Pelicans Explode for 12 Runs, Win Final Game against Down East

By Sam Weiderhaft

It’s the first win for Myrtle Beach at Pelicans Ballpark on the Fourth of July since 2009

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans capped off the series with the Down East Wood Ducks with a 12-3 victory at Pelicans Ballpark in front of a sellout crowd on the Fourth of July. Both teams grabbed three wins in the six-game series, with the Pelicans splitting their second series in a row. Myrtle Beach improves to 24-29 on the year, while Down East drops to 30-23.

Hitting was the story of the game as the Pelicans turned 12 hits into just as many runs. Ethan Hearn (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI) posted another solid performance as he finished with six runs batted in against Down East. Luis Verdugo (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) also brought home two runs with a double in the fourth inning.

Didier Vargas (3-2) went the minimum five innings to pick up his third victory of the season with 10 strikeouts, tied for the most by a Pelicans pitcher this season. The bullpen of Jake Reindl, Bailey Reid, and Carlos Ocampo let up just two hits and struck out six.

The Wood Ducks scored just three runs off their eight hits in the season finale. Keyber Rodriguez (3-4, 2B, RBI) led Down East with three hits. Dustin Harris (2-4, 2 RBI) brought in two runs with a pair of RBI singles.

Five pitchers appeared in the game for Down East as starter Mason Englert (4-2) took the loss with four earned runs in his 3.1 innings pitched. The Wood Ducks walked five batters while striking out seven.

The visitors started off with a three-run lead through two and a half innings. Keithron Moss led the game off with a ground-rule double to right field and was hit in the very next batter with Harris hitting a single to put Down East up 1-0. In the top of the third, Jayce Easley led off with a double to left field. Easley stole second base and was brought home with another Harris RBI single for a 2-0 lead. After Harris stole second, he came home with an RBI single from Rodriguez to right field to lengthen the lead to three runs.

The Pelicans went on to score 12 unanswered for the rest of the game. Jonathan Sierra led off the bottom of the third with a walk, and Verdugo hit a single to right field to put two runners on. After Jordan Nwogu popped up for the first out, Kevin Made bunted down the third-base line, and third baseman Thomas Saggese threw wildly to first, allowing Sierra to score. With Verdugo on third, Yohendrick Pinango lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home another run for the Birds.

The game was broke open as the Pelicans scored five runs in the fourth to take control. Matt Mervis drew a walk and Fabian Pertuz was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. Sierra came up and singled to center field to score Mervis, and Verdugo roped a double down the left-field line to bring home both runners on base and give the Pelicans a 5-3 lead. After a Nwogu single to put runners at the corners, Made grounded into a force out to bring home Verdugo and extend the lead. Ryan Reynolds capped off the inning with a single to score Made to finish off the five-run inning.

In the fifth inning, Hearn rolled a single to center field to get on base to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a groundout by Pertuz and went to third on a groundout by Sierra. Reliever John Matthews threw a wild pitch as Hearn scored to put the Pelicans up 8-3.

Another run came across in the seventh as Mervis doubled to right field with one out. He would advance to third and score off two wild pitches from Wood Ducks’ pitcher Joshua Javier as the Birds went up 9-3 after seven innings.

The final blow came in the bottom of the eighth inning as Ethan Hearn came up with the bases loaded and just missed a grand slam as he doubled off the right-center field wall to bring home three runs and make the score 12-3.

Myrtle Beach will travel to Augusta to take on the GreenJackets for a six-game series next week