Late Rally Comes Up Short in 5-3 Loss

Down East 5 @ Carolina 3

May 22, 2022 | Venue : Five County Stadium | First pitch : 1:03 PM | Att : 1,822 | T : 2:15

DE: 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 5 9 0

CAR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 6 2

WP: Larson Kindreich (2 - 1) LP: Israel Puello (2 - 5) SV: Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa (3)

ZEBULON – Jeferson Quero and Oswal Leones both had run scoring hits during a three-run and four-hit Mudcats’ ninth, but the Wood Ducks would hold off Carolina’s late two-out rally while winning Sunday’s series finale 5-3 at Five County Stadium. Alejandro Osuna and Marcus Smith both homered for Down East as they escaped Zebulon with win in the final game of their six-game series with Carolina.

The Mudcats (21-18) trailed 5-0 going into the last of the ninth before putting together another valiant two-out rally to cut the deficit to 5-3. The Wood Ducks (16-23), however, held on after Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa stranded two men on base while striking out Jesus Chirinos to end the game. Hoopii-Tuionetoa (S, 3) faced just the one Carolina batter and was able to leave the tying run at first while earning his third save of the season.

Luis Silva and Zack Raabe started the Carolina ninth with back-to-back singles against Down East reliever Winston Santos. Jackson Chourio followed with a walk to load the bases and a Hendry Mendez sac fly – following a pop out by Eduardo Garcia – would drive in Carolina’s first run of the game. Quero and Leones then followed with back-to-back RBI singles to cut the lead down to 5-3 against Santos. The Wood Ducks went on to pull Santos after Leones’ RBI single and Hoopii-Tuionetoa would come in to finish the ninth while giving Down East its second win in the series.

Israel Puello (2-5) started and ended up with the tough luck loss after allowing just two early Down East runs over five innings pitched. Puello allowed two doubles and a run in the third. He also saw a run score with two outs in the fourth when a fielding error by Garcia allowed in a run giving the Wood Ducks a 2-0 lead. Puello finished his outing with seven strikeouts against just one walk and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits while taking the loss.

The Wood Ducks led 2-0 through the sixth before adding to their lead with a two-run home run from Osuna in the seventh and a solo home run from Smith in the eighth. Both homers were hit off reliever Edwin Jimenez as he finished the game in relief of Puello. Jimenez allowed three runs, gave up four hits, walked three and struck out five in his appearance.

Larsen Kindreich (2-1) started for Down East and stifled the Carolina offense for much of the afternoon as he pitched through six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and one walk. He also scattered a couple of hits while defeating the Mudcats for the second time this season.

Down East took the first and last games of the series, but Carolina won four straight in the middle while winning the six-game set 4-2. Carolina is 3-0-0 in series played against the Wood Ducks this season.

HOME RUNS:

Down East: Osuna, A (5, 7th inning off Jimenez, 1 on, 2 out); Smith, M (4, 8th inning off Jimenez, 0 on, 0 out).

TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:

Raabe, 2B (Carolina): 2-for-3, 1 R

Quero, C (Carolina): 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Leones, LF (Carolina): 1-for-4, 1 RBI

Silva, 1B (Carolina): 1-for-3, 1 R

Osuna, A, CF (Down East): 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Rodriguez, J, DH (Down East): 2-for-4, 1 2B

Smith, M, RF (Down East): 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Ortiz, 1B (Down East): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B

TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:

Puello (L, 2-5) (Carolina): 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Kindreich (W, 2-1) (Down East): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Santos (H, 1) (Down East): 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Hoopii-Tuionetoa (S, 3) (Down East): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

SCORING:

Wood Ducks 3rd (Wood Ducks 1, Mudcats 0) -- Abimelec Ortiz doubles to left field. Yenci Pena pops out to Eduardo Garcia. Alejandro Osuna doubles to shallow left field, Abimelec Ortiz scores. Cameron Cauley reaches on fielding error by Israel Puello. Marcus Smith flies out to Oswel Leones. Defensive Substitution: Jeferson Quero replaces catcher Jose Sibrian on a 1-2 count, batting 5th, playing catcher. Alejandro Osuna steals 3rd base, Cameron Cauley steals 2nd base. Alejandro Osuna out at home, Jeferson Quero to Jheremy Vargas.

(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors, 1 LOB)

Wood Ducks 4th (Wood Ducks 2, Mudcats 0) -- Maximo Acosta doubles to right-center field. Yosy Galan walks. Jose Rodriguez grounds into double play, Zack Raabe to Eduardo Garcia to Luis Silva, Maximo Acosta to 3rd; Yosy Galan out at 2nd, Jose Rodriguez out at 1st. Ian Moller reaches on throwing error by Eduardo Garcia, Maximo Acosta scores. Abimelec Ortiz strikes out swinging.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors, 1 LOB)

Wood Ducks 7th (Wood Ducks 4, Mudcats 0) -- Ian Moller walks. Abimelec Ortiz struck out looking. Ian Moller steals 2nd base. Yenci Pena pops out to Jheremy Vargas in foul territory. Alejandro Osuna hits a home run to right field on a 0-1 pitch, Ian Moller scores. Cameron Cauley flies out to Jackson Chourio.

(2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Wood Ducks 8th (Wood Ducks 5, Mudcats 0) -- Marcus Smith hits a home run to right field on a 3-2 pitch. Maximo Acosta walks. Yosy Galan strikes out swinging, Maximo Acosta to 2nd;wild pitch by Edwin Jimenez. Maximo Acosta caught stealing 3rd base, Jeferson Quero to Jheremy Vargas. Jose Rodriguez singles to left-center field. Ian Moller flies out to Oswel Leones.

(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Mudcats 9th (Wood Ducks 5, Mudcats 3) -- Luis Silva singles to deep shortstop. Zack Raabe singles to center field, Luis Silva to 2nd. Jackson Chourio walks, Luis Silva to 3rd; Zack Raabe to 2nd. Eduardo Garcia pops out to Cameron Cauley on the infield fly rule. Hendry Mendez out on a sacrifice fly to Alejandro Osuna, Luis Silva scores. Jeferson Quero singles to left-center field, Zack Raabe scores; Jackson Chourio to 2nd. Oswel Leones singles to right field, Jackson Chourio scores; Jeferson Quero to 3rd.

(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB)