Spartanburgers Drop Both Games Wednesday at Frederick

FREDERICK, Md. — After the Spartanburgers won the series opener at Frederick Tuesday, the Keys entered Wednesday’s doubleheader a game and a half back of Greensboro in the North Division in the South Atlantic League. Frederick (40-23) swept Hub City (34-31) by scores of 9-3 and 9-1 on the penultimate day of the first half of the season.

In game one, Caden Hunter worked around a pair of runners in the first. Brock Porter (L, 5-2) tossed a clean first in his first start of the year. Hub City got on the board in the second inning. With two on and two out, Yeison Morrobel singled in the first run of the game.

Victor Figueroa led off the bottom of the second with his 18th home run on the year to tie the game. After the ‘Burgers went quietly in the third, Porter struggled in the bottom half. RJ Austin walked to lead off the inning and stole second. With one out, Wehiwa Aloy drove him in on a single. Two more singles loaded the bases, and a groundout made it 3-1 Keys. Vance Honeycutt smacked a two-run double to left, tacking two more runs on. Porter’s day ended on a second straight double from Braylin Tavera. Josh Sanders came in to get the last out of the third with Frederick in front 6-1.

After a scoreless fourth from Hunter, Braeden Sloan (W, 2-0) came in from the Frederick bullpen. He did not give up a run in two innings of relief work. Sanders kept the Keys quiet in the fourth and the fifth. Frederick would tack on three more runs off Sanders in the sixth. Braylin Tavera led off the inning with a double. He scored when Austin reached on a throwing error. Ike Irish followed up with a two-run home run.

Against Jacob Cravey in the seventh, Luke Hanson led off with a double. Gleider Figuereo clubbed a double right after that to give Hub City its first run since the second. Figuereo came around to score on a sacrifice fly, but it was far from enough. Cravey salted away the 9-3 win in game one for the Keys.

Frederick was the away team in game two, a makeup game for an Easter Sunday rain out in Spartanburg. The Keys jumped on J’Briell Easley (L, 0-1) in the top of the first. Two walks and a single loaded the bases. Figueroa brought them all in with a grand slam, and the Keys took a 4-0 lead before an out was recorded. Easley struck out two batters, but he exited and passed things over to Ben DeTaeye for his first minor league appearance.

DeTaeye stayed out for the second. He gave up a run on an RBI single from Aloy. Leandro Arias then led off the third with a home run to make it 6-0 Frederick. After a one-out double and a walk, DeTaeye exited in favor of Cole Roland. The Keys added one more run on an RBI single from Austin before Roland ended the inning. Roland remained out for a scoreless fifth, but he conceded two more runs in the fifth on an Irish double. Jesus Gamez and Theo Hardy pitched scoreless innings in the sixth and the seventh respectively.

Frederick started Kiefer Lord (W, 1-4) in game two. The right-hander recorded all but one out in the game for the Keys. Lord tied a High-A season best with nine strikeouts and allowed five hits, four of which were doubles. The ‘Burgers tagged him for a run in the seventh; Antonis Macias drove in Quincy Scott with a double to right field. Raimon Gomez came on to record the final out of the night.

After a Greensboro loss on Wednesday, the Keys enter the final day of the first half on Thursday tied in the North Division with the Grasshoppers. With a win tomorrow or a Greensboro loss, Frederick claims the SAL North Division first half title and a playoff berth. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Hub City is slated to start righty Kamdyn Perry (0-0, 3.46 ERA). Frederick’s starter is still TBD.