Power squeezes out win: ; Sparse crowd watches pitcher's duel

Wednesday night's game between the Greensboro Grasshoppers andWest Virginia Power turned out to be the type of game you hate tosee either team lose.

It was also the type of game that area baseball fans didn't wantto see.

Fortunately for the couple of hundred fans that walked throughthe gates at Appalachian Power Park, they were rewarded with a well-played, and especially well-pitched game.

Even more rewarding was the manner in which the Power escapedwith a 1-0 win that helped the Power (16-23 second half, 51-56)climb out of the cellar in the South Atlantic League's NorthernDivision standings.

The loss dropped Greensboro to 18-21 and 58-51.

After being handcuffed by red-hot Greensboro starter Robert Moreyfor seven innings, the Power took advantage of the Grasshoppers'only pitching change of the evening when third baseman Eric Avilahit the first offering from reliever Miguel Mejia off the lower leftsection of the scoreboard in left-center field.

"I went up there looking for that pitch, in that spot of thezone," Avila said through the translation of Power center fielderMel Rojas, Jr. "I was ready to hit it if it was a strike and hethrew a fastball for a strike."

Morey's seven shutout innings ran his consecutive inningsscoreless streak to 16, following a complete-game shutout in hislast outing.

"I've seen him quite a bit, particularly in college, and the factthat he's hot and throwing up these zeros does not surprise me,"said Power pitching coach Dave Turgeon of Morey, who entered thegame with a 6-7 record and a 6.06 ERA.

"I've seen him and he's much better than the numbers he's put upthis summer."

As Morey frustrated West Virginia hitters, Power starter EliecerNavarro returned the favor against overmatched Greensboro hitters.

Navarro went five innings, allowing five hits, collecting eightstrikeouts, and walking just one.

Reliever Colton Cain (6-7) took over in the sixth and tossed fourinnings to pick up the win.

"I'm very satisfied," said Turgeon of his pitchers' performances."Both threw a lot of strikes and both did it different ways.

"Navarro was more of a frontward, backward kind of guy, movingthe ball around and changing speeds. There was nothing really fancyabout what Cain did. He came in and pounded the zone with old-fashioned fastballs down, and then he mixed in a few soft pitches tokeep them honest."

West Virginia threatened to end Morey's scoreless streak in thefirst inning when leadoff man Drew Maggi doubled down the left fieldline, only to be stranded by a pair of infield pop outs and aninning ending strike out.

The Power never really threatened again until the seven, when DanGrovatt extended his hitting streak to eight games with a one outsingle. Grovatt moved to third when Chase Lyles doubled to left,setting the Power up with two runners in scoring position and withjust one out.

The inning came to a bizarre end one batter later when KevinMort's grounder to drawn in third baseman Joe Bonnadonna, caughtGrovatt in a rundown between third and home.

After retrieving to third, Grovatt was tagged by catcher JacobRealmuto as he stood on third, along with Lyles, who advanced tothird during the rundown.

By rule, Lyles was out when Grovatt was tagged, but having feltthe tag, Grovatt believed he was out.

When Grovatt left the bag and headed to the dugout, via the thirdbase line, he was tagged out by Morey to end the inning.

Lyles led the Power with a pair of hits, while Avila, Maggi,Grovatt, Rojas and Andy Vasquez finished with one hit apiece.

For Greensboro, Noah Perio, Marcell Ozuna and Rand Smith finishedwith two hits apiece.

The two teams finish a four-game series this evening at 7:05 p.m.Left-hander Zac Fuesser (2-4, 3.14 ERA) will take the mound for thePower against Greensboro's Rett Varner (5-5, 5.82).

BOB WOJCIESZAK/DAILY MAIL The West Virginia Powers Dan Grovatt(22) and Chase Lyles are out at third base after Grovatt broke forhome and Lyles went to third. Grovatt got caught in a run down, wentback to third and Lyles was already on the base, causing bothrunners to be out Wednesday against the Greensboro Grasshoppers atAppalachian Power Park. The Greensboro players are catcher JacobRealmuto, left, and third baseman Joe Bonnadonna.

Contact Michael Dailey at mike.dailey@dailymail.com.