Strong Pitching Stands out for IronBirds on Opening Weekend against Hub City
By: Michael Marcantonini The Aberdeen IronBirds began their 2025 season with a quick three-game home series against the Hub City Spartanburgers, the new High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. In a tight series featuring three games decided by either one or two runs, the Spartanburgers won two out of the
By: Michael Marcantonini
The Aberdeen IronBirds began their 2025 season with a quick three-game home series against the Hub City Spartanburgers, the new High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. In a tight series featuring three games decided by either one or two runs, the Spartanburgers won two out of the three games over the IronBirds.
In the season opener on Friday, the Spartanburgers edged out the IronBirds, 4-3, in a 12-inning thriller for their first win in franchise history. With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Austin Overn gave the IronBirds the lead with a two-out solo home run over the right field wall for his first High-A homer and the team’s first dinger of the season. The IronBirds held that lead until the top of the ninth, when the Spartanburgers strung together three straight singles to tie the game. Neither team scored in the 10th, but after Hub City grabbed the lead with a run in the 11th, the IronBirds answered right back. With runners on second and third and only one out, Griff O’Ferrall’s single up the middle tied the game, but Hub City’s center fielder Anthony Gutierrez threw out Ryan Stafford at home plate trying to score the winning run. The game continued into the 12th when the Burgers pulled ahead with a two-out run, before the Birds stranded the tying run on third in the bottom of the inning.
IRONBIRDS TAKE THE LEAD 🔥@AustinOvern crushes the 'Birds first home run of the season! 😤
— Aberdeen IronBirds (@IronBirds) April 5, 2025
IronBirds lead 2-1@OsPlayerDev | @MIKEdUpSports pic.twitter.com/9x7dEeedlt
The IronBirds responded with a 3-1 win and never trailed on Saturday night to even the series. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, when Ethan Anderson scored from third on a weird play. The IronBirds had runners at first and second with one out and Jake Cunningham at the plate with a 3-1 count. As both runners broke on a double steal attempt, the next pitch to Cunningham was outside for ball four. But Hub City catcher Julian Brock threw down to second base on instinct, and the rest of the infielders didn’t realize it was a walk to load the bases, so they started going after IronBirds trail runner Aron Estrada in a rundown, which wasn’t necessary, and the lead runner Anderson sprinted home from third base and was credited with a stolen base of home. After all that, the Birds tacked on two big insurance runs in the eighth on Cunningham’s two-out, two-run double into the left field corner, and they held off the Spartanburgers’ rally in the ninth.
The scoring went back and forth on Sunday until the Spartanburgers pulled ahead late for a 7-5 win. The IronBirds led 3-1 after the first inning thanks to an RBI triple from O’Ferrall and a go-ahead, two-run single from Thomas Sosa. But the Burgers regained the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth and never trailed the rest of the way. Down 5-3 in the sixth, Cunningham blasted a game-tying, two-run home run to right-center field for Aberdeen for his first long ball of the season, but Hub City answered immediately with the eventual winning run and an insurance run in the seventh.
Pitching led the way for the IronBirds in the series, as the Aberdeen arms allowed just eight earned runs in 30 innings, good for a 2.40 ERA. Braxton Bragg started on Opening Night and tossed four innings with three strikeouts and only one unearned run. Then on Saturday, two young Birds pitchers dominated in the only win of the series. Michael Forret shut down the Burgers with four and two-thirds shutout innings, five strikeouts, and only two hits allowed, and Blake Money earned the win with four innings of one-run ball and four strikeouts.
The IronBirds are out of town this week for their first road trip of the season against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws from Tuesday through Sunday, April 8-13. But the IronBirds will be back at Ripken Stadium for their first six-game homestand from Tuesday through Sunday, April 15-20, against the Brooklyn Cyclones. To purchase tickets and for more information on upcoming games and promotions, visit goironbirds.com.