L.I. Ducks ~ Too Much Fight in the Bluefish

From the desk of:   THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

LONG ISLAND DUCKS:  Bluefish Dominating The Pond.  Ducks Drop Fifth Straight to Bridgeport.  Ferry Cup Series Proving Half-Empty For Long Island.

Thursday's was a comeback that fell short.  After Brideport jumped ahead with four runs in the second inning, and another run in the third, the Ducks found themselves behind 5-0 early.

The Bluefish roughed up Joe Esposito during his abbreviated 2.1 innings of work.  He surrendered eight hits and allowed five of six earned runs.  Joe walked one and struck out one in suffering his third loss of the season.

Long Island's bullpen kept Bridgeport off the scoreboard for the rest of the night.  But the damage was already done.  Conner Graham and Dan Meyer took care of the next four innings.  Eric Niesen struggled in his appearance, as he walked three batters out of eight he faced.  Jeremy Hill finished out for the Ducks.

The home team started their comeback in the fifth inning with a lead off home run by Josh Johnson.  In the sixth, Long Island scored again on Josh Johnson's RBI single.  But two more runs in the seventh fell just a little short of a full comeback however.  Matt Esquivel and Ried Gorecki both drove in a run each with singles, but the Ducks couldn't manage another.

This game ended in a 5-4 final.

In Friday night's affair, the Bluefish continued to befuddle Long Island for a fifth consecutive game this season.  Bridgeport swept Long Island earlier in the season, and so far in this series, the Fish have shown no signs of letting up.

Gustavo Chacin took the hill for Long Island and immediately found himself in a 2-0 hole after the first inning of play.  Another run in the third, and three more in the sixth knocked Chacin out of the box after having allowed six earned runs over 6.2 innings.  The Bluefish tagged him for eight hits.  Recent pick-up, Jared Lansford, came in to relieve.

Through six, all the Ducks could manage off Bridgeport's starter, Paul Oseguera, were two hits.  But they finally broke through for a few runs in the eighth.  After Ried Gorecki and Dan Lyons reached safely, Wilberto Ortiz drove in Gorecki with a single.  Brandon Sing then stepped up and jacked a three run home run to cut Bridgeport's lead in half.  That was Brandon's seventh.  But by then, Bridgeport had already scored eight runs off Ducks' pitching.  Dan Meyer got touched for two of those, as the Ducks used five relievers to get through the game.


The Bluefish have now crept back to within 1.5 games of the Ducks for first in the Liberty Division.

Bridgeport Bluefish lead Ferry Cup Series 5-0

Mike.BTB