Well, we got it out of the way. Opening night came and went and ended in the most perfect way possible. On an unforgettable night for the fans in attendance and the City of Spartanburg, their home team Spartanburgers claimed a 5-3 victory over the defending South Atlantic League champion Bowling Green Hot Rods, culminating in a fireworks show that was just as explosive as the crowd as the final out was recorded.
With all the fanfare and nostalgia of opening night in the rearview, Hub City took to the diamond for game two of the series looking for a second straight victory to take an early edge in this 6-game set. The pitching matchup for this contest wasn’t one that would scream potential future Cy Young candidates when you look at the stats. Aidan Curry, who had a 10 point ERA coming into the night got the nod instead of expected starter Josh Trentadue. He would oppose Marcus Johnson, who came in with an 0-2 record and an 8.00 ERA. But as I mentioned last night, numbers can be thrown out when it comes to baseball – at least in Johnson’s case.
In what looked like it would be a mirror image of last night, Curry issued a leadoff walk to Bowling Green Shortstop Adrian Santana that came back to bite when Second Baseman Emilien Pitre doubled to dead center to score Santana from first. After striking out Right Fielder Aidan Smith looking, Curry issued another base on balls, this time to Center Fielder Mac Horvath. Fortunately, no further damage was done as back to back looking K’s retired the side, sending the game to the bottom of the frame trailing 1-0.
Things got off to a promising start for Hub City to answer as Second Baseman Casey Cook led off with a sharply-hit single past 1st. He would later steal 2nd only to be left on after three straight fly outs, which set the tone for the way the game would go for the Spartanburgers’ offense.
Aidan Curry came back out for the 2nd inning and issued his third free pass of the night, this time to Hot Rod Third Baseman Hunter Haas. First Baseman Blake Robertson followed with a single to put men on the corners, leading to more blood being drawn with 1 out when Adrian Santana delivered a triple to the right center field gap to drive home both runners. Pitre later added on with a run-scoring two-bagger to left, and after walking Aidan Smith, Curry was taken down for Victor Simeon, who started off by walking Horvath but settled in to retire Left Fielder Tony Santa Maria and Designated Hitter Daniel Vellojin – both on looking strikeouts. But, Hub City would head to the home half of the frame trailing 4-0, but still could not produce an answer as Quincy Scott singled with 1 out only to be caught stealing to kill the chances of a rally.
Fortunately for the Burgers, their bullpen continued to be the story of the early season. Simeon came back out to work what would be his only full inning of the night, exiting shortly later to the tune of the only 3 up 3 down inning for Spartanburgers pitching up to that point. Josh Trentadue, who again was expected to start this game, came in to pitch the 4th after another empty frame by the Burger Bats and ran into some trouble after surrendering back to back 2 out singles, getting out of it with a fielder’s choice force play at third.
After Trentadue’s goose egg, Hub City finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when Center fielder Anthony Gutierrez and Designated Hitter Arturo Disla hit back to back one out doubles to left, in the end leaving Disla at third to make for a 4-1 Bowling Green lead heading to the 5th.
Trentadue continued his good work in his second inning of work. He issued a leadoff walk to Vellojin but managed to leave him at first with a strikeout and back to back fly balls, setting the stage for an inning where the grill finally got hot enough for the ‘Burgers to cook.
Figuereo led off with a single and advanced to 3rd on a double from Catcher Julian Brock. Shortstop Theo Hardy followed by delivering one of the 2 biggest blows of the night, tying the game with a double. He would later score the go-ahead run on the second big blow – an RBI single from Gutierrez, who would be left on as Disla struck out swinging. But, the Spartanburgers carried the 5-4 lead into the 6th.
Trentadue would return for one more inning, this time working around a single and a walk with 2 out to finish the night having tossed three shutout innings with 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 3 hits — enough to earn him the win in relief. Josh gave way to Adonis Villavicenzio in the 7th, who hung yet another goose egg. He walked Vellojin to start the frame, but picked him off for the first out. With 2 away, Robertson and Martinez singled back to back, but a 4-6 fielder’s choice sent the game to the stretch with Hub City still in front 5-4.
The Spartanburgers were denied a chance to add on in the 7th after a controversial foul ball call took an RBI double away from Quincy Jones. It looked to have hit on the chalk down the left field line. But, the call went against Chad Comer and led to him being the first-ever ejection at Fifth Third Park. However, failing to add the would-be insurance run(s) ended up not hurting as Larson Kindreich came in and finished mopping up this game, striking out 4 in 2 innings to seal the second straight victory for the Spartanburgers.
Theo Hardy led the way with 2 RBIs on a 1-3 night at the dish. Quincy Scott also had a solid night, going 2-4 with a run batted in. Gutierrez and Dislan also tabbed an RBI a piece on a combined 3-7 night at the plate.
With the win, Hub City improved to 7-4 on the season and took a 2-0 edge in the 6 game series. Game three will be tomorrow night with first pitch set for 6:35 PM, with Paul Bonzagni (0-0, 2.08 ERA) expected to get the start opposite Garrett Edwards(1-0, 2.00 ERA).
