Woodies Whacked the Woodpeckers

5/16 Game Recap

By: Jackson Pass

In game one of the series between the Fayetteville Woodpeckers and the Down East Wood Ducks, the starters, McCarty for the Woodies and Dombrowski for the Woodpeckers, both dominated through the first three innings. The starters both faced eleven batters through the first three innings, as McCarty struck out five, and Dombrowski struck out four.

McCarty added one more strikeout to his tally in the top of the fourth, before the Woodies went on a scoring streak in the bottom half. The tides turned for Dombrowski with the Woodies putting up 5 runs on 4 hits in the fifth, hitting 2 two-run home runs by Morrobel and Cueva, plus a RBI double by Figuereo to make the score 5-0. The Woopeckers threatened with a runner on third against McCarty in his final inning of work and McCarty shut it down with Cole going down looking. McCarty final line was 5.0 innings, 2 hits, and 8 strikeouts. The Woodies packed on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, Cauley singling against reliever Perez to bring in Mitchell and Galan, Woodies up 7-0, runs credited to Dombrowski. Dombrowski’s final line was 7 runs, 5 earned, 5 hits, and 5 strikeouts. Kai-Noa Wynyard made his first appearance for the Woodies this season, throwing a one, two, three inning on eleven pitches in the sixth. The Woodies offense only had one hit in the sixth, leaving a runner on first.

Damian Mendoza replaced Wynyard in the seventh, throwing a one, two, three innings with a strikeout, just like Wynyard. Cauley hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, ending Perez’s night, to extend the lead to 9-0 Woodies. Perez left with 2.0 innings pitched, 2 runs, 3 hits, and 2 strikeouts. Mendoza came back out for the eighth giving up a leadoff single, before a double play and a strikeout got him out of the inning. Mendoza’s night ended with 2.0 innings, 1 hit, and 2 strikeouts. The Woodies plated the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth with Ortiz doubling to drive in Cueva from second. Adrian Rodriguez closed out the game for the Woodies giving up a leadoff double before getting three consecutive outs to end the game at 10-0 in a Woodies victory. The win on the night went to McCarty for his first on the year.

The Wood Ducks (19-13) and Fayetteville Woodpeckers (13-20) play game two tomorrow, with the Woodies leading the series 1-0, as the first pitch is set for 11am in Kinston, NC at Grainger Stadium. All fans can come out for the final education day of the season 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!