K-Tribe wins season finale

Published in Sports on September 6, 2005 1:58 PM

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Kinston Indians head into the postseason on a high note after sweeping the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Labor Day with a 15-6 rout.

The K-Tribe (35-35 second half, 76-63 overall) opens the playoffs Wednesday night at either Salem or Winston-Salem. The Avalanche and Warthogs will play tonight at Salem to see who will qualify for postseaon play.

Game 2 will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at Grainger Stadium, and the if-necessary Game 3 will also be at Kinston on Friday at 7 p.m.

Monday's game brought the Pelicans' season came to a close with the Kinston Indians handing them a loss, 15-6. The Pelicans finished the season with a 61-79 overall record with a 28-42 mark in the second half.

Kinston got out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning thank to an RBI fielder's choice from Kevin Kouzmanoff.

The Pelicans battled back in the bottom of the third inning with four runs to take the lead. Willie James ripped an RBI single up the middle to score Greg Creek, who reached on a leadoff single, to tie the game at 1-1. Carl Loadenthal then followed with a two-run triple into the right-centerfield alley to give the Birds a 3-1 advantage. Myrtle Beach added another run courtesy of a sacrifice fly RBI off the bat of Diory Hernandez, making the score 4-1.

Just when it looked like Myrtle Beach was sitting pretty with a three-run lead, the Indians offense exploded for nine runs in the middle innings (fourth through sixth). Kinston went on to add five more runs in the top of the eighth to really open the game up. Leading the way for Kinston was Micah Schilling, Stephen Head, Ryan Goleski and Caleb Brock, who each recorded three hits. Goleski drove in five runs and hit his 17th homer of the season to pace the offensive attack for the K-Tribe.

Myrtle Beach plated a run in the bottom of the fifth inning on another sacrifice fly RBI from Hernandez, and 1B Scott Schade blasted a deep solo-home run, his 10th of the season, in the bottom of the 6th inning to pace the Pelicans offense.

Kinston starter Justin Pekarek (2-0) earned the win after tossing six innings that saw him allow six runs on nine hits. Myrtle Beach starter Jake Stevens (10-9) suffered the loss after allowing nine runs on 11 hits in his last start of the year.