Eastlake, OH (September 6, 2008) – The West Virginia Power scored three times with two outs and snapped a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning of Saturday night’s game at Classic Park to defeat the Lake County Captains 4-1 and advanced to the South Atlantic League Championship.

Eric Farris walked on five pitches to begin the contest. The Power executed the hit-and-run to perfection with two outs when Steffan Wilson singled to right field with Eric Farris off and running on the pitch. With runners at the corners and two outs, Erik Berger balked and allowed Farris to score.

The Captains tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. After Dustin Realini’s one out single, Matt Brown smashed a double into right-center field, allowing Realini to score the tying run. West Virginia scored three times with two outs in the eighth inning to re-gain the lead. Wilson reached on Karexon Sanchez’s errant throw with two outs. Caleb Gindl walked on four pitches and Zelous Wheeler belted an RBI single to score Wilson. Curt Rindal capped the inning with a two-run double.

Mike Ramlow (1-0) tossed three and a third scoreless innings of relief to get the victory. Rob Wooten fanned three and allowed just a hit over an inning and a third to get the save. Jonathan Holt allowed a three unearned runs over two and third and was tagged with the loss. Lucas Luetge allowed just a run on five hits over four and a third.

The Power took the best of three game series 2-1 to advance to the South Atlantic League Championship for the second year in a row. Zelous Wheeler paced the Power with a 2-for-3 performance and reached three times. Seven Power players reached safely in the victory.

The Power will begin the best of five game Championship Series against the Augusta GreenJackets at Lake Olmstead Stadium on Monday night. The starting pitchers have not been announced. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

The West Virginia Power will be home at Appalachian Power Park Thursday for Game 3 against the GreenJackets.