The Flying Squirrels (56-77) finished the final road series of the season on Sunday, dropping the finale in Akron by a tally of 8-2. RubberDucks (70-62) Nellie Rodriguez and Eric Stamets launched a pair of home runs against Squirrels starter Sam Coonrod to lead the charge. Coonrod suffered the loss despite striking out a Double-A best of eight batters in the outing. Tyler Horan collected three hits for Richmond in the defeat.
Sam Coonrod squared off against Akron right-hander Michael Peoples one day after the Squirrels deflated Akron in a 13-3 win. Both pitchers worked around runners on base in the first inning and Peoples induced a double play ball in the second after a Ryder Jones single. After a walk and a single allowed in the first inning, Coonrod retired the side in order in the second.
Akron’s Nellie Rodriguez broke open the scoreless contests in the bottom of the third inning. Luigi Rodriguez connected on a one-out single and Sam Coonrod walked Jordan Smith on four pitches. That brought Rodriguez to the plate and the slugger smacked an elevated curveball over the left field wall for a 3-0 lead. It was the 25th home run of the season for Indians prospect.
The Squirrels battled back and pulled within a run in the top of the fifth inning against Peoples. Brandon Bednar and Tyler Horan opened the inning with base hits and Jeff Arnold followed with a ground out, advancing the runners to second and third. Darren Ford then put Richmond on the board with a ground out and Christian Arroyo tagged a single into center, slicing the deficit to 3-2. Peoples needed 83 pitches to finish the first five innings.
Coonrod continued on for Richmond, but stumbled in the fifth inning and did not make it out of the sixth inning. Akron’s Eric Stamets drilled a two-run homer in fifth, pushing the lead to 5-2. The RubberDucks added another pair of runs in the sixth inning and forced Coonrod from the game. In the sixth, Jeremy Lucas lofted a double to left field and Mike Papi lined a single to right. Third baseman Joe Sever then ripped a double to left field, plating two runs for a 7-2 advantage. Coonrod was lifted after the double and pitched 5 1/3 innings in the losing effort. Coonrod (4-3) allowed seven runs on seven hits and struck out a Double-A best eight batters.
The Akron pitching staff was able to do navigate around base runners all day long in the win. Starting pitcher Michael Peoples earned the victory with five innings worked. Cole Sulser relieved Peoples in the sixth and tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief. Louis Head finished the game and did not allow a run over 2 1/3 innings
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Chris Graham
