L.I. Ducks ~ The Power Co. is Open for Business

From the desk of:   THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

LONG ISLAND DUCKS:  Opening Day is a Big Hit!

Before the evening's game commenced, there was a tribute to Hall of Famer; Montreal Expos and Mets great; and former Long Island Ducks' manager; Gary Carter; who passed away earlier this year.  The club will be honoring Gary Carter all season.

Opening Day Final:

Camden River Sharks  2

Long Island Ducks      13

Well..., the fans at Bethpage Ballpark last night can't complain.  The weather held up; there were Opening Day festivities and new kid friendly fun features in the park; they got two games for the price of one, and came away with one really big win.  After a tough series against the Bluefish, the Ducks are now back at the .500 mark and apparently happy to be back home as well.


Figuratively speaking the "first" game was a pitcher's duel between Camden's Keith Weiser, and Long Island's Bob Zimmermann.  After the Ducks scored once in the bottom of the first, the game remained a tight 1-0 affair until Camden scored once off Zimmermann in the top of the sixth to tie.


Brandon Sing is coming to Long Island as advertised.  The over-all independent circuit's top slugger over the past few years hit his third home run this season.  It came in the first, and tied him for the early season league lead.


That's all the Ducks would score though, until the sixth inning.  Bob Zimmermann took care of that problem however, by pitching five superlative innings before surrendering the tying run in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Felix Lie.  Through six, Zimmermann allowed only four hits and one earned run; walked none, and struck out seven.


In the bottom of the sixth inning, his team mates put him back on the winning side.  And that's when the second game started.  Or should I say the fireworks?  In the bottom of the sixth, the Ducks exploded for eleven runs.  It wasn't a new team record.  But it was a hell of a way to treat the home crowd and say hello again after a long winter.


The Ducks pounded out eight hits against three different pitchers in the inning.  But most of the damage came at the expense of Camden's Joey DAlessandro, who got tagged for seven of those runs.  Long Island's offensive outburst was highlighted by Bryan Nelson's inning topping grand slam home run.  Overall, Long Island's new third baseman was 3 for 5 on the night with 5 RBI.

TONIGHT

Camden River Sharks

SP - Humberto Sanchez

vs.

LONG ISLAND DUCKS

SP - Randy Keisler

From

Bethpage Ballpark

LONG ISLAND, NY

Mike.BTB