Blowfish Tie Up CPL Championship Series

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (blowfishbaseball.com) — The Columbia Blowfish topped the Fayetteville SwampDogs 7-3 in game two Pettit Cup Playoffs Championship Series. The win for the Blowfish evens the series at one game apiece and the decisive game three will be tomorrow at 7:05 in Fayetteville. The Blowfish found themselves in a hole early after the SwampDogs plated three runs in the first two innings off of Blowfish starter Wyatt Brown. Brown went just an inning and a third giving up the three runs on five hits. The SwampDogs scored both runs in the first with two outs and then added the third in the second. The Blowfish would answer in the third with three runs of their own to tie the game. Daniel Torres led off the innings with a double down the left field line. Torres advanced to third on a Jarrod Reed single to right. Federico Castagnini then singled to left to score Torres. Later in the inning Graham Saiko hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Reed and Castagnini later scored on a Joshua Miller single to left. The Blowfish would take the lead in the fifth when Castagnini singled to left with one out and later scored on an error by the shortstop off the bat of Miller. The Blowfish added another run in the seventh as Reed singled to lead off the inning, stole second and then scored on a Saiko single. The Blowfish then extended their lead to 7-3 in the top of the ninth. Reed reached on a throwing error and made it all the way around to third base on the play. Reed then scored on Castagnini sacrifice fly to right. The Blowfish scored their final run on a solo homerun from Graham Saiko over the left field fence. The Blowfish got fantastic relief from Zack Russell-Myers who went four innings without allowing a run. He did allow two hits while striking out five. Jeff Kinley then gave the Blowfish an inning and two thirds of scoreless baseball. Kinley did not allow a hit while striking out two. Adam Albers pitched the eighth striking out one. Joshua Knab pitched the ninth and found himself in trouble with the bases loaded with two outs. The Columbia Blowfish are in their seventh season at Historic Capital City Stadium and are a proud member of the Coastal Plain League, the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league. Celebrating its 16th season in 2012, the CPL features 14 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts. Furthermore, the CPL has had over 1,000 alumni drafted and 51 alums – including 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander – make their Major League debut thus far. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at www.coastalplain.com, and be sure to friend us on Facebook (atwww.facebook.com/coastalplainleague) and follow us via Twitter (at cpleague).