Hanifee Smooth, 'Birds Soar into Break

CHARLESTON, WV - The Delmarva Shorebirds entered the All-Star Break with their heads held high, downing the West Virginia Power 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park.
Brenan Hanifee (5-3) cruised to the win for the Shorebirds (35-32), going seven innings for the fourth time and allowing just two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out three. Gavin Wallace (5-1) endured his first loss for the Power (37-29), giving up three runs on four hits over six innings. Nick Vespi pitched an inning and two-thirds scoreless for a hold, while Tim Naughton got the final out for his third save.
Delmarva wasted no time striking a big blow. For the second straight day, Mason McCoy singled on the game's first pitch, and Branden Becker followed three pitches later with a line drive home run to right, his first round-tripper of the season, to give the Shorebirds an instant 2-0 lead. Trevor Craport walked two batters later and advanced to third on a Ryan Ripken slicing single to left center. Will Robertson followed with a sac fly to right, scoring Craport to make it 3-0.
West Virginia countered in the second without needing a hit. John Bormann took one off the shoulder to lead off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Groundouts from Brett Pope and Chris Sharpe were enough to bring Bormann home and make it 3-1 Delmarva.
Bormann was in the middle of the action again in the fourth, drawing a two-out walk. Pope followed with a single, and Sharpe notched his own base hit to score Bormann and cut the Shorebird lead to 3-2.
Hanifee settled down and faced the minimum over his final three innings before handing the keys over to Vespi. The Power worked the beginnings of a two-out rally in the eighth with a Rodolfo Castro single and Calvin Mitchell walk, but Vespi induced a groundout from Ben Bengtson to escape unscathed.
The Shorebirds found that long-awaited boost in the top of the ninth. Craport worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second two batters later on a groundout. Ben Breazeale then golfed the first pitch he saw into shallow left. Into a full sprint on contact, Craport snuck his left hand in ahead of a throw and tag, touching up to double the Delmarva lead at 4-2.
Sharpe drew a full count walk with two out in the ninth to give the Power a glimmer of hope, but Naughton came in and struck out Jesse Medrano to bring things to an end.
Becker finished 1-for-4 with the two-run blast, his second career home run and first since June 24, 2017, with the Aberdeen IronBirds in Staten Island. Craport walked twice and scored twice. Breazeale went 1-for-3 with a walk and RBI.
Bormann scored both Power runs, coming in twice via RBIs from Sharpe. Castro went 2-for-4.
Delmarva finishes the first half three games over .500 and in fourth place in the SAL Northern Division. The Shorebirds now send four players to Tuesday's SAL All-Star Game in Greensboro: third baseman Trevor Craport, first baseman Seamus Curran, pitcher Matthias Dietz, and outfielder Zach Jarrett.
The Shorebirds open the second half with a six-game homestand, beginning on Thursday with a showdown against the Kannapolis Intimidators. Neither team has set a rotation for the series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with gates opening at 6:00. The first 500 fans through the Perdue Stadium gates on Thursday will receive an orange and gray Shorebirds hat, presented by Spicer Bros. Construction, Inc. It's also a KISS 95.9 Thirsty Thursday, as well as Maryland Pride Thursday. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch app begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer and Drew Williams on the call.