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Salem Red Sox crank out season-high 18 hits, still lose

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salem red soxIn a game that featured 16 runs, 32 hits and 10 errors, the Frederick Keys rallied to score the final five tallies of the contest and knocked off the Salem Red Sox, 9-7, on Wednesday night at LewisGale Field.

Trailing 7-4 entering the eighth, Frederick’s Wynston Sawyer reached on a throwing error charged to shortstop Mauricio Dubon. Connor Bierfeldt then doubled, driving in Sawyer. A one-out single from Jay Gonzalez scored Bierfeldt and Gonzalez moved to third when Josh Hart smacked a single to center. Tanner Witt drove Gonzalez in with a groundout to Rijo to tie the game. Then with Hart on second base, Chance Sisco shot a single to center field the allowed Hart to score, putting Frederick up 8-7.

The Keys added a tally in the ninth inning when Yaisel Mederos, who had reached on a throwing error by third baseman Yoilan Cerse, scampered home after moving up on a wild pitch and another throwing error, this time by catcher Danny Bethea.

Frederick struck first in the contest when Anthony Caronia plated Mederos with an RBI single in the second inning. The lead was short-lived, though, as the Sox struck back in the fourth inning.

Jordan Betts led off the Salem fourth with a single and stole second before Cole Sturgeon singled behind him, advancing Betts to third. Bethea then drove a single to left-center, scoring Betts and Sturgeon for the Sox first two runs.

Zach Kapstien kept the line moving with a single in the next at-bat. With one out, Dubon singled up the middle, scoring Bethea and advancing Kapstien to third. Wendell Rijo lifted a sacrifice fly to right, driving in Kapstien, and the ball was dropped in right field, allowing Rijo to reach on an error. Forrestt Allday later knocked in Dubon with a sacrifice fly of his own, giving Salem a 5-1 lead.

The Keys plated a pair in the fifth, with Caronia leading off with a single. Hart was hit by a pitch, moving Caronia to second base. With Witt batting, both men took off on a double steal and Bethea airmailed a throw aimed at second base to center field, allowing Caronia to score and Hart to take third. Witt then drove the next pitch to center, scoring Hart and cutting the deficit to 5-3.

One more scored for Frederick in the sixth as Mederos led off with a single and took second on an error charged to Allday. Bierfeldt drove him in with a single that made the score 5-4.

Salem put up a pair in the seventh inning, beginning when Sturgeon doubled to left-center and promptly stole third. Kapstien then knocked him in with a single and move to second when Cerse singled in the next at bat. Rijo drove in Kapstien with a bloop single to center, extending Salem’s lead to 7-4.

However, Salem committed four errors over the final two innings, allowing Frederick to escape with the comeback win.

Rijo was 4-for-5 with two RBI, Heller extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 outing and Sturgeon finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored, pushing his hitting streak to six. Salem set a new season high with 18 hits in the contest, which was offset by a season-high seven errors committed by the Sox. Salem also left 15 runners on base, a new season-high.

Kyle Kraus (1-1) took the loss with five runs allowed, one earned, on six hits over three innings with two strikeouts. Teddy Stankiewicz lasted six innings and gave up four runs, three earned, and struck out four, but did not factor in the decision.

Jimmy Yacabonis (3-3) picked up the victory for the Keys despite allowing two runs on four hits in his only inning of work out of the bullpen. Frederick starter Luis Gonzalez tossed four innings, yielding five runs, four earned, on 11 hits. Garrett Cortright earned his first save with two scoreless innings.

Salem’s loss was its third in a row and the ninth in the past 11 games as they fell to 53-57 and 15-25 in the second half. The Keys won for the fourth consecutive game and improved to 53-57 and 21-19 with the win.

The series will conclude Thursday night as the Sox trot out Kevin McAvoy (6-9, 4.12) to oppose Mitch Horacek (6-12, 4.45) at7:05 p.m.. It’s Country Night at LewisGale Field featuring live music, a mechanical bull and beverage specials. Fans unable to attend can listen to the game on 1240 AM ESPN Roanoke, online at salemsox.com or via the TuneIn Radio app.

Source: Salem Red Sox

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