L.I. Ducks: Flock Swat Skeeters; Magic Number Now One

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

FIRST~HALF

Liberty Division Flag

one more waddle away

LONG ISLAND DUCKS: Mother Nature is a Ducks Fan; Throws Change-Up at Somerset Patriots.

Thunder, lightning, torrential downpours, the inevitable delays, nor Skeeters strong starting pitching would prevent the Long Island Ducks from crossing home plate eight times in the home 7th inning against visiting Sugar Land.

Skeeters starter Sean Gallagher initially quieted Ducks hitters through six full innings of work, allowing five scattered hits and two walks, and striking out nine before exiting on the winning side of a, then, 4-0 game.

Ducks starter Mark Blackmar, meanwhile, exited on the losing side of said score after allowing four earned runs on seven hits and no walks, with four strikeouts through seven innings pitched.

Mark's team mates got him off the hook in the bottom of the frame when their previously dormant bats finally broke through against Sugar Land's bullpen, sending 11 men to the plate en route to setting their highest single inning run total of the season.  Seven Ducks hitters registered at least one RBI.

On its own merit, Friday night's dramatic reversal of fortune reduced Long Island's magic number to Two.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

Before the rains came, Long Island trailed Sugar Land, while the Bridgeport Bluefish trailed the Patriots in Somerset by a 2-1 margin through seven innings of play.

After the storms cells rumbled through, the Fish jumped ahead 5-2 in the top of the seventh.   Somerset volleyed in the bottom of the frame with a pair runs to close within one.  But three more Bridgeport runs in the top of the eighth doused any Patriots hopes of a comeback.

The damage was done, and a look up at the out of town scoreboard conformed it.  The Somerset Patriots loss reduced Long Island's magic number down to one.

Any combination of a Ducks win or Patriots loss through close of business Sunday will result in a first half pennant for Long Island.