SAL1 Delmarva Shorebirds

'Birds Survive Furious Start, Squeak by Columbia

Published on May 12, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Delmarva Shorebirds News Release


COLUMBIA, SC - The Delmarva Shorebirds kept pace in the inital offensive footrace and finally eked out a go-ahead run in the ninth on the way to an 8-7 win over the Columbia Fireflies on Saturday night at Spirit Communications Park.

With the game tied 7-7, Zach Jarrett sparked a ninth-inning rally with a one-out single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Trevor Craport then hit a grounder deep to the left side for an infield hit, moving Jarrett up to third. Ryan Ripken came up next and hit a Baltimore chop back to the mound, and pitcher Joshua Payne's only play was to first base. Jarrett slid into home on Ripken's RBI groundout, and the Shorebirds (24-11) finally broke the long deadlock to go up 8-7.

Travis Seabrooke (1-1) sat the Fireflies (18-17) down 1-2-3 in the ninth, earning the with with three scoreless innings. He faced the minimum, giving up just one hit and striking out one.

Payne (3-1) was saddled with the tough loss after giving up an unearned run on four hits in 2.2 frames.

After a 40-minute delay to wait out a storm threat, the teams brought their own thunder at the plate, trading blow after blow for the first three innings. In the top of the first, T.J. Nichting reached on a two-out error and scored on a Seamus Curran bloop double to left to make it 1-0.

Columbia responded by jumping on Delmarva starter Gray Fenter in the bottom of the first. Edgardo Fermin led off with a walk, Blake Tiberi singled, and Quinn Brodey walked to load the bases. Jeremy Vasquez followed with a sac fly to right to score Fermin, and Ali Sanchez pounded his first career triple off an angle in the wall in left center, scoring two more. Sanchez later came in on a Matt Winaker sac fly, and the Fireflies took a 4-1 lead after the first.

Delmarva responded with four of their own off Firefly starter Anthony Kay in the second. Ripken and Jean Carrillo singled with one out, then after a Will Robertson walk, Kirvin Moesquit rolled a single into left to score one. Carrillo scored on a wild pitch, then Mason McCoy plated Robertson on a sac fly, and Moesquit scored on a Curran groundout to put the Shorebirds back up 5-4.

Brodey drove in a pair with a two-out two-run single in the bottom of the second to tilt the scales back to Columbia at 6-5. In the third, Carrillo and Robertson picked up RBIs on a bases-loaded fielder's choice and sac fly, respectively, to make it 7-6. Then Scott Manea singled home a run in the bottom of the third to tie it up at 7-7.

After the initial scoring flurry, the game devolved into a staring contest with neither side blinking for five complete innings. Ryan Wilson righted the ship for Delmarva with four scoreless one-hit frames out of the bullpen, while Seabrooke took the baton in the seventh.

The Shorebirds had men in scoring position in every inning but the eighth, yet failed to capitalize. The Fireflies, meanwhile, didn't get another hit until the eighth inning when Manea stroked a liner that one-hopped the wall in left. The rally was to be short-lived, though, as Jarrett took a perfect carom off the wall and unleashed a cannon from the warning track, nabbing Manea at second. The outfield assist set up Jarrett to jump-start the rally in the ninth.

Nichting led the way with his third straight three-hit game for the Shorebirds, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI. Craport finished 3-for-4 with a run, while Jarrett scored twice.

Sanchez finished 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs for the Fireflies, while Manea had three hits and drove in a run, and Brodey plated two.

The starting pitchers for both sides absorbed heavy damage. Fenter allowed seven runs on six hits in two-plus innings for Delmarva, while Kay surrendered seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in 4.1 frames for Columbia.

At the halfway point of the first half and quarter pole of the season, Delmarva finds itself 13 games over .500 and still in first place in the SAL Northern Division, one game up on second-place Kannapolis.

The Shorebirds now dig in for the rematch with the Fireflies on Sunday afternoon. DL Hall (0-1, 3.07) gets the nod for Delmarva against a Columbia starter to be announced. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m., and pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 1:50 with Will DeBoer on the call.

Check out the Delmarva Shorebirds Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 12, 2018


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