The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ – David Vidal hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Somerset Patriots (7-7, 45-39) over the Sugar Land Skeeters (8-7, 43-42) 5-4 before 7,825 fans at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday evening.
With one out in the ninth, Vidal launched a solo shot (9) over the left field wall for the victory.
“I didn’t try to do too much. I was just trying to get on base and make something happen,” said Vidal. “I got a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it, and hit it out.”
The Patriots started the scoring in the first inning on an RBI single by Bryan LaHair.
The following inning, Mycal Jones drove in a run on a base hit to make the score 2-0.
Somerset made it a 4-0 game in the third inning on an error and then an RBI single by Scott Kelly.
The Skeeters got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Delwyn Young that made the score 4-1.
Patriots starting pitcher Donovan Hand pitched seven strong innings, allowing just one run on six hits in a no decision.
“It was big for us to come back after giving it up. I just felt like we needed that win,” Hand said. “ I probably should have been done after six, but I pushed on for one more to get through that wall of just going six, which I had done a few times now.”
Sugar Land tied up the game in the top of the eighth inning on a bases clearing triple by Ricky Hague that knotted the game up at 4-4.
Kyler Newby (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts for the win. Robbie Weinhardt (5-6) took the loss, allowing a run on one hit in 0.1 innings pitched.
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford will continue on the road until Thursday, July 28th when they return home for a 7:05 pm game against the Bridgeport Bluefish. The game includes Sparkee The Mascots Birthday Party with Sparkee Caps (1st 1,000 Kids) presented by JDRF and Novo Nordisk. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
