Salem’s Playoff Hopes Shattered by Delmarva

SALEM, VA – Salem fell on Sunday afternoon 9-7, ultimately putting an end to their memorable 2021 season. The Red Sox finish with a record of 71-49, after losing four of six to the Delmarva Shorebirds (68-52) in the final series of the season.

The Red Sox got into trouble early when Darrell Hernaiz and Connor Norby strung to gether back-to-back hits with one out. Coby Mayo grounded out to Antoni Flores, scoring Hernaiz from third giving Delmarva a 1-0 advantage.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Tyler McDonough smacked his fourth double of the season to dead center field. Following a ground out from Nick Decker, Tyler Miller tied the game on a line drive off Coby Mayo’s glove at third base to score the run and knot things up at 1-1.

The Red Sox would kick their offense into gear in the second ignited from Nick Northcut’s single with nobody out. Alex Erro followed things up with a base hit to right field putting a pair of men on base. The Red Sox took the lead on Antoni Flores’ 12th double of the season.

They got the two-run advantage from a Ceddanne Rafaela single driving home Alex Erro. With still just one out, Rafeala made the play of the game on the base paths. He took off for second giving the third base runner Antoni Flores a chance to score. After an errant throw to second, Rafaela took off for third. With Ceddanne standing on the third base bag, Delmarva thought the play was over. Rafaela notice the deliberation between the players and took off for home and slid in safely. This gave Salem a 5-1 lead in the second.

The Red Sox would tack one and have a 6-1 lead with only 12 outs left until a playoff berth. Delmarva had other ideas, and it was to play spoiler. After Bradly Blalock (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4K) left the game, Robert Kwiatkowski struggled. Delmarva had a six run sixth inning led by Jacob Teter who smacked a two RBI double to right center field. Reed Trimble drove in two runs to cut the lead to one. The last straw came from Darrell Hernaiz who hit a hard ground ball in the whole for an infield hit, scoring two giving Delmarva a 7-6 lead.

The Red Sox showed fight loading the bases in the sixth and walking home a run setting up the ninth as a 7-7 stalemate. Delmarva got the last laugh as Billy Cook hit a two-run homer to right center field delivering the final blow to Salem, that could not be recovered from. The final score of Sunday’s game was 9-7.

The Salem Red Sox were crowned the Low-A East North Champions this season, edging the Shorebirds by three games. They failed to reach the postseason, finishing one game behind the Down East Wood Ducks.

The Red Sox finished 33-27 at Salem Memorial Ballpark and 38-22 on the road, good for the second best record in the league.

First pitch: 4:06 PM

Time of game: 2:54

Attendance: 3,101

Venue: Salem Memorial Ballpark