Home Runs Doom Wood Ducks in Loss to Keys

KINSTON, NC - Four homers from Frederick (8-14, 39-52) spiraled Down East (11-12, 35-57) into a hole they could not escape in an 8-6 defeat on Sunday. Multi-hit nights from Josh Morgan, Matt Lipka, and Preston Scott aided a four-run eighth, but the Woodies ultimately could not complete the comeback.

Five runs scored in the second inning for the Keys off starter Jeffrey Springs. Home runs from Yermin Mercedes and Glynn Davis accounted for two of the three hits in the inning.
As a silver lining in the loss, Springs collected six strikeouts - pushing his total for the season to 101 becoming the first pitcher in the southern division to pass the century mark.
The Woodies responded in the third thanks to a two-out RBI double from Lipka to score Scott. While the offense got on the board, Springs entered a groove by retiring 11 batters in a row from the third to the sixth inning.
A solo homer and two more singles snapped the streak in the sixth and chased springs from the game. Johan Juan ended the frame on a groundout, setting the score at 6-1 Keys.
Yanio Perez knocked a sacrifice fly to shallow right to score Morgan in the bottom half of the inning. Down East would manage runners on base in each of the last four innings after Frederick starter Brian Gonzalez exited the game.
The fourth homer of the game for the Keys came in the eighth and the two-run blast pushed the lead to 8-2. A win would have marked the largest comeback of the year for Down East.
Lipka was hit by a pitch to start the rally in the bottom of the eighth, and Morgan would follow with his third hit of the game. They both scored on a double by Perez. With two outs, another double from La O pushed the deficit to three - 8-5.
Reliever Karl Triana exited for Frederick closer Tanner Chleborad to face Scott. He singled up the middle to bring home La O but he was thrown out at second trying to advance on the relay home.
Scott Williams collected two punch-outs in the top of the ninth to preserve the two-run target. Ledarious Clark and Lipka would single in the ninth, but the Woodies could not get the hit to tie it.
Game two of the series is Monday at 7:00 p.m. Righty Emerson Martinez (1-8, 4.71) will face another righty in Ofelky Peralta (2-8, 6.72) on Military Monday.
You can listen to every pitch of the 2017 season live on Sports/Talk 960 The Bull or streamed on the TuneIn Radio app.