Beckley – Patrick Mills tied the Miners single-season home run record Wednesday, blasting his 11th long ball of the season as the Miners beat the Champion City Kings 6-3 in Beckley.
The Miners did most of their damage in the second and third innings en route to their 15th win of the season.
It started in the second when Malik Williams and Starton Podaras both reached to start the inning, eventually scoring.
Mills added a one-out solo shot in the third while Kenneth Melendez doubled to drive in Williams. When the smoke cleared the Miners led 5-0. They held a 6-1 lead heading into the ninth but two Champion City runs made the game closer late. Still, Miners pitcher Austyn Coleman hung on for the save as the hosts split the two-game series.
The Miners will travel to Johnstown for a two-game series with the Mill Rats before returning back to Beckley for two more against the Pennsylvania based team.
Champion City Kings 3 AT West Virginia Miners 6 YTD YTD Champion City AB R H BI AVG West Virginia AB R H BI AVG Emerson, B CF 2 0 1 0 .192 Blinn, D DH 4 0 0 1 .366 Widder, B SS 3 0 0 0 .368 Ortega-Jones, I CF 5 0 1 0 .328 Wetherholt, J 2B 4 0 2 0 .361 Mills, P LF 4 1 1 1 .400 Carney, C DH 3 1 0 0 .412 Williams, M 1B 2 2 1 0 .313 Padilla, E LF 3 1 0 0 .271 Podaras, S C 2 2 2 0 .457 Krizen, E C 4 0 0 1 .288 Gutierrez, K C 0 0 0 0 .050 Funderburg, T 3B 4 0 1 1 .256 Melendez, K 2B 4 0 1 2 .197 Lukkes, T RF 4 1 1 0 .176 Swain, C 3B 3 0 1 1 .400 Cavey, B 1B 3 0 0 0 .151 Williams, B 3B 0 0 0 0 .176 Seccombe, B PH 1 0 0 0 .237 Reifsnyder, J SS 4 0 0 0 .214 Iazzetta, C RF 2 1 1 0 .161 31 3 5 2 30 6 8 5 Champion City 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 - 3 5 0 West Virginia 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 x - 6 8 2 2B--Wetherholt, J 2B (5), Melendez, K 2B (4). 3B--Lukkes, T RF (1). HR--Mills, P LF (11). RBI--Krizen, E C (6), Funderburg, T 3B (10), TOTALS 2 (0), Blinn, D DH (28), Mills, P LF (44), Melendez, K 2B 2 (11), Swain, C 3B (1), TOTALS 5 (0). SF--Blinn, D DH (3), Swain, C 3B (1). SB--Emerson, B CF 2 (3), Podaras, S C (2), Iazzetta, C RF (2). CS--Emerson, B CF (1), Widder, B SS (2), Lukkes, T RF (1). E--Swain, C 3B (1), Reifsnyder, J SS (5). LOB--Champion City 6, West Virginia 8. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Champion City Peters, G (L,0-2) 4.0 5 5 5 3 4 1 6.15 Oak, D 2.0 3 1 1 1 1 0 3.86 Mose, N 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 8.53 Major, A 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5.40 8 8 6 6 6 7 1 West Virginia Lipthratt, L (W,3-0) 5.0 3 1 0 2 6 0 0.75 Cooke, C 3.1 2 2 2 3 1 0 4.26 Coleman, A (S,1) 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.44 9 5 3 2 5 9 0 WP--Oak, D (1), Cooke, C 3 (3). PB--Gutierrez, K. SO--Wetherholt, J, Padilla, E, Funderburg, T 2, Lukkes, T, Cavey, B 3, Seccombe, B, Ortega-Jones, I, Williams, M, Reifsnyder, J 4, Iazzetta, C. BB--Emerson, B 2, Widder, B, Carney, C, Padilla, E, Williams, M 2, Podaras, S, Gutierrez, K, Iazzetta, C 2. BF--Peters, G 20 (116), Oak, D 10 (50), Mose, N 4 (64), Major, A 4 (38), Lipthratt, L 20 (98), Cooke, C 14 (27), Coleman, A 2 (83). P-S--Peters, G 92-56, Oak, D 37-25, Mose, N 18-9, Major, A 22-11, Lipthratt, L 81-50, Cooke, C 58-28, Coleman, A 7-6. T--3:16. Tomorrow's Probable Starters: WV Walker CCK-Carter