Blue Crabs take their home opener
Southern Maryland team rallies for 9-5 victory over Staten Island
After opening the season by taking three of four games on the road against the defending Atlantic League of Professional Baseball champions Lexington Legends, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs upended the Staten Island FerryHawks 9-5 in their home opener at Regency Furniture Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Southern Maryland (4-1) trailed 5-4 heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Blue Crabs scored five runs on two hits as Rubi Silva delivered a three-run double to put the hosts in front then Alex Crosby provided a pair of insurance runs with a two-run single. Reliever Endrys Briceno pitched a scoreless top of the eighth to get the win then closer Mat Latos tossed a scoreless ninth.
“That’s why I always tell the guys to play all nine innings,” said Blue Crabs Manager Stan Cliburn. “You never know what can happen. We had the lead then they got it back, but then Rubi came up with that big hit for us in the eighth. It was a good win for our home opener.”
Southern Maryland sent veteran ace and current pitching coach Daryl Thompson to the hill for the home opener and the La Plata High School graduate departed with a 4-2 lead, allowing one unearned run in the top of the first then another run in the fourth. Thompson is the reigning two-time ALPB pitcher of the year and boasts 75 career wins, most in league history.
The Blue Crabs actually scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead and put Thompson in line for the win briefly. But the FerryHawks immediately benefited from Thompson’s departure by scoring three runs against reliever Bradley Roney on a base-clearing double by Kevin Krause.
Staten Island (0-5) is in the midst of its inaugural season and the Staten Island Entertainment LLC ownership group includes a trio of very recognizable faces — Saturday Night Live cast members Michael Che, Colin Jost and Pete Davidson.