Doubleheader Sweep For 'Birds

Kannapolis, NC - The Delmarva Shorebirds swept a doubleheader on Friday night in Kannapolis with a pair of comeback victories. The Shorebirds (21-19) beat the Intimidators 5-2 in the opener and 4-2 in the nightcap to earn their third straight series win.

In game one, Sebastian Vader fell behind early but he battled through for a complete game effort, the first by a Shorebird this season. Vader allowed one run in both the second and fourth innings as Kannapolis took a 2-0 lead. Vader won his fourth straight start, improving to 5-1 on the year.

In the sixth inning, Delmarva scored a pair of runs to tie the game. Jeff Kemp reached on an infield single, and Trey Mancini followed with another single to put runners on the corners. Josh Hart sliced an RBI single to the left-center gap to make it 2-1. With two outs, Conor Bierfeldt delivered the tying run on a line drive single.

The Shorebirds took their first lead of the game in the seventh inning. Justin Viele led off with a walk, and Mike Yastrzemski ripped a double down the right field line. With runners on second and third, Drew Dosch lifted a fly ball to left. Viele tagged and the throw from Kiser beat him to home, but Omar Narvaez dropped the tag. Delmarva tacked on two more runs with an RBI triple by Mancini and RBI single by Hart.

In the nightcap, Kannapolis jumped out to an early lead again. The Intimidators scored in the first inning after a leadoff walk and RBI single by Danny Hayes. Shorebirds' starter Luc Rennie trailed 2-0 after a solo home run by Zach Voight in the second.

Delmarva clawed their way back to a deadlock with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. Austin Wynns roped an RBI double to make it 2-1 in the fourth. In the fifth, Gregory Lorenzo beat out an infield single. Lorenzo then went first to third on an errant pickoff throw from Andre Wheeler. Federico Castagnini brought home the tying run on a sacrifice fly to left field.

The bullpen came up big for Delmarva once again with Dennis Torres extinguished several Kannapolis rallies. Torres relieved Rennie with two outs in the fifth inning with runners on second and third. The reliever struck out Carl Thomore to escape the inning and preserve the 2-2 tie. 

Torres walked another tightrope in the bottom of the seventh inning. After an infield single and sacrifice bunt, Kannapolis had the potential game-winning run in scoring position. Torres intentionally walked Hayes and then struck out Jacob Morries. After a wild pitch, Torres issued another intentional walk after falling behind Trey Michalczewski. Facing Thomore once again, Torres got a fly ball to right field to force extra innings.

The Shorebirds took another late lead in the eighth inning. After a hit-by-pitch to Yastrzemski, Drew Dosch hammered a two-run bomb home run over the right field fence. Jimmy Yacabonis closed out his tenth save with a pair of strikeouts in a perfect eighth inning.

Delmarva now travels to Charleston, West Virginia for a four-game series with the West Virginia Power. Shorebirds' lefty Luis Gonzalez (0-0, 0.00) makes his first start of the year against Power righty Justin Topa (2-1, 4.64). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at Appalachian Power Park.