L.I. Ducks: Lexington Legends Take Game One of Championship Series at The Pond

From the desk: THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

LEXINGTON LEGENDS

vs.

LONG ISLAND DUCKS

Lexington Legends Bullpen Lockdown Ducks

Game One features New Jersey native Eli Garcia toeing the rubber for Lexington against right-hander

Brendan Feldmann for the Ducks.  Both pitchers are knocked out of the box early.  Garcia fails to make it out of the third, and Feldmann is relieved in the fourth.

Lexington opens with single runs in the first and second innings.  Legend left fielder Courtney Hawkins

homered in the first.  Two hits and a hit by pitch loaded the bases in the second, and a sac-fly gave Lexington a 2-0 lead.  

Long Island catcher Hector Sanchez singles opening the home third, and a pair of walks issued to Ty Kelly and Boog Powell loaded the bases.  With one out, Steve Lombardozzi's sac-fly to right field scores Sanchez.  Left fielder Lew Ford singles on a comebacker and advances two bases on an errant throw to first; both Kelly and Powell score.  Right-fielder L.J. Mazzilli then singles home Ford for a 4-2 Ducks lead.

But Long Island's lead is fleeting.

Brendan Feldmann surrenders a leadoff double, followed by two consecutive walks to load the bases in the top of the fourth.  Wally Backman then summons Anderson DeLeon from the bullpen, who promptly unleashes a wild pitch allowing home a run.  A second run crosses home on a sac-fly, tying the game at four.  Both runs are charged to Feldmann.

The Lexington bullpen shuts out the Ducks, beginning in the fourth through eighth innings.  Meanwhile, the Legends bunch together three hits and benefit from a throwing error resulting in two runs in the sixth, then tack on their seventh run in the eighth.

Trailing 7-4 entering the home ninth, Boog Powell draws a leadoff walk, and shortstop Vladimir Frias singles putting runners at the corners.  Steve Lombardozzi looks at strike three, and Lew Ford goes down swinging.  L.J. Mazzilli walks to load the bases, after which Deibinson Romero draws yet another walk to force home Powell from third.  With two outs and the bases still jammed with Ducks, designated hitter Chris Shaw lifts a ball deep into the right/center gap chased down and caught by center fielder Cole Sturgeon for the game's final out.

Four members of Lexington's bullpen join together in limiting the Ducks to one run on five hits and five walks with three strikeouts over the final 6.1 innings.  Shawn Blackwell earns the win in relief of Garcia, and Austin Adams earns a troublesome save, but a save nonetheless.

Duck right-hander Dylan Peiffer takes the loss.

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