BARNSTORMERS FALL SHORT OF SWEEP

Walks, Errors Costly in 8-7 Loss

The Lancaster Barnstormers continued to swing healthy bats on Thursday evening, but the sticks were not quite enough as the Charleston Dirty Birds, playing as the Charlies, rallied for an 8-7 victory at GoMart Ballpark.

Charleston’s four-run sixth cost the Barnstormers the opportunity to sweep a series, dropping the record to 4-8.  The Dirty Birds ended an eight-game losing streak to improve to 2-8 on the campaign.

Lancaster led, 5-3, heading into the bottom of the sixth.  Reliever Cole Aker (0-1) walked Bobby Bradley to lead off the inning, then surrendered a single to left by Daniel Brito.  A sacrifice bunt by Diego Goris and a strikeout of Mitch Ghelfi had Aker on the verge of escaping without a run, but Montrell Marshall kept the inning alive with a single to left, cutting the lead to 5-4.  Jose Bermudez drove a double off the right field wall for a 6-5 lead.  The next three batters walked to force home another run as the Dirty Birds went up, 7-5.

A throwing error in the bottom of the eighth handed Charleston an insurance run which it turns out they needed.

Chris Proctor greeted closer Ricardo Gomez with an inside-the-park home run on a drive to the wall in left center which kicked away from Yefri Perez.  One out later, Trace Loehr slammed a conventional home run to right, and Gomez hit Melvin Mercedes with a pitch to put the tying run on base.  Gomez recovered to get Andretty Cordero to hit into a force play to end the night for his first save.

Lancaster soared to a big early lead.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. homered to open the night.  Trayvon Robinson and Proctor added RBI singles for a 3-0 lead, but the ‘Stormers also had two runners cut down at home in the inning.

Charleston got one back off Nile Ball on a single to center by Goris and double into the left field corner by Ghelfi in the second and tied the game on a two-run homer by Telvin Nash, in his first game with Charleston, in the third.

Dunston’s double to right center put Lancaster on top in the fifth.  Proctor added a sacrifice fly in the sixth off Edison Suriel (1-0) for the two-run lead.

Lancaster heads to Frederick and its first ever meetings with the yet-to-be-named Maryland squad.  Jacob Lemoine (0-0) will make the start for Lancaster against right-hander David Kubiak (0-1).  Fans may view the game on Flosports.tv, starting at 6:55.

NOTES:  Proctor’s inside-the-park home run was Lancaster’s first since Joey Terdoslavich hit one at New Britain in September, 2019…Ariel Sandoval has hit in 11 straight…Melvin Mercedes has an eight-game streak, and Trayvon Robinson has hit safely in all nine of his starts…Dunston’s leadoff home run was his fifth such accomplishment as a Barnstormer, with the first three coming in the final week of the 2022 regular season…Lancaster pitching struck out 12 and has 113 K’s in 101 innings on the year…The Barnstormers have scored 38 runs on 56 hits in the last five games.