CRABS WALK TO WIN

Lancaster Bullpen Wild in Defeat

The Lancaster bullpen walked eight batters and threw six wild pitches in the last four innings as Southern Maryland rallied for an 8-2 win over the Stormers Thursday evening at Regency Furniture Stadium.

It was a game that was split down the middle.

Over the first 4 ½ innings, the Stormers built a 2-0 lead.  Matt Swarmer, making his first start of the season and dominated, striking out eight over four innings while allowing only one single.  Kyle Kasser tripled with two outs in the second and scored on a single to center by Jack Conley.  Conley was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth, stole second, took third on an error and scored on Damon Dues’ sacrifice fly to right.

Outside of those two innings, the Stormers spent the minimum of 21 batters to the plate.  Spencer Johnston (2-0) yielded just three hits in the first seven innings while striking out 10.  Cody Thompson faced only six batters over the final two innings despite a leadoff single by Dues in the eighth.

Nile Ball (4-2) entered in the bottom of the fifth inning.  With one out, Miles Williams lined a single to left field and took second on a base hit to right by Aaron Hill.  The runners advanced on a passed ball, and Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Hibbert.  With two outs, Brandon Pugh tied the game with a single to left.

Ball walked Anthony Brocato to open the sixth and allowed a one-out single by Josh Broughton.  Williams hit a slow bounder on the right side.  First baseman Joseph Carpenter flagged the ball but sailed his throw to second base, allowing a run to score.  Ted Stuka took over and walked two batters to force home another run.  Caleb Marquez grounded a single up the middle to score two for a 6-2 lead.

The final two runs scored in the eighth on three walks and five wild pitches.

Lancaster will take on York on Friday evening at WellSpan Park.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball, beginning at 6:25.

NOTES:  Johnston became the first pitcher since York’s Andrew Cabezas (9/8/23) to strike out 10 Stormers in a game…Lancaster does not return to Regency Furniture Stadium in 2024…The Blue Crabs have a three-game series in Lancaster in August.