(Staten Island, June 22, 2022) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs dropped their second straight game to the Staten Island FerryHawks on Wednesday. The FerryHawks walked it off in the 10th inning by a final score of 5-4 on Wednesday evening. It was just the third time all season the Crabs have lost back-to-back games, and the second time they’ve lost a series. With Long Island’s game postponed and the Crabs’ loss, Southern Maryland’s magic number remains at two, but there is still a chance of the Crabs clinching on Thursday.
McKenzie Mills took the ball for the Blue Crabs on Wednesday evening, battling through a light rain on a brisk overcast night on the New York Harbor. The southpaw had been fantastic in the month of June, posting a 3-0 record with a 1.21 ERA. After scoreless frames in the first and second, the lefty ran into trouble in innings three and four. In the third inning, Yunior Santana led off the frame with a walk before swiping second base and advancing to third on a groundout. Antoine Duplantis finished the job, bringing Santana home on a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, a Michael Baca error and a Ricardo Cespedes single put a pair on the basepaths to begin the frame. With a ball two-strike count, Mariel Bautista blasted a double to straight away center, plating a pair to give Staten Island a 3-0 lead through four innings.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Crabs’ bats arose. Zach Collier and Braxton Lee began the inning with back-to-back singles before Michael Baca was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. After an 11-pitch at-bat, Jack Sundberg got the Crabs on the board, driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. With runners on first and second and two outs, Michael Wielansky dribbled a grounder back to the FerryHawks starter, Dakota Freese, who launched an errant throw into right field, allowing two runs to score, tying the game at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Javier Bethancourt lined a solo homer over the wall in left field, putting the FerryHawks ahead 4-3. The FerryHawks loaded the bases from there, but McKenzie Mills escaped the jam.
In the sixth inning, McKenzie Mills pitched a 1-2-3 inning and recorded a scoreless seventh as he worked around a two-out double.
The Blue Crabs rallied in the top of the eighth inning. Michael Wielansky rolled an infield single to third before Jared Walker reached on an error by the first baseman, Yunior Santana. From there, David Harris struck out, and the FerryHawks escaped the inning unscathed.
Bradley Roney entered in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out the side, keeping the Blue Crabs within a run.
In the top of the ninth inning, Braxton Lee struck out to start the frame, before Joe DeLuca walked, and Matt Hibbert pinch ran for him. Two batters later, the bases were loaded with one out. Michael Wielansky chopped one back to the mound, but Victor Capellan had trouble handling it, allowing Hibbert to score from third. Capellan settled in from there, preventing another run from scoring.
Roney returned in the bottom of the ninth inning, surrendering a leadoff walk. From there he retired the FerryHawks in order, forcing extra innings.
Southern Maryland was unable to score in the top of the tenth. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Mat Latos (L, 1-2), recorded the first out, but Dilson Hererra poked a base hit up the middle, giving the FerryHawks a 5-4 win.