HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up the victory in the win over the High Point Rockers. The Blue Crabs fell behind in the second, but battled back in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring six runs as part of a 6-3 victory.
Eddie Butler (W, 5-2) pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the first, but the Rockers’ bats got to him in the second. Zander Wiel led off the inning by belting a fly ball over the wall in right-center field. The next batter, Logan Morrison, drove a line drive over the wall in left-center field, giving the Rockers a 2-0 lead.
High Point’s starting pitcher, Jonah Scolaro (L, 2-2), did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. With the Blue Crabs still trailing 2-0, Joe DeLuca worked a one-out walk before Braxton Lee slapped a double down the left-field line.
The left fielder, Zander Wiel, had trouble handling it, allowing DeLuca to score and advancing Lee to third. Lee came around to score on a fielder’s choice from Ryan Haug, tying the score at 2-2.
The scoring continued in the sixth. Jack Sundberg punched a line drive to left to start the sixth inning. The next batter, Michael Wielansky shot one into the right-center field gap, scoring Sundberg to put the Blue Crabs up 3-2. Michael Wielansky scored on a wild pitch, giving the Blue Crabs a 4-2 edge. The Blue Crabs continued to rally.
David Harris singled up the middle before Alex Crosby launched a double to deep center, scoring Harris. Crosby came around to score later in the inning, extending Southern Maryland’s advantage to 6-2.
Eddie Butler rebounded from a slow start, pitching seven innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits. High Point picked up a run against Nick Wells, but Endrys Briceno closed the door in the eighth. Mat Latos (SV, 18) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the 6-3 victory.
The Blue Crabs move to 46-18 with the victory.
The Blue Crabs have two games remaining in the first half. Southern Maryland can have the best first-half winning percentage in Atlantic League History if they win the final two games of the half.
Southern Maryland is back in action tomorrow night at 6 pm in High Point, North Carolina.