King delivers in eighth as Waves win, 4-3
July 10, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release
WAKEFIELD, R.I. - Chris King delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth and Oliver Powers induced a game-ending double play ball to strand the potential tying run on third in the ninth as Ocean State earned a 4-3 victory over Laconia on Wednesday night at Old Mountain Field.
The win snaps a two-game losing skid for the Waves (16-10) and gives them the 2-1 lead in the season series over the Muskrats (11-10).
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Christian Muscarello was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He moved to second on a wild pitch but was still there with two outs as Muskrat reliever Adrian Longoria struck out the next two batters. King, however, ripped the first pitch he saw from the right-hander through the left side to score Muscarello and break the tie. Last Wednesday, King broke a 5-5 tie with an RBI single in the top of the 10th at Danbury.
Powers then came on to close the door but back-to-back one-out singles from Joe Torres and Jordan Lee gave the Muskrats some life. Torres would eventually steal third to put runners on the corners but when Lee tried to steal second two pitches later, Ryan McBroom hit a ground ball up the middle that Reed Gamache fielded right on the second base bag because he was covering before he threw on to first to end the game. It was the third save of the summer for Powers.
Prior to the late game excitement, the Waves battled back from two separate deficits. Laconia took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from McBroom in the first but Mike Gerber walloped a leadoff home run to right-center to leadoff the second and tie the game.
Ocean State then took the lead in the third as Evan Ocello's sharp single to right skipped by the outfielder and all the way to the wall for a two-base error. Gamache then dropped a single into shallow center to score Ocello and make it 2-1 Waves.
Laconia rallied in the fifth, plating a pair of runs to take a 3-2 lead. Torres walked to start the inning and Lee reached safely on a bunt as the Waves were late covering first. A wild pitch eventually scored Torres from third and Taylor Drake's double down the left field line scored Lee to give the Muskrats the lead.
The Waves were able to tie the game in the sixth thanks to another long ball. Behind in the count, Shaun McGraw stayed back and crushed a hanging breaking ball from Laconia reliever Hayden White over the left field wall to tie the game.
Ocean State's pitching helped them keep the game close as Brendon Allen, Tom Bammann, Austin Hill and Powers allowed just nine hits. Allen worked 5.2 innings in his fourth start, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out three. After allowing the run in the first, he induced a 1-6-3 double play and a ground ball to first to escape further damage. Allen then got a pop up to second and a fly ball to center to strand a runner on third in the third and got another pop up to second to leave runners in scoring position in the fourth. Bammann entered with two outs in the sixth and worked into the eighth inning before Hill came on with a runner at second and one out. The side-winder induced back-to-back ground outs to end the threat and Powers did the rest in the ninth.
Offensively, McGraw, King and Ocello all finished with two hits. King now has two hits in each of his last three games and Ocello was playing for the first time in a week.
The Waves continue their four-game homestand on Thursday when they welcome Plymouth to Old Mountain Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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