Hub City made it consecutive wins in the series opener on a sweltering Tuesday morning at Fifth Third Park, knocking off the Aberdeen Ironbirds 4-3. First rounder and top catching prospect Malcolm Moore made his return to the lineup, sparking the Spartanburgers’ offense with a clutch game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the 5th. After going down 2-1 in the ensuing half inning, Arturo Disla delivered another clutch knock to re-knot the game at 2. In the seventh inning, run-scoring base hits from Anthony Gutierrez and Moore gave the Burgers all the cushion they needed as Willian Bormie picked up a much-needed two inning save despite a solo homer off him in the 8th.
After Mother Nature forced the postponement of game 2 on Wednesday night, the Burgers looked to extend the streak to three in the first of a double header featuring a pair of 7-inning contests. Josh Trentadue (1-1, 1.18 ERA) was called on to take the bump and, unfortunately for the Spartanburgers, did not have his sharpest stuff.
After a clean first inning, designated hitter Ethan Anderson hit a soft comebacker that, despite having the time to make a good throw, Trentadue rushed, allowing Anderson to reach and advance to 2nd. With one out, left fielder Austin Overn made it hurt as he singled home the first run. Following a pickoff, third baseman Leandro Arias drew a walk, later scoring on a triple from catcher Ryan Stafford.
The top of the third inning saw Aberdeen use speed to produce an insurance run after a leadoff single from shortstop Griff O’Ferrall. He stole both 2nd and third en route to scoring on a sacrifice fly to left from Anderson to give the IronBirds a 3-0 lead.
Trentadue departed after just three innings with 2 strikeouts, 2 walks, 3 hits, and 3 runs – only 2 of which were earned. He gave way to Josh Sanders, who managed to settle things down with back to back 1-2-3 innings, allowing room for the Burger bats to chip away and try to flip the game in their favor.
The offense did finally get into gear against Aberdeen’s Sebastian Gongora (1-0, 1.89) in the bottom of the 4th. With 2 away, Malcolm Moore reached on a single that was followed by consecutive clutch RBI doubles from newcomer 3rd baseman Rafe Perich and Casey Cook. With a chance to tie it, Arturo Disla hit a cue shot straight to the first baseman for an unassisted groundout to end the inning. But, Hub City cut the deficit to just one run.
The Burgers had a golden opportunity to at least tie the game if not take the lead with 2 in scoring position and 2 outs in the home 5th. Luis Marquez doubled with 1 away and Keith Jones II kept the line moving with a walk. A wild pitch advanced them both, but ultimately the chance was squandered when Julian Brock flew out to center. Hub City may look back on that missed opportunity with extra regret after what transpired in the top of the 7th.
Seth Clark, who has struggled mightily in his last 2 outings, did not improve his fortunes Thursday. Stafford laid down a bunt single to start the inning. First baseman Cole Urman laid down a sacrifice bunt that Clark over ran for a fielding error, compounded by an errant throw to first once he did corral it. That chaotic play scored a run and got Urman all the way to 3rd, later to score on an O’Ferrall knock. After a walk to 2nd baseman Aron Estrada and back to back strikeouts, right fielder TT Bowens singled home 2 more runs. Clark did manage to strike out the side despite all of that. But, in the end, he took the loss as Hub City could not get anything going in the bottom of the 7th, falling 7-2.
Game 2
Looking to reel things back in, Kolton Curtis (2-2, 6.37) took to the hill opposite Aberdeen right hander Cohen Achen (2-5, 4.40).
It ended up being a short night for Curtis as he had to exit the game due to an unknown injury after just two thirds of an inning. Victor Simeon came on to try and finish the opening frame, quickly finding himself in a dramatic situation after walking designated hitter Aron Estrada and center fielder Jake Cunningham with a single from 3rd baseman Anderson De Los Santos sandwiched in. Simeon avoided damage by finally getting Urman on strikes to leave the bases loaded.
Hub City was gifted the first blow of the nightcap when a 1 out walk to Dreiling turned into an unearned run on a lazy fly ball to left was dropped for an error – the throw home on the play allowing Gleider Figuereo to take a free 90 feet after reaching, albeit to no avail as Yeison Morrobel grounded out to first unassisted to end the inning. The Burgers later added on in the home half of the 2nd, cashing in back to back singles to start the frame from Anthony Gutierrez and Casey Cook on a sacrifice fly to left from Cal Stark, who got the start at first base in place of Arturo Disla. The inning ended with 2 in scoring position after a Luis Marquez single, a ground ball to first, and a fly out to center.
Dylan MacLean came out to pitch the 2nd inning and did a good job of keeping Aberdeen to just 1 run – a solo homer that he gave up to Estrada in the third – until the top of the 5th. Left Fielder Angel Tejada led off with a 2-bagger and advanced on a fly out to center from Urman. Griff O’Ferrall drove him home with a sac fly to center to tie the game at 2.
In total, MacLean worked 4 innings with 5 strikeouts, no walks, 2 hits, and just the 2 earned runs. Eric Loomis took the reins in the 6th and went 2 shutout innings, retiring 5 on strikes with no walks and no hits.
As if 14 innings and nearly 6 hours were not enough baseball, this game would need an eighth frame to be decided. Mailon Felix came out of the bullpen and quickly got himself into a pickle with the bases loaded and nobody out when he walked the first batter and gave up a knock to the next. The Burgers ended up playing the safe strategy game, trading a double play for the go-ahead run. That ended up working as Felix got out of the inning by getting De Los Santos to pop up to 2nd with runners on the corners.
Chad Comer got aggressive in the home half, immediately sending the ghost runner Keith Jones II for a successful swipe of third. Dylan Dreiling later followed it with a line drive to center for a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Gleider Figuereo called game with 2 out when he crushed a walkoff line drive homer into the Spartanburgers’ bullpen in right, splitting the twin bill with a 4-3 win. That homer was historic as it marked the first-ever walkoff home run in Spartanburgers’ history.
The series will resume Friday night at 7:05 with pitchers yet to be determined.
