Keys Drop Game Two of Playoff Series to Grasshoppers
FREDERICK, MD – The Frederick Keys dropped game two of the South Atlantic League North Division Championship series to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates), falling by a score of 5-3 at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. The Grasshoppers took an early lead in the top of the third inning with
FREDERICK, MD – The Frederick Keys dropped game two of the South Atlantic League North Division Championship series to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates), falling by a score of 5-3 at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
The Grasshoppers took an early lead in the top of the third inning with a three-run frame, and despite the Keys getting three runs in the bottom of the ninth, Greensboro held on for the two-run rally to defeat Frederick and force a winner-take-all game three Friday night for Frederick.
Stephen Still finished the bottom of the first with a scoreless top of the first, getting two strikeouts in the process and taking the game to the second still knotted at zeros apiece.
After both sides went off the board in the second, a three-run homer from Tony Blanco Jr. of Greensboro handed the visitors a 3-0 lead through three innings of play from Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
Following a scoreless fourth inning for the Keys and Grasshoppers, a solo homer by Eddie King Jr. for Greensboro pushed their lead to four at 4-0 in the top of the fifth with the Keys aiming to chip away.
Greensboro however hit their third homer of the night in the top of the sixth to make it a 5-0 game, as the Grasshoppers entered the seventh leading by five Thursday night.
With each side going off the board in the seventh, Carson Dorsey worked a scoreless top of the eighth inning, allowing the home team to stay in it down by five approaching the ninth in game two of the postseason.
In the bottom of the ninth, Randal Diaz cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to make it a 5-3 game, but two outs ended the ballgame with the final score being 5-3 in favor of Greensboro, forcing a game three Friday night at Nymeo Field.
Game three between the Keys and Grasshoppers is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. from Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium, with the winner punching their ticket to the 2026 South Atlantic League Championship series beginning on Sunday against the Winston-Salem Dash.