Skeeters dominate in later innings

After stopping a 3 game losing streak with a win over Camden Friday night, the Skeeters looked to get a win streak going with a win Saturday night. Manager Gary Gaetti sent Bobby Livingston to the mound to face off against Sean Jarrett for the Riversharks.

If you remember high school English class, you most likely had to read "A Tale of Two Cities"...am I right? Well, if you listened to the game Saturday night, you heard "A Game of Two Tales". The Riversharks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Brian Burgamy and Alvin Colina were both singled in by separate batters. 

The 2 new guys for the Skeeters combined to get 1 run back when Jason Lane doubled in Miguel Negron to score...making the score 2-1. Things got worse for Livingston's cause when he allowed 3 runs on 3 hits to give the Riversharks a 5-1 lead after 2 innings.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings were dominated by pitching as Livingston faced 10 batters allowing only 1 base runner out there by a walk. The Riversharks' Jarrett did him 1 better by only facing 9 batters as the Skeeters went 3 up & 3 down 3 innings in a row.

The 6th inning is where the Skeeters found out they were playing...and the domination began. With 2 outs in the inning, and Castro & Mejia on base, Miguel Negron doubled to score Castro. Once again, Jason Lane doubled, this time scoring Mejia & Negron...the Skeeters pull to within 1 run at 5-4. Livingston had 1 more inning in him and came out to set the Riversharks down in order.

The Skeeters continued to pour it on as in the 7th inning, they added 3 more runs. After Octavio MArtinez reached on an error by the 3rd baseman, Iggy Suarez doubled to score Martinez. Manny Mejia then hit a home run to score Suarez and himself...the Skeeters now lead at 7-5. After Livingston allowed the first 2 batters to reach base, Eric Krebs came in and retired the side holding the Riversharks hit-less, striking out 1 batter and most importantly...not allowing a run to score.

In the 8th inning, the Skeeters batting practice continued and they added 2 insurance runs to their lead. For the 3rd time in the game, Jason Lane doubled to get on base...this time it was a ground rule double with 1 out. Matt Hagen the reached base when the catcher dropped a called 3rd strike and he was able to get to 1st base before the throw out. Octavio Martinez grounded out to 3rd base but Lane was able to score the run and Hagen was singled in by a Suarez single...Skeeters lead 9-5!

Gary Majewski came in for the final 2 innings and pitched they way we have become accustomed to...he only allowed 1 hit while striking out 2 batters.

The Riversharks' pitchers (2) in the 9th inning did not fair as well. Their first pitcher of the inning, Spencer Steedley, faced 5 batters. With the bases loaded, and 1 out, he walked Matt Hagen to score Iggy Suarez. Blake King then came in and faced and only faced 3 batters...but allowed 3 runs to score. Miguel Negron scored on an Octavio Martinez sacrifice fly to RF and Jason Lane & Matt Hagen scored on an Iggy Suarez double. The final score was 13-5...SKEETERS WIN!!!

Hitting Streaks:

Dominic Ramos (6)

Ofilio Castro (5)

Manny Mejia (3)

Miguel Negron (2)

Home Runs:

Dominic Ramos (5)

The win bumps the season record to 20-28, just 3-7 for the last 10 games. With the Barnstormers losing, we are now 8.5 games behind 1st place. The Patriots won so we stay 2.5 games out of 3rd place in the Freedom Division.

The 3rd game of the series will be played Sunday and is scheduled to start at 12:05pm local time.