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Baysox Slug Their Way to Series Victory Over Reading
by Steven Smith

READING, Pa.-- It had been a very long time since the Bowie Baysox won a series away from Prince George's Stadium. So long in fact, Chris Ray was still the Baysox closer when it occurred. Since the Baysox surrendered 13 runs in the 4 games vs. Reading, the Baysox bats would need to come alive in order to snap the drought. Luckily they did, and Bowie took 3 of 4 on the road at FirstEnergy Stadium against the R-Phils.

    Monday, the Baysox got rolling in Reading in style riding a decent start by Eric DuBose to a 7-3 victory. Since DuBose wasn't sparkling, it was the offense that carried the team to the series opening victory. All 9 Baysox in the starting line up reached base safely, and Omar Rogers and Brandon Fahey each drove in a pair of runs off Phillies' starter Mike Smith, to ensure the win. After DuBose's 6 inning start in which he allowed 3 runs and 8 hits, Nick McCurdy and Scott Rice combined to go the remaining 3 innings, allowing nothing more than 3 scattered singles.

    Tuesday, Bowie called on Hayden Penn to regain his dominating ways and keep the road trip off to a good start. The Baysox staked him to an early lead as Tripper Johnson got the scoring underway with a solo HR in the 2nd inning. The home run for Tripper was his first of July, and 5th on the season. The Baysox tried giving Hayden a bigger lead later in the 2nd but Simon Pond was thrown out at home on a strong throw by Michael Bourn in centerfield. The Baysox would continue the offensive barrage in the 3rd inning, when they would explode for 4 more runs. Omar Rogers hit a 2-run flare double down the line in right, followed by a Tripper Johnson RBI double and a Simon Pond sac fly to put Bowie up 5-0. All the offense came off lefty starter Phil Devey, who made his Phillies' debut on Tuesday after being let go by the Portland Sea Dogs. Hayden Penn pitched 6.1 very effective innings for Bowie, allowing only 2 runs and 7 hits. Chris Piersoll came on in a tight spot in the 7th, and went the distance to pick up his 1st save of the year. Piersoll struck out 7 of the 9 batters he faced. Omar Rogers ended up going 2 for 5, with a career high 5 RBIs in Bowie's 10-2 victory.

    Wednesday, Richard Stahl took the mound looking for his first win of the year. If the same offense showed up on Wednesday that did the first 2 games, he was nearly a lock to do so.  Through the first 3 innings, it appeared like Keith Bucktrot was in control of the game, and there would finally be a Phillies starter to shut down the Baysox offense. However, in the 4th inning Simon Pond and Morgan Clendenin led off the inning with back to back solo HRs, their 13th and 4th respectively to give Bowie a 2-0 lead. The Baysox would tack on another before the Juan Richardson show began for the Phillies. Richardson took Richard Stahl deep in the bottom of the 4th, then in the 6th off of Matt Bruback. The combination of the longball and 4 defensive errors for the Baysox were the ingredients for their undoing as they dropped a 7-4 decision to the Reading Phils on Wednesday.

A victory Thursday would put a prompt end to that dubious streak of road series losses. The Baysox relied on the arm of lefty starter Kurt Birkins to get the job done. Coming into play on Thursday, Birkins was 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA against the Phillies. Kurt delivered in a big way on Thursday by going 6 shutout innings despite struggling with his command. In his 6 innings he allowed 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5. “I hate walking guys”, said Birkins. “I was in so many 3 ball counts because I had trouble controlling my curve”. Despite having trouble with his command he was nearly flawless and DH Ryan Hubele hit a solo HR in his first at-bat at the AA level. That came in the second inning off of Reding starter Allen Davis and put Bowie up 1-0. The Baysox exploded for 1 in the 5th and 4 more in the 6th to go up 6-0. Ryan Keefer went the final 3 innings for the Baysox allowing only a solo HR to Nate Grindell in the bottom of the 9th inning. Since Keefer worked 3 innings, the Baysox reliever picked up his first save of the season. Bowie won the series 3 games to 1 with a 6-1 victory on Thursday.

BAYSOX NOTES: Over the last 3 games, Tripper Johnson went 8 for 13, and had a shot to become the first Baysox player to record 5 hits in a game on Thursday since Jose Morban on June 8th, 2004….DH/C Ryan Hubele hit 2 HRs in his Baysox debut on Thursday; the last Baysox player to have a multi-HR game was Walter Young on August 18, 2004…Leading off the 4th inning of Wednesday’s game, Simon Pond and Morgan Clendenin hit back-to-back HRs; the last Baysox sluggers to go back to back were Keith Reed and Eli Whiteside on May 17, 2004.

DUE UP: The Baysox conclude their 7 game road trip at Harrisburg this weekend. “The Senators always play us tough, so we’re going to need to continue to hit well and pitch well to get a road trip victory”, said Manager Don Werner about the upcoming 3 games.  Cory Morris will get the ball on Friday and Eric DuBose is slated to pitch on Saturday, and Sunday’s starting pitcher has yet to be determined.