FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2019
Contact: Andrew Bandstra
301-638-9788, Ext. 208
[email protected]
Lancaster Evens Series
Lancaster, PA –
Southern Maryland came into game two of a three game set riding their best stretch of baseball. The Blue Crabs had won 12 of their last 16 games, but dropped a game this evening tonight against the Lancaster Barnstormers by a final score of 5-4. The scoring started in the second inning off of the Lancaster starter, Jared Lakind (L, 3-5). It began with Charlie Valerio reaching on a single, and Tony Thomas followed by reaching on an error. With two outs and runners on second and third, the nine hole hitter, Rubi Silva came to the dish and caught the Lancaster second baseman, Melvin Mercedes, off guard when he slapped a push bunt in his direction, giving Silva an infield single and the Blue Crabs and early 1-0 lead.
Lancaster responded on the Blue Crabs arm, Dusten Knight (W, 1-0) in the bottom of the second inning when Destin Hood homered for the second time in as many nights to tie the game at 1-1. Knight joined the Blue Crabs just a few days ago, and comes into Southern Maryland with an impressive resume under his belt. He began the 2019 with the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, posting an incredible 1.59 ERA through 11.1 innings, and striking out 14 batters in that time frame. Knight allowed four in the bottom of the fourth frame, but it came in a strange manner. A pair of bunts and a bloop were the deciding factors to bring the quartet home, nonetheless Lancaster took a 5-1 lead. The game seemed as though it might hold at a 5-1 count throughout, and then came Charlie Valerio. The switch hitting catcher launched a three run home run in the top of the seventh to make it a one run game heading into the final two innings.
Southern Maryland made it as close as it could be in the top half of the ninth. The Blue Crabs had runners on the corners with no outs. The Barnstormers infielders were in on the grass. Valerio hit a ground ball to second, and Travis Witherspoon got caught in a run down and tagged out, and in the meantime Cory Vaughn tried to advance to third, and was tagged out as well. Southern Maryland went from a nearly definite scoring situation, and an incredible double play turned into a 5-4 loss. The Blue Crabs will return home on Friday August 2nd for the series opener of a three game set with the Somerset Patriots, and a 6:35 p.m first pitch. Catch all Blue Crabs home games on the Blue Crabs Broadcast Network, live streamed on YouTube (@SOMDBlueCrabs) Facebook (@SOMDBlueCrabs) and Twitter (@BlueCrabs). About the Southern Maryland Blue CrabsThe Blue Crabs play 140 regular season games in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The Blue Crabs, in their 12th season of baseball, call Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland home. For more information on the Blue Crabs, please call 301-638-9788 or visit http://www.somdbluecrabs.com for more information. About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)With eight teams in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas, the ALPB is a leader in baseball innovation and a player gateway to Major League Baseball. Through its exclusive partnership with MLB, the Atlantic League tests Major League Baseball rules and equipment initiatives. The Atlantic League has sent over 900 players to MLB organizations while drawing more than 40 million fans to its affordable, family-friendly ballparks throughout its 22-year history.For more information, please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.
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