LONG ISLAND, NY – One night after combining for just one run in the series-opener, the Ducks and FerryHawks combined for 19 runs on 25 hits Wednesday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in a 10-9 Long Island victory. The Ducks plated all 10 runs during a fourth-inning rally, despite the FerryHawks jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the second game of the 'Battle of the Belt.'
After failing to score Tuesday, Staten Island made up for lost ground on Wednesday, scoring three times in the first inning against former Major Leaguer Stephen Tarpley. Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time, Alfredo Reyes took Tarpley's second pitch of the game and sent it into the right field corner for a triple. After a walk to Rymer Liriano, Angel Aguilar drove in his team-leading 13th run on a sacrifice fly to give the FerryHawks the first run. Following a Brandon Wagner single and Mariel Bautista fielders choice, John Nester came to the plate with two on and two out. Staten Island's catcher bashed a double into the right-field alley, scoring both Liriano and Bautista to put the FerryHawks ahead 3-0 before the Ducks grabbed the lumber.
Anthony Rodriguez made his fifth start of the season and first against the Ducks. The Atlantic League rookie faced three batters over the minimum through three innings, benefiting from an inning-ending 5-2-3 twin killing in the third.
Staten Island supported Rodriguez with three more runs in the fourth inning to double their lead. With Stephen Tarpley already out of the game (removed due to injury after 2.2 IP), the FerryHawks took advantage of reliever Hunter Caudelle. After John Nester and Ricardo Cespedes were set down to begin the inning, Staten Island managed to get six straight batters to reach to extend the lead. Back-to-back walks to Javier Betancourt and Ben Ruta, passed the baton to Alfredo Reyes. The second basemen collected his second hit of the day, a base hit, loading the bases for Rymer Liriano. The right fielder doubled his RBI total with one swing of the bat, clearing the bases with a two-bagger to right-center field to give the FerryHawks a 6-0 cushion.
The Ducks flipped the script in the bottom of the fourth inning, rallying for all 10 of their runs against a pair of FerryHawks arms. With Rodriguez still on the bump, the frame started with a throwing error on shortstop Angel Aguilar. Sam Travis, Alejandro De Aza, and Rusney Castillo each followed with consecutive singles, cutting the deficit to 6-2. A Michael Wielansky walk loaded the bases for Devin Marrero, who became the sixth straight batter to reach when his single plated De Aza and Castillo to make it 6-4. Following a pitching change, Johnni Turbo stepped to the plate ready to face the FerryHawks first reliever Eddy Reynoso. Turbo ambushed the right-hander and sent his first pitch over the left-field fence for a go-ahead three-run home run. After striking out opposing reliever Dylan Peiffer for the innings first out, Joe DeCarlo belted a one-out triple into right field. Romero, in his second at-bat of the inning, garnered a one-out single to put to aboard for Travis who already singled earlier in the frame. The former Red Sox connected on an 0-1 fastball for his fifth home run of the season. The second three-run longball of the inning pushed the Ducks lead to 10-6. They'd send 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring 10 runs on eight hits with one error.
The FerryHawks fought back the rest of the night, answering immediately with one run in the top of the fifth. After drawing a one-out walk, Ricardo Cespedes moved to second base on a Betancourt groundout because he was stealing on the pitch. Ruta brought Cespedes in on a grounder to second base that was booted by Wielansky, making it a 10-7 game.
Alex Katz and Joe Kuzia managed to keep the deficit at just three runs for the FerryHawks by combining to throw three scoreless innings. The pair of St. Johns alum allowed just one hit from the fifth through seventh innings.
Edgardo Alfonso's group continued their comeback bid in the seventh inning when they closed the gap to just one run. Three straight singles by Nester, Cespedes, and Betancourt set the table for Ruta with the bases loaded. The lefty, hitting in the nine spot, struck out against Joe Iorio. Reyes followed by connecting on Staten Island's fourth single of the inning, scoring Nester from third to make it 10-8. Liriano followed with the frame's fifth single, pushing home Cespedes for a 10-9 game.
Eric Marinez, the fifth FerryHawk hurler, tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning in his second Staten Island appearance.
For the second straight night, Long Island leaned on their closer Tyler Webb to seal the victory in the ninth inning. The left-hander retired Kacy Clemens, Ruta, and Reyes in order to pick up his fourth save and end the ballgame.
Dylan Peiffer (1-0) got his first win of the season, twirling 1.1 innings of no- hit basebell. He was the third of six pitchers used by Wally Backman's group.
Reynoso (1-2) only pitched one inning, but allowed four hits, four runs, and two home runs in his team-leading 11th appearance of the season.
Staten Island (5-17) and Long Island conclude their three-game series on Thursday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. RHP Alex Vargas goes for the FerryHawks against a Ducks pitcher to be named. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM with the FerryHawks Pregame Show starting at 6:20 PM on the SI FerryHawks YouTube Stream.
Postgame Notes: FerryHawks matched season-high 12 hits...Rymer Liriano (2-for-4, 4 RBI) collected his third multi-hit game of the season...most RBI by a FerryHawk in any game this season (4)...John Nester (2-for-5), first multi-hit game of the season...Alfredo Reyes, who was 1-for-15 entering the game, finished 3-for-6...fourth FerryHawk with a three- hit game...
