Wood Ducks Re-Open Grainger Stadium with an All-Time Classic Win
KINSTON, NC - In 2017, the Wood Ducks re-opened Grainger Stadium with a thrilling extra-inning walk-off victory. It was a memorable game, but pales in comparison to the home opener witnessed by 2,254 fans in the seats tonight.Five lead changes, runs in 14-out-of-17 frames in the game, 33 hits, 30
KINSTON, NC - In 2017, the Wood Ducks re-opened Grainger Stadium with a thrilling extra-inning walk-off victory. It was a memorable game, but pales in comparison to the home opener witnessed by 2,254 fans in the seats tonight.
Five lead changes, runs in 14-out-of-17 frames in the game, 33 hits, 30 runs, and a Wood Ducks come-from-behind win by the score of 16-14.
Every batter in the game got a hit. Every single one. The Wood Ducks scored in seven of their eight innings of offense. Down East even came back from deficits of 5-0 and 6-1. Yet perhaps the most incredible tidbit of Thursday's game: reserve catcher
Myrtle Beach catapulted to a 5-0 lead after a half inning by bringing 10 batters to the plate in the first. It would chase starter
The DEWDs were kept scoreless in the second but began a streak of scoring in each of the final six frames in the victory. A three-run third kept hope alive for a comeback - marking the score at 6-4 MB.
Then two more runs scored in the fourth on a grounder from Chuck Leblanc under
Yet the Wood Ducks found a way to respond again. Josh Altman led off the fifth with his first home run of the season - a towering blast to left. Now the score marked at seven apiece and the sixth inning brought more pandemonium.
The Woodies scored three in the sixth thanks to extra-base hits by
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh (Down East drew eight walks on the night) opened the games for a four-run frame also influenced by a defensive miscue - by right fielder
The 14-12 lead still didn't feel safe, especially when Myrtle Beach loaded the bases in the eighth with two outs.
He only needed two pitches to induce a
Matta still needed to close out the ninth with the DEWDs leading 16-13. Albeit the go-ahead run came to the plate after an RBI single, Matta got Monasterio to fly out to center to end the marathon game after four hours and 18 minutes - the longest nine-inning game in DEWD history.
After a nap, the Wood Ducks and Pelicans wake up for game two at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night with right-hander