Benches Clear Once Again in Kinston

4/30/22 Game Recap

by: Jackson Pass

Mitch Bratt pitching for the Woodies tonight, fresh off the plane from out west in Arizona makes his debut. Bratt starts off strong, striking out the first three Mudcats batters. On the opposite end, Alexander Cornielle, pitching for the Mudcats, allowed one hit to the hot hitting Alejandro Osuna. The catcher, Jeferson Quero, threw out Osuna attempting to steal second. Right after Osuna was thrown out, Navarez walked, but was left on first.

Neither team could get much going in the second inning and the Mudcats got nothing in the top half of the third. The Woodies bring across two in the bottom half, with Osuna reaching base on a fielder’s choice and moving to second on a walk to Maximo Acosta, before Tucker Mitchell brings in Osuna on a RBI single to left field. On the throw from left field, Maximo Acosta moved up to third, and the catcher receiving the throw, tried to make a play on Mitchell, charging for second, resulting in an error, and Maximo Acosta coming across to score, putting the Woodies up 2-0. These 2 runs were the only of the night as the pitching duel takes favor in tonight's game.

Larson Kindreich piggy backs Bratt’s short 3.0 inning start, where Bratt was impressive in his debut with four strikeouts, only facing eleven batters. Kindreich started off like Bratt retiring the first three batters in the top of the fourth. Both teams only reached scoring position one more time for the night, failing to bring any more runs across.

At the end of the fifth, things got exciting. A benches clearing situation after the Woodies are thrown out attempting to steal second and the second baseman getting cleated, led to an exchange of words between players, unloading the benches. Both teams received a warning for the altercation. Alberis Ferrer led off the top of the sixth grounding out to second and in a throw he thought he beat out, slams his helmet down in frustration, getting ejected by the first base umpire.

Luis Silva entered the game to replace Ferrer at third, as Michele Vassalotti replaced starter Cornielle in the bottom half, ending Cornielle’s night with the loss with four hits against him and two unearned runs. Vassolotti threw 2.0 innings facing seven Woodies batters before turning the ball over to Ramsey, who threw 1.0 inning, facing three Woodies batters in the eighth. Larson Kindreich picked up his first win of the year after completing 6.0 innings, giving up only one hit to the Mudcats order, racking up six strikeouts, improving his ERA to an amazing 1.13.

The Wood Ducks (9-11) and Carolina Mudcats (10-10) continue their series tomorrow, Sunday, May 1st, with the series in the Mudcats favor 3-2, as the first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. in Kinston, NC at Grainger Stadium.

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 (Mon-Fri – 9am - 4pm). Make sure to follow your Down East Wood Ducks on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook so you don’t miss anything!