ZEBULON, NC - The largest comeback victory of the year was capped off by a Carlos Garay two-run homer in the eighth inning in the Wood Ducks' (20-20, 44-65) thrilling 9-7 victory over the Mudcats (19-21, 55-53). A 6-0 deficit was erased thanks in part to Luis La O's five-hit
ZEBULON, NC - The largest comeback victory of the year was capped off by a Carlos Garay two-run homer in the eighth inning in the Wood Ducks' (20-20, 44-65) thrilling 9-7 victory over the Mudcats (19-21, 55-53). A 6-0 deficit was erased thanks in part to Luis La O's five-hit night and Josh Altmann's perfect 2-for-2 performance with three walks.
In all, the Woodies mashed 14 hits in the victory to claim the series two-games-to-one. Yet, it was nearly all for none after a poor start.
Richelson Peña only pitched one inning and allowed a three-run homer in the first inning to Corey Ray. When right-hander Grant Zawadzki followed in the second, Monte Harrison tagged him for his own three-run blast.
With the score 6-0 after two innings, the Woodies got on the board in the third thanks to the second double of the game from La O - a laser to left to score Matt Lipka. Both offenses would go quiet for the middle innings from superb pitching.
Down East faced a former teammate in Frank Lopez after his release from the Rangers on June 16th. The lefty turned in a quality start against his old team. Zawadzki would only allow one more baserunner in his last two innings of relief. Jeffrey Springs followed and struck out four over his two innings of work.
The Woodies got back on the board in the seventh with a bases loaded walk from Lipka and an infield single from La O. Suddenly the score was 6-3 and the Woodies still had the bases loaded with no outs, but Wuilder Rodriguez would retire the next three batters.
While the Mudcats clipped Tyler Ferguson for a run in the bottom of the seventh, the eighth took center stage for the Woodies to complete the comeback.
They loaded the bases with no outs again before Carolina closer Nate Griep entered. He induced a double play that scored a run but only left a runner on third with two outs and the score 7-4 Mudcats.
A single from Lipka scored Preston Scott and then he stole second during La O's at-bat. The Cuban collected his fifth hit with a single to left and it scored Lipka. For the first time all game, the Woodies were within one with Garay coming to the plate. On a 2-0 offer, Garay hit a towering fly just over the wall in left to give Down East its first lead of the game.
Ferguson would shut down the Mudcats in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the inning. In the ninth, LeDarious Clark would add an RBI double as insurance to lead 9-7.
Scott Williams entered for the ninth and stranded two runners with two strikeouts for his fourth save of the year. He also extends his scoreless inning streak to 18.2 innings.
Next, the Wood Ducks hit the road to Lynchburg for the first time this season. The four-game set begins on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. and you can listen live on Sports/Talk 960 The Bull or streamed on the TuneIn Radio app.
