The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots (13-3, 48-31) defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (6-8, 32-45) 4-3 in ten innings before 6,963 fans at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday evening.
With the bases loaded and one out, Alfredo Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Mike Fransoso as the winning run.
“Facing [Ryan Chaffee] in the previous at bat, he got me with a pretty nasty curve ball,” said Rodriguez. “I had that in the back of my mind, but at the same time, as soon as he got behind 1-0, I thought he’d give me a hittable pitch. I tried not to do too much and get the ball out there beyond the infield to be able to do my job.”
The Blue Crabs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI double by Teodoro Martinez, an RBI fielder’s choice by Frank Martinez, and a run-scoring double play.
The Patriots got on the board in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI groundout by Justin Pacchioli that made the score 3-1.
Somerset tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Mike Blanke (1).
Nate Roe (4-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning pitched. Chaffee (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing a run on a hit and three walks in 2.2 innings pitched.
The 2018 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue at home on Friday, July 27th with a 7:05 pm game against the Road Warriors at TD Bank Ballpark. The game features a Post Game Fireworks Show and The Sandlot’s 25th Anniversary Celebration featuring one of the film’s stars Tom Guiry (“Scotty Smalls”). For tickets, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.
