9/15: Welk Walk-off Gives Bowie Tenth Straight Win

Welk Walk-off Gives Bowie Tenth Straight Win

_Rodriguez throws five strong innings to keep Bowie in playoff position _

After surviving a late rally from the Altoona Curve (56-57), Toby Welk came to the plate with a runner on second in the bottom of the tenth and singled to right to send the Bowie Baysox (71-45) to their tenth straight win on Wednesday night at Prince George’s Stadium.

Bowie jumped in front early, scoring two runs in the second. Toby Welk led off the frame with a solo home run, his 11th of the season with Bowie, and Chris Hudgins doubled to score Johnny Rizer four batters later to give Bowie a 2-0 lead.

Altoona got on the board with a run in the third, but Bowie answered for two more runs in the fifth on two defensive miscues by the Curve.

The Baysox carried their 4-1 lead into the top of the ninth. With two on and two out, and Altoona down to their final strike, Oneil Cruz hit a ball 462 feet off of Claudio Custodio to tie the game at four.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bowie had the bases loaded and just one out, which forced Altoona to play with a five-man infield. It paid off, as Patrick Dorrian grounded right back up the middle to Ji-Hwan Bae who stepped on second and threw to first to end the inning.

After a 1-2-3 top of the tenth, Andrew Daschbach hit a ball up the middle in the bottom of the tenth. Dorrian was waved around third, and again, Bae saved the game for Altoona, throwing out Dorrian at the plate. However, that was only the second out of the inning, opening the door for Welk. He drove a pitch down the line in right to score Daschbach and secure Bowie’s fifth walk-off win of the year.

The hit gave Bowie their tenth win in a row, which is their longest winning streak of the season.

In his start, Grayson Rodriguez threw five innings and allowed one run on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Logan Gillaspie did not allow a run in relief, and Tim Naughton was charged with two of the runs that scored on the game-tying home run, although they did not score while he was in the game.

In game four on Thursday, Bowie will send RHP Garrett Stallings (2-2, 5.57 ERA) to the mound in search of win number 11 in a row. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Prince George’s Stadium.

The Baysox 2021 season is presented by Money One Federal Credit Union. The Baysox are home through Sunday, September 14th against the Altoona Curve for Bowie’s final regular season homestand. For tickets, promotional event information and game times, CLICK HERE or call 301-464-4865.