Marathon Ends in Shorebirds Walkoff

Salisbury, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds needed 15 innings to score their first run, but that was all it took on Wednesday night. Drew Dosch delivered the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 15th inning to defeat the Hagerstown Suns, 1-0.

The contest started as game one of a doubleheader. Hunter Harvey and Lucas Giolito, two of the top prospects in the South Atlantic League, squared off in a much-anticipated pitching matchup. Each starter impressed with Giolito throwing five scoreless innings, and Harvey besting him with six shutout frames.

Originally scheduled for seven innings, neither team scored as extra innings wore on. After twelve innings, the decision was made to postpone the second half of the doubleheader to a later date.

Throughout the game, each team threatened to score the opening run. In both the seventh and eighth innings, Hagerstown moved the go-ahead run to third base. In both cases, Shorebirds' reliever David Richardson stranded the runners.

In the bottom of the seventh, Chance Sisco and Josh Hart hit two consecutive singles with two outs. Justin Viele popped out to extend the games into extra innings. The Shorebirds' next best opportunity came in the 11th inning. A hit-by-pitch and bunt single put two runners on with one out. The Suns escaped with a groundout and lineout at the first baseman.

The closest call came in the 14th inning. Drew Dosch singled and Conor Bierfeldt reached on a walk to start the inning. After a strikeout, Josh Hart punched a single to left field. Dosch attempted to score from second, and Suns' leftfielder Isaac Ballou threw the runner out at the plate.

The Shorebirds finally came through in the 15th inning. With two outs, Trey Mancini singled down the right field line to spark the rally. Jeff Kemp walked to push over the winning run to scoring position. Dosch knocked a liner to the left-center gap to score Mancini, giving Delmarva the 1-0 walk-off victory.

Jimmy Yacabonis (1-0) earned the victory for Delmarva. Yacabonis struck out two batters with runners on first and second in the 14th inning to preserve the 0-0 tie. Justin Thomas (0-2) took the defeat for the Hagerstown Suns. 

With the win, the Shorebirds took their first series victory of the season. Delmarva travels down to Greensboro for a three-game series starting Thursday evening. Left-hander Steven Brault (1-1, 7.20) will start the series opener after having his start postponed for the second straight night. Right-hander Domingo German (0-0, 0.90) is scheduled to start for Greensboro. First pitch at NewBridge Bank Park is at 7:00 pm on Thursday.