Battle of the Birds

5/12 Game Recap

By: Jackson Pass

Game four of the series between the Delmarva Shorebirds and the Down East Wood Ducks began with Woodies starter, Brock Porter, going three up three down in the top of the first. The Woodies were first to score runs on the night, with a solo home run by Abi Ortiz, and Figuereo scoring Morrobel on a RBI single against Delmarva starter, Bradley Brehmer. The Shorebirds threatened in the top of the second, with two runners in scoring position and one out. Porter struck out the next two batters as they both went down looking. Brehmer settled down in the second, recording two strikeouts against three Woodies batters in the bottom of the second.

The first Delmarva batter in the top of the third, Tejada, reached on a throwing error by the Woodies third baseman, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Basallo to cut the Woodies lead down to one run, Woodies 2-1. In the bottom half Abi Ortiz started things off recording a triple as the Woodies threatened to extend the lead with no outs. A fly ball to right field off the bat of Cauley resulted in Ortiz getting thrown out at the plate on a strong throw from Hodo.

Porter and Damian Mendoza combined for three up three down in the top of the fourth, ending Porter’s night with 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, and 6 strikeouts. The Woodies left a runner stranded on third in the bottom half of the fourth inning. A run crossed the plate in the fifth for the Shorebirds as a single allowed Basallo to reached base. Basallo scored on a three base error in center field with Young at the plate to tie the game at 2-2. In his final inning, Brehmer recorded three quick outs on twelve pitches against four Woodies batters, ending his night with 2 runs, 5 hits, and 3 strikeouts.

Delmarva edged ahead in the sixth with back-to-back doubles from Hernandez and Hodo, making it 3-2 against Damian Mendoza. The Wood Ducks offense was shutdown in innings six through eight, as the Delmarva pen struck out six of eleven batters. The Woodies held the game
at 3-2 going into the ninth, bringing in Adrian Rodriguez from the Duck Blind to finish the game. The Shorebirds scored four runs in the top of the ninth. Two runs scored on a Basallo double and two scored on a dropped ball in left field, putting the Shorebirds up 7-2. The Woodies loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, striking out on the final three outs of the game. The win on the night went to Bremher and the save to Sharp, who came in the eighth before Delmarva extended the lead to 7-2.

The Wood Ducks (17-12) and Delmarva Shorebirds (16-13) play game five tomorrow on Saturday, May 13th at Historic Grainger Stadium in Kinston, NC. The first pitch is set for 5:00 pm. The series is tied 2-2. Fans can come out for Pepsi Saturday with $2 off your ticket if you bring a Pepsi can to the ticket booth. The first one thousand fans will receive a pink pinstripe jersey presented by Lenoir Community College.

Fans can purchase tickets on woodducksbaseball.com, by calling the Wood Ducks Team Offices at (252) 686-5164 or in the Wood Ducks Team Offices located at Grainger Stadium (Tues-Fri – 10am - 4pm). Make sure to follow your Down East Wood Ducks on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook so you don’t miss anything!