D-Braves defeat Elizabethton in home opener

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The reigning Appalachian League champion Danville Braves scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the way to a 4-1 victory against the 2009 league runner-up Elizabethton Twins in Danville’s home opener Monday night.

“I heard a lot about that,” Danville righty Matt Suschak said about the D-Braves defeating Elizabethton in Danville for the league championship last season. “I knew (Elizabethton has) been solid, they’ve been right there with us the past few years, so I knew this was going to be a big series. … It’s a good feeling to know that they ended that way last year and we’re starting off right where they ended.”

The two-out outburst started following a nearly two-hour rain delay when Jakob Dalfonso reached base on a wild pitch after striking out for what should have been the final out of the fourth inning. A pair of infield singles by Kenny Fleming and Jason Mowry loaded the bases and a fielding error by Elizabethton (4-3) second baseman Gunner Glad, who backpedaled into shallow center field while failing to glove a popup by Andrelton Simmons, allowed all three Danville (6-1) base runners to score.

“You do everything to win, right?” Dalfonso said. “(D-Braves manager Paul) Runge says play the game to win the game, so we’re going to play hard. Whatever we do, we’re going to play hard.”

The teams traded runs in the second inning. Andy Leer hit a run-scoring double to right field for Elizabethton but Danville answered in the bottom of the frame when Dalfonso scored Barrett Kleinknecht from second with a single to center field.

D-Braves righty Kyle Farrell limited the Twins to one run on two hits through four innings before the rain delay cut his night short. Matt Suschack struck out five Twins in three innings to earn the victory. Dalton Acord struck out five in two innings to pick up the save.

Clinton Dempster took the loss for Elizabethton despite allowing no earned runs while tossing 3 2-3 innings in relief of starter Blayne Weller.

“To come back home, the home opener against the perennial power, the Elizabethton Twins, and with the rain delay and everything else, it was a good win for us,” Runge said. “Ferrell gave us four solid innings before the rains came, Suschak came on and did a great job and Acord had a better outing his second time out than he did his first … so that’s encouraging news for us.”

THIRD-ROUND PICK SIGNS
Infielder Joe Leonard, Atlanta’s third-round selection in the 2010 draft out of the University of Pittsburgh, was added to the Danville Braves roster.

The 6-5, 215-pound Leonard, the 101st pick overall and the last of Atlanta’s first 10 selections to sign, played third base and pitched in relief for the Panthers.

The 21-year-old was named the 2010 Big East Conference Player of the Year and was tabbed a second-team All-American after leading the Panthers with a .433 batting average this past season, his junior year.

He set single-season school records for hits (104), at-bats (240), doubles (23), total bases (159) and RBIs (71) this year and also set Pitt’s single-season and career records for saves with eight and 11, respectively.

NEW DIGITS
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons, the Braves’ second-round selection in the 2010 draft, had his number changed from 34 to 5.

TODAY
Danville RHP Aaron Northcraft (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Elizabethton LHP Ryan O’Rourke (0-0, 1.80 ERA) at 7 p.m. today at Dan Daniel Park.