Early Offensive Flurry Not Enough For ‘Birds in 13-7 Loss to ‘Peckers

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Despite an early two-run homer from Creed Willems, the Delmarva Shorebirds couldn’t hold off a thunderous offensive attack from the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, falling 13-7 on Tuesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

The meeting was the first ever between the Shorebirds (18-34) and the Woodpeckers (24-28).

Fayetteville pushed across a run in the top of the first thanks to a two-out run-scoring error, but the Shorebirds responded in the bottom half when Luis Valdez scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

A sacrifice fly for Kenedy Corona in the top of the second put Fayetteville right back in front 2-1.

Again Delmarva answered, this time with a two-run homer from Creed Willems, his second of the season, to make it 3-2.

Trendon Craig expanded the Shorebirds lead with a two-out, two-run single in the third, making it 5-2.

A solo homer from Miguel Palma, his fourth of the year, and a two-run homer from Corona, his ninth, tied the game at 5-5 for Fayetteville in the fourth.

A wild pitch allowed Valdez to score again from the third in the bottom of the fourth, restoring the lead for Delmarva at 6-5.

After the fourth however, it was all Fayetteville. Logan Cerny hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the year, to vault Fayetteville in front in the fifth and then Joey Loperfido singled home another run in the sixth.

Five runs came in for the Woodpeckers in the seventh. Tyler Whitaker drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, Corona worked a bases loaded walk, Leosdany Molina drove in two with a single, and Cerny capped the rally with another RBI single.

The Shorebirds got one back in the eighth on a Luis Valdez sacrifice fly to bring the game to its final score of 13-7.

Freylin Barry (3-0) earned the win for the Woodpeckers, allowing an unearned run in one inning on a hit and a walk.

Angel Vargas (0-1) absorbed the loss for the Shorebirds, allowing eight runs, six earned in 2.1 innings, allowing seven hits and three walks, striking out three.

The Shorebirds continue their series with the Woodpeckers on Wednesday, June 8. Carter Baumler (0-0, 0.00) is slated to go for the Shorebirds while Fayetteville counters with Deylen Miley (2-2, 4.98). First pitch from Perdue Stadium is slated for 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.TV and theshorebirds.com with Sam Jellinek on the call.

ABOUT THE DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS

The Delmarva Shorebirds were founded in 1996 and have been the Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles since 1997. The Shorebirds have won two South Atlantic League championships in 1997 and 2000 and were named the MiLB.com Minor League Team of the Year in 2019 after going 90-48 in the regular season. Based in Salisbury, Maryland, the Shorebirds are proud to represent the entire Delmarva Peninsula and have hosted two SAL All-Star Games in 1999 and 2011. The Shorebirds are owned by 7th Inning Stretch, LP, based in Stockton, California headed by Chairman Tom Volpe and President Pat Filippone.