a few plays later, he came home when Yeudi Grullon laid down a bunt down the right side.
The sacrifice fly in the seventh inning gave the Braves a vital insurance run, coming in handy when the Power scored in the eighth to cut the game to 4-3. The bunts and aggressive play-calling turned out to be just enough as starting pitcher Joey Wentz, the bullpen and the field behind them did their job.
“We made one or two mistakes in the field, but our execution was just so quality tonight,” Ingle said. “There are plenty of guys on this team who made some great plays tonight, just a solid effort.”
It was another fine performance from Wentz, who allowed three hits and two runs with six strikeouts, tied for the third most he’s had this season.
Wentz, a first-round pick from last season, struggled to begin the season and saw his ERA go to 4.03. But something has switched, with the lefty allowing only two runs or less in his last five starts.
On Saturday Wentz certainly had all his pitches working, getting nine of the first 11 batters out. But when he did find trouble, he had trust that the players behind him would get out of the inning with minimal damage.
“I have a lot of faith in my teammates, so as long as I just go out and execute pitches, good things are going to happen,” Wentz said. “If I allow a hitter to get on, I’m still going to have plenty of comfort on the mound.”
Once Wentz left, the Rome bullpen allowed four hits in the final four innings to lock down the win. Adam McCreery allowed no runs and only one base runner in two innings and Joe Kennedy recovered after allowing a run in the eighth to get the save.
West Virginia would finish the game with five more base runners and plenty of chances to send the contest to extra innings. None of it surprised Ingle, who has seen games like this many times before.
“If you are going to compete and fight for first place, you are going to have to fight and play games like this,” Ingle said. “You are going to have some nail-biters, you are going have to scratch and claw. You do that and you’ll have a chance.”
Rome finishes the series against West Virginia today at State Mutual Stadium, with first pitch at 2 p.m.