RubberDucks pull away early, down Squirrels

In the final Saturday home game of the season, the Richmond Flying Squirrels fell, 5-1, to the Akron RubberDucks Saturday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (54-51) were held to four hits and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position against three RubberDuck pitchers.

Akron (70-42) opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a home run from George Valera and an RBI single from Clark Scolamiero to jump ahead, 2-0.

Victor Nova scored from third base on a throwing error and Jose Fermin punched an RBI double in the third inning that moved the RubberDucks to a 4-0 advantage.

After a leadoff triple from Vince Fernandez in the sixth, Simon Whiteman drove him to the plate with an RBI double that broke the shutout at 4-1.

The RubberDucks made it a 5-1 advantage in the seventh off Valera’s sacrifice fly.

Trenton Toplikar (Loss, 2-7) allowed two runs and six hits in his start for the Flying Squirrels with a walk and two strikeouts.

Reliver Ryan Walker pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He has not allowed an earned run over his five appearances with Richmond. Frank Rubio followed with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning.

Akron starter Thomas Ponticelli (Win, 7-5) pitched 5.1 innings with three hits allowed, one run, one walk and two strikeouts. Jake Miednik and Nic Enright followed with 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

The final home game of the season is Sunday with a first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. Left-hander Michael Plassmeyer (2-8) will make the start for Richmond opposed by Akron left-hander Joey Cantillo (0-0, 3.86).

Sunday is Fan Appreciation Night at The Diamond as the Flying Squirrels celebrate one last day of baseball at Funnville presented by M&T Bank. After the ballgame, kids 14 and younger can run the bases presented by Richmond Family Magazine.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels offices.