Skeeters 1 run short, lose 7-6

Looking to get 1 game back from York, the Skeeters sent Kelvin Villa to the mound to face off against Cory Thurman. With both teams chasing Lancaster for the 2nd half playoff spot, neither team was going to just give up.

In the 1st inning, Dominic Ramos walked and then stole 2nd base. Ofilio Castro then doubled, scoring Ramos to take the 1-0 lead. The Revs scored 2 runs on 2 hits, one of the a 1 run home run, to take the lead away at 2-1.

Steve Moss started the 2nd inning off with a lead off home run to tie the score at 2-2 while Villa kept the Revs scoreless.

The Skeeters were able to load the bases to start the 3rd inning when Ofilio Castro singled, Dionys Cesar walked, and Josh Pressley singled. They were only able to score 1 run in the inning when Jason Lane hit into a double play bringing Castro home to take the lead back at 3-2. The Revs would answer back in a BIG way unfortunately. They scored 4 runs on 3 hits. All 4 runs came from 2 home runs given up by Villa. Andres Perez hit a 3-run home run and Chris Nowak followed that with a 1-run home run. The score was 6-3 after 3 innings...the Skeeters would never see the lead again.

For the 4th inning in a row, the Skeeters' lead off batter reached base when Matt Hagen hit a single to center field. Dominic Ramos would join Hagen on the bases with a 1-out single to right field. Ofilio Castro would then double to score both Hagen & Ramos to make the score 6-5. The Revs, however, were able score 1 run on 3 hits to extend their lead to 7-5 after 4 innings.

The next 4 innings, the 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th innings, were boring compared to the 1st four when all the runs were produced. The Skeeters were able to compile 4 hits while the Revs only got 2 hits.

The Skeeters did not give up and in the 9th inning, attempted to rally but fell short. Dionys Cesar hit a lead off single and was followed by Josh Pressley hitting a single, moving Cesar to 3rd base with no outs. Jason Lane then grounded to 3rd base and, thanks to an error by the 3rd baseman, reached 1st base but most importantly, Cesar scored from 3rd to make it 7-6. The Skeeters now had 2 runners on base with no outs! The rally came to a screeching halt when Steve Moss flew out to center field and Aaron Bates & Matt Hagen both struck out to end the inning. Revs win 7-6.

My MVP of the game is Ofilio Castro. He went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a single, and 3 RBIs.

Hitting Streaks:

Dominic Ramos (11)

Steve Moss (7)

Josh Pressley (6)

Ofilio Castro (6)

Matt Hagen (4)

Jason Lane (3)

Home Runs:

Steve Moss (7)

The Lancaster Barnstormers won their game which puts the Skeeters 8 games out of 1st place and 3.5 games behind York for 2nd place. With just 16 games left in the season, the Skeeters need to start winning while Lancaster & York need to start losing.

The Skeeters now travel home for a 4-game home stand against the Long Island Ducks. The 1st game of the series will be Friday night and will have Roger Clemens pitching while his son, Koby Clemens, catches him. The game is scheduled for a 7:05pm start.