BARNSTORMERS WIN ON CORDERO DOUBLE

Pitchers Duel Settled in Eighth Inning

Andretty Cordero doubled into the right field corner in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and send the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 2-1 victory over the Charleston Dirty Birds at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

The win maintained a two-game lead for the Barnstormers over Southern Maryland in the North Division race with 17 games left to play.  Staten Island and York trail by four.

Anthony Peroni led off the bottom of the eighth with a four-pitch walk from Arnaldo Hernandez (0-1, 5-4).  Pinch runner Yeison Coca was sacrificed to second by Trace Loehr and remained there as Melvin Mercedes flied out to right field. Then stole third.  Cordero drilled Hernandez’ 2-1 offering down the right field line for the game winner.

Mike Adams retired the side in order in the ninth for his tenth save.

Starters Dominic DiSabatino and Joe Testa took a scoreless game into the bottom of the sixth inning when Lancaster scored on an unearned run on a throwing error by third baseman Juan Perez.

DiSabatino left after the sixth, having allowed five hits and no walks.  He struck out five.  Testa worked seven for Charleston on four hits, all singles.  He, too, walked none and struck out five.  Neither team had a full at bat with a runner in scoring position until the Lancaster sixth.

The game did not run as smoothly for the Lancaster bullpen.  Zach Racusin and Telvin Nash opened the seventh with consecutive singles off Brandyn Sittinger.  Isaias Tejeda drew a walk to load the bags, but Sittinger came roaring back to strike out the side and escape trouble.

Zach Warren yielded a leadoff double to Jalen Miler in the eighth.  Dwight Smith, Jr. followed with a single to left.  Warren (2-4) struck out Juan Perez for the first out, but Racusin hit a chopper toward third which forced Cordero to get the out at first as Miller carried the tying run across the plate.

Lancaster will entertain Charleston in the series finale on Thursday night, looking for the club’s first sweep since July 11-13 at Long Island.  Jeff Bain (4-2) will make the start for Lancaster against Derrick Adams (5-8).  Fans may tune in on FloBaseball, beginning at 6:25.

NOTES:  Cordero’s double extended his hitting streak to 10 games…It leaves him two doubles shy of the Barnstormers’ single season record, held by Tommy Everidge…He also needs two more RBI to become the first player in league history with two separate 100-RBI seasons…DiSabatino was starting for the first time since June 6…It was his second quality start of the season…The win was only Lancaster’s seventh in a one-run game in 2023.