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Eastern League Championship Series Preview

September 23, 2022

Bridgewater, New Jersey – For the first time since becoming the New York Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots will host Championship Series baseball at TD Bank Ballpark. The Detroit Tigers-affiliated Erie SeaWolves will visit Somerset County for the 2022 Eastern League Championship Series. Somerset's first home series of the

Bridgewater, New Jersey – For the first time since becoming the New York Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots will host Championship Series baseball at TD Bank Ballpark.

The Detroit Tigers-affiliated Erie SeaWolves will visit Somerset County for the 2022 Eastern League Championship Series. Somerset's first home series of the season was also against the SeaWolves, when it won four out of six games.

It will be a matchup between the top two overall teams in the Eastern League this season. The Patriots won the first half in the Northeast Division and had the best overall record (83-53) in Double-A to end the regular season. The SeaWolves won the second half in the Southwest Division and had the third-best overall record (80-58) in Double-A (second in the Eastern League).

The best of three series will begin on Saturday, September 24 at UPMC Park in Erie with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. The series will then be decided at TD Bank Ballpark, with game two on Tuesday, September 27 at 6:35 p.m. If game three is needed in the series, it will take place on Wednesday, September 28 at 6:35 p.m.

The Patriots clinched their spot in the Championship Series with a two-game sweep of the Portland Sea Dogs, ending on Thursday, September 22.

Somerset won the first game in Portland by a score of 9-4, before edging out the Sea Dogs in extra innings at home on Thursday by a score of 6-5 in ten innings.

Brandon Lockridge sent the Patriots to the Championship Series with a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning. It was Lockridge's second walk-off hit of the season, after his first came in Somerset's home opener on April 12, vs. Erie.

Over the course of the series, the Patriots collected 20 hits to go along with 13 walks. Of Somerset's 20 hits, none went for extra bases.

The Patriots, who led the Eastern League in home runs (205) and tied for third in all of MiLB with that total, ended the regular season with 13 home runs in six games against Portland, their most in any series this season.

Since their four home run outburst on the final day of the regular season, the Patriots have now gone 20 consecutive innings without a home run, their third-longest stretch of the season. The past two games also mark the first time all season that Somerset has gone back-to-back games without an extra-base hit.

The Patriots' longest home run drought of the 2022 season in fact came against Erie during the first week of the campaign, with the bulk of the streak spanning across the first two games they played against the SeaWolves from April 12-13.

Contrastly, the SeaWolves, who hit the second-most home runs in the Eastern League (175) this season, used a pair of homers this week to clinch their series sweep of the first half champion Richmond Flying Squirrels.

The last of those was hit by Eastern League MVP front runner Quincey Nieporte. In a 2-2 tied game on Thursday night, Nieporte smacked a three-run homer to give Erie the decisive lead in an eventual 6-2 win.

During the regular season, Nieporte led the Eastern League in HR (31), RBI (91), TB (246) and XBH (58), while ranking among the league leaders in SLG (.526, 2nd), OPS (.867, 2nd), BA (.270, 6th), H (124, 6th) and R (72, 6th).

Game one of the series on Saturday in Erie will feature a pitching matchup between the Yankees' top pitching prospect RHP Will Warren, opposite of the Tigers' No. 3 overall prospect RHP Wilmer Flores.

During the regular season, the Patriots and SeaWolves also supported the top two pitching staff ERAs in Double-A.

Somerset's 3.60 staff ERA led the Eastern League and ranked third in MiLB, while Erie's 3.79 staff ERA ranked second in the league and tied for 12th in MiLB.

The Patriots will play their first ever Eastern League Championship game at TD Bank Ballpark on Tuesday, September 27, when the series is decided in Somerset. If game three is needed in the best of three series, it will take place on Wednesday, September 28 at TD Bank Ballpark.