DREARY NIGHT, DREARY RESULT

Stormers Lose Sixth Straight

It typified the night.

Seth Beer’s bases loaded fly ball to left was lost in a fog bank, resulting in a three-run double.

Life got no better for the Lancaster Stormers, and the Long Island Ducks rolled to a soggy, 11-1 victory in the opener of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Beer was the star for the Ducks, going 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBI, but it was that second inning fly ball that proved to be the pivotal moment.

At the time, Matt Swarmer (0-2) was trailing, 1-0, and could have potentially forced the Ducks to leave the sacks full for the second straight game.  Instead, the fly ball, arguably at the peak of the fog, fell untouched as the bases cleared.

Swarmer had a bizarre night overall.  The right-hander struck out nine in four innings,  but also allowed nine hits and four walks.  He was lifted after yielding three straight hits to open the fifth.

Lancaster, meanwhile, managed one baserunner, a leadoff single by Joseph Carpenter in the second, over the first eight innings.  John Gant (2-1) worked the first six innings, striking out nine.  Jacob Asa took over for the next two innings of perfection.

Finally, after Lancaster used DH Andrew Semo and third baseman Nick Ward to pitch the home eighth, the Stormers created a little of their own daylight in the ninth.  Slater Schield lined a one-out single into right, extending his on base streak to 11 games.  Ward doubled him to third, and a run crossed on Yeison Coca’s ground out to third base.

Lefty Keylan Killgore (0-1) will start for the Stormers on Saturday against right-hander Zach Plesac (1-1).  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:30 to catch the action.

NOTES:  The night began with a 45-minute rain delay, the seventh delay of the season for the Stormers…Michael McAvene and Christian Scafidi combined on three hitless innings…Semo and Ward exchanged positions after Long Island scored three two-out runs in the eighth…Semo had been in the lineup as the DH…Lancaster signed infielder Brandon Wagner earlier in the day.