IronBirds Sweep Spinners, 5-4

Aberdeen, MD- An eighth inning three-run homer by Ronarsy Ledesma propelled the IronBirds to a 5-4 win, completing the three-game sweep of the Lowell Spinners.

Ledesma drove a fastball from Taylor Grover to the opposite field, into the IronBirds bullpen with Justin Viele and Jeff Kemp on at first and third base. It was Ledesma's first home run with Aberdeen (40-32), giving the IronBirds a 5-2 lead at the time.

Donnie Hart came on to get his fifth save of the season in the ninth after Janser Severino faced just one batter, giving up a walk to Deiner Lopez to lead off the inning. Hart walked Nathan Minnich, the first batter he faced to bring the tying run to the plate. With Mike Meyers at the plate, Lopez took off for third. IronBirds catcher Chance Sisco's throw would sail into left field, allowing Lopez to score and Minnich to circle around to third with no outs yet recorded. Hart would buckle down though, striking out Meyers, giving up an RBI groundout to second to Carlos Asuje and inducing a groundout to second to end the game.

The night was highlighted by history being made by the Trey Mancini who went 2-for-3 on the night, pushing his hit total to a franchise best 84 on the season. Mancini passed Kip Schultz who set the record at 83 hits back in 2010. Mancini's 2-for-3 night also raised his average to .328, also a franchise record. Schultz also held the record previously with his .313 batting average in 2010.

Mitch Horacek had a solid night on the mound pitching five innings and giving up just one unearned run. He gave up three hits and struck out five batters without giving up a walk.

Dylan Rheault got the win for Aberdeen pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings without giving up a hit. He gave up one walk and struck a batter out. It was the first professional win of his career. 

Jared Breen and Tanner Rust each picked up two-out RBI singles for the IronBirds in the bottom of the second.

For the Spinners (40-33), their season ends as they finish two games behind Jamestown in the wild card race. They could have clinched the wild card with a win and a Jamestown loss. Lowell would have leap-frogged the Jammers for the wild card with a higher win percentage. Jamestown defeated State College 9-4 earlier in the evening so a win would have done no good tonight.

The IronBirds finish the regular season on a five-game winning streak with back-to-back sweeps of Brooklyn and Lowell.

They will face Tri-City in the first round of the New York-Penn League playoffs. Sebastian Vader (7-3, 2.43 ERA) will get the start for Aberdeen in game one on Friday, held at Ripken Stadium. Games two and three (if necessary) will be held at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Tri-City.

For ticket information, contact our box office at (410) 297-9292 or visit us online at www.IronBirdsbaseball.com.

###