Shorebirds Storm Back for Series Win

Lakewood, NJ - The Delmarva Shorebirds won their third straight series with a late offensive outburst on Sunday evening. Delmarva (52-42, 14-11) earned the 10-4 victory in the finale over the Lakewood BlueClaws.

The game began as a tight back-and-forth affair. With four consecutive two-out singles in the first inning, Delmarva staked starter Mitch Horacek to a 2-0 lead. Lakewood responded with two runs of their own in the first inning on a pair of sacrifice flies. The BlueClaws took a lead in the second inning thanks to Samuel Hiciano. The outfielder flared a single, then stolen second base and later scored on a wild pitch.

The Shorebirds regained the lead in the fifth inning. Josh Hart led off with a triple after a fly ball skipped past Carlos Tocci's diving attempt. An error at shortstop allowed Lorenzo to reach and Hart to score the tying run. Later, Lakewood chose to load the bases with an intentional walk to Chance Sisco. The tactical move did not pay off as Conor Bierfeldt smashed a two-run double to left field, giving Delmarva a 5-3 lead.

Lakewood came dangerously close to tying the game in the seventh inning. After a leadoff single, Horacek was pulled after 6+ solid innings. The lefty retired 15 batters in a row at one point. The BlueClaws loaded the bases with no outs against Garrett Cortright. After a groundball scored one run, Cortright got another bouncer to end the inning with a double play, thereby stranding the tying run on third base.

Delmarva eased the burden on the bullpen with five runs in the final two innings. Sisco capped a great night at the plate with a bases-clearing double in the eighth. Sisco finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. Dylan Rheault got three outs on four pitches in the ninth inning to complete the win.

Mitch Horacek recorded his first victory since June 5th, moving to 5-8. Tyler Viza suffered his league-high 13th defeat for Lakewood.

The Shorebirds will have a day off before travelling to Greensboro on Tuesday. Delmarva turns to left-hander Steven Brault (7-5, 3.34) in the opener against fellow southpaw Sean Townsley (5-2, 2.41) for the Grasshoppers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 pm at NewBridge Bank Park.