The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Waldorf, MD – The Somerset Patriots (2-0, 40-32) scored 10 unanswered runs from the sixth inning on to rally past the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (0-2, 24-45) 10-7 Tuesday evening at Regency Furniture Stadium. It was Somerset’s fourth straight win, all of which have been in come from behind fashion. Tonight was the second largest deficit overcome in a win in franchise history. In 2004, the Patriots erased an eight run hole against Camden and won 14-13.
“I loved our focus, attitude and energy we brought as we chipped our way back into the game,” Somerset Patriots manager Brett Jodie remarked. “You never want to dig yourself in a big hole, but the bullpen did an outstanding job to put up some zeroes to give us a chance. We fought and never gave away at bats.”
The Patriots scored four runs in the sixth, three in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to notch their 22nd come from behind victory of the season.
“Every time I pitch I just want to do my job and compete,” remarked winning pitcher Bryce Morrow, who tossed four scoreless relief innings to keep his team afloat. “I’ve only been here for a couple days, but I’ve quickly noticed we can definitely swing the bat so I just wanted to give our offensive unit a chance.”
Patriots’ starter Mickey Storey yielded seven runs in three innings of work. In the second inning Angel Flores recorded an RBI ground out and Eric Garcia sliced an RBI double. Former Patriot in 2013, Angel Sanchez, then slugged a two-run home run (2).
Southern Maryland added three more runs in the home half of the third inning. D’Arby Meyers clubbed a home run (3) and Zach Wilson socked a two-run home run (8). Half of his homers have occurred against Somerset.
The Patriots offense only mustered three hits through the first five innings, but they made adjustments starting in the sixth inning. In the final four innings they amassed 13 hits.
In the sixth inning David Vidal ripped a two RBI double while Yovan Gonzalez blooped an RBI single. An additional run scored via the catcher’s fielding error so the score was 7-4 in favor of Southern Maryland after six innings.
In the seventh inning the Patriots evened the score at 7-7. Bryan LaHair belted an RBI double. A run scored via a wild pitch by Orlando Santos. Then with the tying run on third base and two outs, Matt Fields battled back from an 0-2 count to work the count full. On the payoff pitch he punched an RBI single through the left side.
Somerset grabbed the lead in the next inning. Scott Kelly poked a go ahead RBI double while LaHair added an RBI double of his own to make the score 9-7.
Fields blasted his first home run (6) since June 11th in the top of the ninth inning to provide insurance.
Morrow (2-0) earned the win. In two appearances he has two wins and tossed six scoreless innings.
“It’s been a great clubhouse, a lot of good guys who are very welcoming,” Morrow said with a smile. “I’m having a blast playing baseball.”
Santos (1-3) suffered the loss. He yielded two runs in one inning of work. Jon Hunton notched his 18th save, which is good for second most in the Atlantic League. He threw a scoreless final frame.
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford continues on the road until the team returns to TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday, July 7th for a 7:05 p.m. game against the Lancaster Barnstormers. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
