Woodies Fall to the Peckers Again

8/27 Game Recap

By: Jackson Pass

In game six of the series between the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and the Down East Wood Ducks, Bryan Chi started on the mound for the Woodies going one, two, three with two strikeouts in the first. Bloss started on the mound for the Woodpeckers, walking the first batter he faced before his catcher picked him up throwing out Torres for the first out. Bloss proceeded to get the next two batters out to complete the first inning. Johnson was the first baserunner to reach for the Woodpeckers in the second, where he was left stranded. The Woodies were first to score in the game as Calarco reached on a walk, Specht singled to make it first and third, and with Specht stealing second, the catcher threw the ball away for Calarco to cross the plate. The Woodpeckers pecked back with 3 runs as Loftin reached on a single, Fisher on a walk, and Baez put a charge into one for a 3-run homer to left, Woodpeckers up 3-1. Bloss picked up two strikeouts in the top of the third inning and allowed only one Wood Duck on base with a walk.

Chi went one, two, three in the fourth. Bloss was replaced in the fourth for Jose Nodal after giving up a single to Piotto and getting a strikeout, ending his day with 3.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 run and 6 strikeouts. Nodal struck out the first two batters he faced to end the fourth inning. Chi came back out for the fifth, walking Fisher with one out before Fisher stole second, where Fisher was left stranded after two flyouts. The Woodies plated one run with a sac fly as runners were on first and third to score Hurdle to cut the Woodpeckers lead down to one run. Brayan Mendoza replaced Chi in the top of the sixth, facing only three batters with Piotto nailing Encarnacion for a caught stealing. Nodal went one, two, three against the Woodies to finish the sixth.

The Woodpeckers had a similar inning against Mendoza with Piotto throwing another runner out in the seventh inning. Nodal added two strikeouts against three Woodies batter to end the seventh. Mendoza also added two strikeouts to his tally in the top of the eighth against three batters. Nodal was replaced with Temple to complete the eighth, racking up two strikeouts with a groundout. In the ninth, Johnson doubled with one out as the Woodpeckers failed to get an insurance run in. Temple shut down in the bottom of the ninth against the Woodies to secure the save in a 3-2 Woodpeckers win. Nodal received credit for the win on the day.

The Wood Ducks (62-53) and Fayetteville Woodpeckers (52-68) finish the series with the Woodpeckers taking the series 5-1, as the Woodies head on the road to face the Carolina Mudcats next week before returning on Tuesday, September 5^th to face the Augusta Green Jackets with the first pitch at 7pm in Kinston, NC at Grainger Stadium. All fans can come out for Tribute Tuesday presented by Starbucks.

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!