New K-Triber shuts out Cannons

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on July 26, 2004 1:55 PM

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KINSTON -- The Kinston Indians rebounded from their first home loss of the season to the Potomac Cannons with a 5-0 shutout win before 1,307 fans at historic Grainger Stadium Sunday evening.

The Tribe improved to 17-11 in the second half and 62-35 overall, equaling a season-high at 27 games over the .500 mark. Potomac fell to 12-17 and 49-49, and the Cannons are just 3-14 against the Indians this year and only 1-8 in Kinston. All seven Potomac hits were singles.

In his Indians debut, 19-year-old Adam Miller started and stranded runners in scoring position in the first two innings before Kinston got him a lead in the bottom of the second on Jonathan van Every's solo home run. The ball appeared to ricochet off the wall and van Every even pulled up at second, but base umpire Fran Burke signaled home run and van Every graciously accepted it for a 1-0 lead.

Kinston then pulled away in the middle innings, getting two-out RBI singles from J.J. Sherrill in the fourth and Pat Magness in the fifth before van Every struck again in the sixth.

This time, he rode the first pitch he saw from reliever Joel Barreto halfway up the video board in right center field for another solo bomb, his team-leading 14th of the season. The Tribe capped the scoring when Rodney Choy Foo scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.

Miller allowed just three hits but fell one out short of qualifying for the victory, going 4.2 shutout innings. He walked two and struck out five, featuring a fastball that hit 97 mph on the radar gun and a positively filthy slider. Daniel Eisentrager got the final out in the fifth and worked 3.1 innings en route to improving to 6-3. He allowed two hits, a walk, and recorded a strikeout.

Todd Pennington worked the ninth and struck out Jason Vavao to end the game. Cannons starter Calvin Medlock didn't make it out of the fourth as he fell to 0-1. He allowed two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Van Every led the way offensively with his two home runs, and Sherrill finished 2-4. Magness's RBI was his 15th in just nine games for Kinston.

The Indians will spend the next seven days on the road, opening a three-game series with the Frederick Keys Monday at 7:05 before traveling to Wilmington for a four-game set with the Blue Rocks beginning Thursday.