Game 4 vs. Lancaster Barnstormers

When the Skeeters took the field, they had the chance to pull within 1 game of 1st place as the Somerset Patriots lost earlier in the day. Derrick Gordon (1-1, 4.94 ERA) took the mound for the Skeeters and faced a formidable opponent in John Halama (3-2, 2.21 ERA). The last time the Skeeters faced Halama, they lost 7-4 and Halama has the only complete game thrown in the league this year. Tonight's game was the 14th consecutive sellout for the Skeeters with an attendance of 7,004!

The Skeeters immediately gave up a run in the 1st inning. After a walk and stolen base by Blake Gailen, he scored on a Terry Tiffee single to give the Barnstormers the lead 1-0. The Skeeters could do nothing with the pitches they were seeing and went 3 up & 3 down on just 9 pitches...8 of which were strikes. The score was 1-0 after the 1st inning.

Gordon settled down in the 2nd inning and helped the Barnstormers go 3 up & 3 down! Halama had the right pitches and sat the Skeeters down in order for the 2nd inning in a row. The score remained 1-0 after 2 innings.

For the second inning in a row, Gordon sat the Barnstormers down in order for the 3rd inning. The Skeeters were able to get 2 hits & base runners on but could not produce any runs keeping the score 1-0 after 3 innings.

After giving up a lead off double to Tommy Everidge in the 4th inning, Gordon retired the side in order, tallying 2 strike outs in the inning, 4 for the game. With the lineup now coming around for the 2nd time, the Skeeters hoped to get the bats active against Halama. With 1 out, Jason "BIG MAN" Botts reached 1st base on a throwing error by the 3rd baseman but Ofilio Castro hit into a 5-4-3 double play to go 3 up & 3 down for the 3rd time in the game. The score remained 1-0 in this pitching duel.

In the 5th inning, for the 2nd inning in a row, the lead off batter reached base when Brad Boyer hit a single. After a stolen base by Boyer, Jaime Pedroza walked to give the Barnstormers 2 base runners. Emerson Frostad laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to 2nd & 3rd base...1 out. The Barnstormers added a run after a pass ball by Gordon that allowed Boyer to score from 3rd, Pedroza moved to 3rd. The side was retired leaving Pedroza on base. The Skeeters finally got a run on the board when Josh Pressley hit a 1-out, 1-run home run, his 3rd of the season! The next 2 batters went down to retire the side...the score was 2-1 after 5 innings.

Gordon came back out for the 6th inning and gave up another lead off hit, this time it was a home run by Tommy Everidge to get the Barnstormer lead back to 2 runs. Gordon was able to retire the next 3 batters in order. Halama, having only thrown 44 pitches thus far, came back out for the bottom of the 6th inning and retired the side 3 up & 3 down for the 4th time in the game. The score was 3-1 after 6 innings.

Eric Krebs (1-0, 2.00 ERA) came out to relieve Gordon in the 7th inning and went 3 up & 3 down keeping the Skeeters in the game. With just 9 outs left in the game, Botts, Castro, & Harrison, the heart of the line-up, were due up in the 7th inning. Jason "BIG MAN" Botts did his part busting a 1-run home run out to LF, his 7th of the season! The next 3 batters went down in order ending the inning. The score was 3-2 after 7 innings...just 6 outs left to get the lead/win.

Krebs came back out in the 8th inning to face the top of the Barnstormer line-up. Other than a walk issued to Tommy Everidge, Krebs pitched flawlessly retiring the side. The bottom of the line-up, Mejia, Martinez, & Ramos, faced Halama to try and get a few runs on the board. Unfortunately, the Skeeters went 3 up & 3 down, Halama had thrown just 78 pitches total through 8 innings, 59 strikes & 19 balls. The score remained 3-2 after 8 innings.

Will Startup (3-1, 2.08 ERA) came out for the 9th inning to shut the Barnstormers down and give the Skeeters a chance to win in the bottom of the 9th. Startup kept the Barnstormers in check going 3 up & 3 down! Tim Hamulack came in for the save opportunity...he has 3 against Sugar Land already this season. Gutierrez reached on a 1-out single bringing Botts to the plate. Jason "BIG MAN" Botts slapped a single moving Gutierrez to 3rd base. Ofilio "THE HERO" Castro had a chance to live up to the nickname. During his at bat, Hamulack threw a wild pitch allowing Gutierrez to score, Botts moved to 2nd base. Castro reached 1st base after being hit by the pitch...still just 1 out! Ben Harrison stepped into the box with the chance to end the game with a hit but struck out swinging for the 2nd out of the inning. Pressley came up to bat looking to add to his HR/RBI totals for the game but grounded out to end the inning. The score was 3-3 after 9 innings.

Paid for 9 innings...got extra baseball!

With a 1-0 record in extra inning games for the season, Ryan Houston (0-1, 4.05 ERA) came in for the Skeeters and faced 3 batters setting them down in order. Adam Godwin went 0-5 in the game, ending his consecutive game hit streak at 16 games. Jeff Bennett (2-1, 3.86 ERA) came in for the Barnstormers and gave up a walk-off home run to Dominic Ramos, his 2nd ever hit as a Skeeter & 1st home run of the season! The final score was 3-4...SKEETERS WIN!!

This win makes the season record 14-15, still 3rd in the Freedom Division but 1 game out of 1st place behind the Somerset Patriots and .5 games behind Lancaster for 2nd place. This also gives them the series win at 3-1 with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs coming into Constellation Field. 

Hitting Streaks:

Jason "BIG MAN" Botts (8)

Octavio Martinez (2)

Dominic Ramos (2)

Manuel Mejia (2)

Home Runs:

Jason "BIG MAN" Botts (7)

Josh Pressley (3)

Dominic Ramos (1)

The game on Monday has Matt Wright starting for the Skeeters and is scheduled for a 6:05pm starting time.