‘Birds Open 2022 with Comeback Win Over FredNats

SALISBURY, MD – The Delmarva Shorebirds stormed back for an Opening Night 9-6 victory over the Fredericksburg Nationals on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

The Shorebirds (1-0) exploded late with five runs in the seventh inning and three more in the eighth to take control of the game, but it was the Nationals (0-1) who started the scoring.

After Brady House singled with two away in the first, Branden Boissiere doubled him home with a liner into the left-center gap to make it 1-0 FredNats.

Sammy Infante extended the FredNats lead to four when he blasted a three-run homer to left, his first of the season, in the fourth.

Delmarva got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back singles from Moises Ramirez and Brayan Hernández started the frame and a groundout moved them both into scoring position. One out later, Darell Hernaiz ripped a single to center to score Ramirez and get the Shorebirds on the board.

Jeremy De La Rosa restored the four-run lead for the FredNats in the seventh with an opposite field solo homer, his first of the season.

After stranding runners on in every inning prior, the Shorebirds finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back walks started the inning before Hernaiz came through with his second RBI single. Davis Tavárez then ripped a double to plate two more and bring the Shorebirds to within one run at 5-4. Mishael Deson followed Tavarez with a double of his own to tie the game at 5-5. After a groundout, Isaac Bellony put the Shorebirds ahead 6-5 with a broken bat single to right.

The Shorebirds plated three insurance runs in the eighth. Hernaiz produced his third RBI single of the game while Tavárez brought home another with a sacrifice fly and Bellony plated one with a base hit to make it 9-5.

Fredericksburg rallied in the ninth to push one across on a Boissiere RBI single and eventually loaded the bases, but Preston Price got Infante to line out to leftfield to end the game.

Kelvin LaRoche (1-0) earned the win in his Delmarva debut, allowing just an unearned run in two innings on two hits and a walk, striking out one.

Tyler Schoff (0-1) suffered the loss for Fredericksburg after he allowed five runs on four hits and two walks, while recording just one out.

Price collected the save by retiring Infante, his first save of the year.

Hernaiz and Tavárez led the charge offensively for the Shorebirds as each player drove in three with Hernaiz also collecting three hits. Deson matched Hernaiz with three hits, including a double.

The Shorebirds continue their three-game set against the Nationals at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at Perdue Stadium. Conor Grady makes his first outing of the year for the Shorebirds against Dustin Saenz for the FredNats. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.TV and theshorebirds.com with Sam Jellinek on the call.

ABOUT THE DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS

The Delmarva Shorebirds were founded in 1996 and have been the Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles since 1997. The Shorebirds have won two South Atlantic League championships in 1997 and 2000 and were named the MiLB.com Minor League Team of the Year in 2019 after going 90-48 in the regular season. Based in Salisbury, Maryland, the Shorebirds are proud to represent the entire Delmarva Peninsula and have hosted two SAL All-Star Games in 1999 and 2011. The Shorebirds are owned by 7th Inning Stretch, LP, based in Stockton, California headed by Chairman Tom Volpe and President Pat Filippone.