L.I. Ducks: Flock Earns First Half Flag With Strong Finish

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

ATLANTIC LEAGUE

FIRST ~ HALF

LIBERTY DIVISION

CHAMPIONS

LONG ISLAND DUCKS: It's not how you start, it's how you finsh! Flock overcome Somerset Patriots' 13-0 season start to clinch Liberty Division first half pennant.

In a classic wire-to-wire pennant race against the Somerset Patriots, Long Island entered the weekend with their own destiny in hand, but not before June proved to be a month of extreme peaks and valleys.  They finished strongly, however, going 8-2 down the stretch and winning their last three games to secure a place in this Autumn's post-season.

The first half truly was a 68 game struggle ... the Ducks entered Saturday's action with a magic number of one over the Somerset Patriots, who never made things easy down to the last by defeating the Bridgeport Bluefish ensuring the Liberty Division race would remain banjo tight.

After Saturday's clincher, Ducks fans rewarded their team's pennant with a franchise record setting 7,602 in attendance during Sunday's series sweep over the Sugar Land Skeeters and first half finale.

Post-Game pic/AtlanticLeague.com 

Long Island ended the first half with a 40-30 record, two games ahead of the perennially contending Somerset Patriots, and tied with the Freedom Division champs York Revolution for the best record in the league.

Saturday's 6-1 clincher over the Skeeters featured John Brownell's franchise record setting 41st victory as a member of the Long Island Ducks.  After facing 33 batters, and throwing 125 pitches with 81 going for strikes through 8.1 innings pitched, Coach Baez removed Brownell from the game so as to let his starter walk off to a well deserved home crowd ovation.

The Ducks veteran ace allowed a lone earned run on seven hits and two walks, with six strikeouts, improving to 5-3, while lowering his ERA from 3.10 to a 2.90 mark.  Now in his fifth season with the Ducks, Brownell owns a career 41-30 record with a 3.43 ERA over 641 innings pitched.

The Long Island Ducks will begin relying on John Brownell, Jack Snodgrass, and Darin Downs, a whole lot more from here on out.   That's because MLB eyes noticed the work of starter, and Atlantic League's second best ERA leader Mark Blackmar, whose contract was purchased by the Washington Nationals.  While this is yet another Atlantic League mission accomplished story (..and good luck to him!), this is nonetheless a big blow to the Ducks.

In Blackmar's absence, John Brownell is now tied for second in league ERA behind Bridgeport's Mike Antonini.

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.

L.I. Ducks: No Place Like Home

From the desk of: THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

Saturday Twin-Bill at Bethpage Ballpark

TODAY

Lancaster Barnstormers

vs.

Long Island Ducks

FROM

THE POND

LONG ISLAND DUCKS: A sweep of the Bees, and even a five game winning streak still barely enough to distance themselves from Somerset Patriots.

Heading into Saturday's double-header against the Lancaster Barnstormers, the Ducks are winners of five in a row, and remain undefeated during their current home stand.

By virtue of one more loss in the Liberty Division standings, the relentless second place Patriots are similarly 7-2 over their last nine games, and enter today's action against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs a mere half game behind Long Island.

Including today's double-header, the Ducks have 14 games remaining in June, then 10 games to go in July before the first half expires.

Flock Rock

The indefatigable Lew Ford continues leading the Atlantic League with a .348 average, while Fehlandt Lentini is still third with a .345 mark, and is 7th in the league with 31 RBI.

Three Ducks starting pitchers rank among the league's top six in ERA.  Mark Blackmar leads all with a stellar 1.94 ERA; Jack Snodgrass is fourth with a 2.97 mark; John Brownell is heating up and now rates sixth with a 3.09 ERA.

Meanwhile, Jack Snodgrass leads the circuit with 67 strikeouts, with Darin Downs a close second with 62 strikeouts.

In his last three starts, John Brownell has only allowed five earned runs through 23 innings pitched, while fanning 24 batters and only walking four.  On June 11, he struck out double-digit batters for the second time this season.

M*A*S*H

Tyler Colvin and Sean Burroughs are in the midst of serving a 7-day stint on the disabled list, with shortstop Dan Lyons ailing from a strained hamstring as well.

New Kids in the Pond

General Michael Pfaff signed two players during the week that was.

• Pitcher Dustin Richardson, 32, gained 29 games of MLB experience between the 2009 and 2010 seasons with Boston.  Drafted by the Red Sox in the 5th round of the 2006 amateur draft, he additionally went on to serve in the respective systems of Florida, Atlanta, L.A./Anaheim, and the L.A. Dodgers.  Now an 11 year minor league and independent circuit veteran, he formerly pitched for the Sugar Land Skeeters during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.  At all levels, he boasts a career 46-36 record and 4.35 ERA through 776 innings pitched.  He owns a career 1.394 WHiP, and a 9.5 K/9 average covering 378 games, and 84 career starts.

• Second baseman Carlos Hughes, 27, was reacquired, after appearing in 35 games for the Ducks last season.  He previously played for the Sussex County Miners of the CanAm League, and for the Camden RiverSharks.  In 2014, he also played for the Las Vegas Train Robbers(!) of the independent Pecos League.

Last Licks

Revisiting a favorite pet peeve of mine  -  had the Atlantic League not realigned the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs and Somerset Patriots, the Ducks could presently be leading the Liberty Division by six games over second place New Britain.  In fact, we could even be speaking of a mini dynasty were it not for Somerset's division presence over the last few seasons... perchance to dream.

Just gotta play the game...

By The Way...

Nice appearance by Long Island closer, and eight year major league veteran Todd Coffey on MLB Network last week, giving the Atlantic League and the Ducks a lot of exposure.