Pelicans rally for late inning comeback

MYRTLE BEACH – The Pelicans got a big home run at a big time from a guy in a powder blue jersey with “Johnson “ splayed across his back. But it wasn’t the one you’d think.

Not Carolina League home run leader Cody Johnson, but rather Pelicans catcher Benji Johnson put on his Superman cape with in the bottom of the eighth inning, crushing a three-run homer with his team down 5-4 to surge Myrtle Beach out in front in an eventual 7-5 win in front of 5,692 fans at BB&T Coastal Field, a news release from the Pelicans said.

Frederick got out to an early lead with a run in the top of the second. Robbie Widlansky scored on a fielding error charged to Pelicans third baseman Randy Gress with two outs in the inning. Myrtle Beach got even with Cole Miles’ second longball of the season in the bottom of the third, a solo shot to the Birds’ bullpen in right field, but it was in the fifth that the Pelicans ran into trouble.

According to the release, Myrtle Beach starter Erik Cordier surrendered just one run through the first three innings but allowed five men to reach and four to score in the top of the fifth. Three reached via walk, and three runs scored with two outs, continuing an inning-closing problem that plagued Myrtle Beach through its three games with the Keys. In all, the Birds surrendered 15 two-out RBIs to Keys hitters, and the fifth gave Frederick a 5-1 lead. Cordier allowed five runs in five innings.

Yet the Pelicans didn’t fade like in similar contests this year. Myrtle Beach scratched out a pair of runs on RBI base hits by Jason Heyward and Cody Johnson in the bottom of the sixth and another in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Donell Linares.With a one-run deficit, the stage was set for Benji Johnson’s eighth-inning heroics.

With Linares and Cody Johnson aboard, Benji turned on the first offering from Frederick reliever Jake Stevens (2-4) and sent it screaming into the Land Shark Landing bleachers. The home run was the catcher’s fourth of the year, and the win was a big one for the Pelicans to close out the first half of the 2009 season. It marked the first time the club had come back to win a game when trailing after the seventh inning at home and just the second time all season. The Pelicans had been 0-18 when trailing after the seventh at home this year and 1-35 overall.

The comeback made a winner out of Tommy Palica (3-1), one of three Pelicans relievers to combine for four innings of walk free, one-hit, shutout ball. Benino Pruneda (3) picked up the save.

With the first half over, the Pelicans follow up the All-Star Break with seven straight on the road. Myrtle Beach returns home to host the Salem Red Sox for first home Fourth of July series in franchise history. That four-game set from the 2nd through the 5th boasts fireworks nights following the Independence Day and Sunday night contests. Tickets are available at the BB&T Coastal Field box office, by calling the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or by visiting the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.