Eusebio, Doubledays have the power in Ohio

NILES, OH - As Lord Voldemort once wisely stated, "There is no good or evil. There is only power."

Diomedes Eusebio and the Doubledays were not too weak to seek it.

Eusebio rocketed two home runs and finished with 6 RBI, Jeff Gardner and Bryan Mejia added bombs of their own, and the Doubledays outslugged the Mahoning Valley Scrappers 12-7 in Eastwood Field's final game of the 2014 season.

The power outburst came quickly for the Doubledays. With Jose Marmolejos on first and one out, Raudy Read ripped a double to left to plate Marmolejos and get the Doubledays on the board. Eusebio followed with his first blast of the night, a shot that just edged the outstretched glove of D'Vone McClure to land in the Auburn bullpen for a 3-0 lead. Gardner walked up and promptly parked one off the base of the scoreboard to put the Doubledays up 4-0 before the Scrappers ever had a chance to bat.

The teams quieted down after that, at least momentarily. Auburn got another run on a Marmolejos sac fly in the second, and the Scrappers took one back against an otherwise-brilliant Austen Williams (4-3) in the bottom half of the frame. The relative calm lasted until the fifth, when Juan Santana (1-9) walked Bryan Langlois and Cody Gunter to put two on with two out. Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak yanked Santana in favor of erratic lefty Luis Gomez, which turned Mejia around to the right side. The Doubledays' second baseman proceeded to launch a towering home run over the left-center field fence and blow the game open at 8-1.

Eusebio, 1 for 3 at this point, got a look at Gomez in the sixth with Raudy Read on second. He did not disappoint. The slugger set fire to a Gomez offering and ripped it over both tiers of signs in left-center, leaving the entirety of Eastwood Field in stunned disbelief as the Doubledays took a 10-1 lead. As if to add insult to injury, Eusebio came up once more in the eighth and smoked a single into left that scored Osvaldo Abreu and Adderling Ruiz to make it 12-1 Doubledays.

Of course, the night couldn't end without some minor anguish. David Ramos entered to mop up the final six outs and got tagged for six runs without recording an out, a run which included homers by Steven Patterson and David Armendariz. Mario Sanchez relieved Ramos and finished up the eighth and ninth, sealing the 12-7 victory.

The Doubledays play their final road game of the season on Sunday evening at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia. RHP Luis Reyes (0-1, 2.84) takes the hill for the Doubledays against RHP Steven Farnworth (1-1, 3.71). Coverage starts on 98.1/1590 WAUB with Doubledays Pregame at 4:50, featuring a season wrap-up interview with manager Gary Cathcart. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05.