Surf Win Second Straight Over Sussex, Set Average Attendance Mark
September 1, 2008 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Atlantic City Surf News Release
Atlantic City, N.J. - Starter Charlie Ruud earned his first victory of the season for the Atlantic City Surf as the home squad defeated the Sussex Skyhawks, 7-6, in the 2008 Can-Am League regular-season finale for both teams at Bernie Robbins Stadium on Monday evening.
Sussex (27-20) grabbed an early 3-0 lead after an RBI single by RF Jorge Moreno and a two-run single by DH Mario Delgado, both in the first inning. The Surf then came back with an RBI single by 1B Eddie Kim in their half of the frame.
Atlantic City (26-21) took a lead it would not relinquish in the second, with an RBI triple by 2B Brad Thoma, RBI singles by CF Lucas Taylor and C Joe Burke, and a sacrifice fly by Kim, making the score 5-3, Surf. LF Jason Hurst's solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third and DH Clyde Williams' fourth-inning RBI single added another two runs to Atlantic City's lead.
The Skyhawks made a game of things with a pair of runs in the sixth on 3B Mike Pappas' RBI double and CF Ron Perodin's run-scoring single. The scored stayed 7-5 until the ninth, when Sussex scored a run on 2B Chris Brown's RBI single, but J.C. Huguet, making just his third relief appearance of the season, shut the door for his first save of the year.
Ruud (1-1) threw five innings for the victory, limiting the Skyhawks to just two hits in the second through fifth innings after laboring through the first. For Sussex, Rich Lawyer (2-3) was encumbered with the loss, allowing seven runs on 13 hits in six innings of work, fanning three.
Williams led the Surf with a 3-for-3 evening, while Burke, SS Anthony Grananto, and RF Heath Keel all had a pair of hits. Perodin, Moreno, Delgado and Brown each had two base knocks for the Skyhawks.
Atlantic City ended the second half one game out of first place, 51-43 overall and equaling its number of wins from the 2007 season. Sussex finished the half tied for first place with Worcester and Quebec, and its 52-42 overall record was a 17 1/2-game improvement over the team's 2007 mark. The Skyhawks will host Worcester in the first two games of their best-of-five series, starting Tuesday.
Atlantic City drew 3,409 spectators to Monday's game, putting its total for the regular season at 124,430. The team's final per-game average attendance of 2,765 is an all-time high for the franchise, breaking the previous record of 2,719, set in 1999.
The Surf travel to Quebec for the first two games of the club's best-of-five series, which starts Wednesday evening. Adam Cox (7-3) will face league ERA leader Michel Simard (13-2) in the series opener.
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Canadian American League Stories from September 1, 2008
- Can-Am League Recap - Can-Am
- Surf Win Second Straight Over Sussex, Set Average Attendance Mark - Atlantic City Surf
- Pavlik Outdueled By Bunn As Jackals Drop Season Finale - New Jersey Jackals
- Pride Take Down Quebec in Season Finale; 7-6 - American Defenders of New Hampshire
- Can-Am League Recap - Can-Am
- Tornadoes Win Regular Season Finale; Set Sights on Postseason - Worcester Tornadoes
- Tornadoes Blow Away Rapidz, 8-3 - Ottawa Voyageurs
- Granato Racks Up Can-Am League Hardware - Atlantic City Surf
- Granato, Galvez Stockpiling the Hardware - Can-Am
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