The Delmarva Shorebirds swept the doubleheader over the Hill City Howlers in two high-scoring affairs on Thursday evening.
Game one came down to the wire, as the Howlers fell 10-9 in extra innings. In game two, the game was tied heading to the final frame before the Shorebirds put an eight-run inning together, winning 13-5.
Hill City started the first game with a bang as Luis De La Cruz blasted a two-run home run in the first inning. A balk in the second inning allowed Reiner Herrera to score from third, putting Hill City up three. Cannon Peebles led off the third with a solo home run, giving them a four-run cushion.
The fifth inning began the ridiculousness as Delmarva tied the game at four. Felix Amparo plated two with a single. Jose Perez brought home a third with a triple before scoring himself on a triple from DJ Layton.
Tied at four, the Howlers struck for five in the fifth as Riley Nelson brought home the first with an RBI single. Yeiferth Castillo brought home two more with a single of his own before Jhorvic Abreus plated another with an infield single. Herrera struck again for a solo blast to wrap up the scoring in the inning as Hill City led 9-4.
In the blink of an eye, the Shorebirds matched Hill City with a five-spot in the top of the sixth to tie the game. Jose Perez got the inning going with a single to score a run. Jaiden Lo Re walked with the bases loaded to cut the deficit down to three. Then, DJ Layton delivered a bases-clearing double, tying the game at nine.
The game headed to extras after a quiet seventh inning. Jaiden Lo Re broke the tie with a base hit in the top of the eight to push Delmarva in front. Hill City left the tying run stranded at third, dropping their first game post All-Star break.
Game two picked up right where the two teams left off. Delmarva struck for two in the second inning as Miguel Rodriguez scored a run with a fielder’s choice to take the lead. Felix Amparo plated another with an RBI single later in the frame.
The third inning saw more Shorebird action as Lo Re deposited their third run with a double. He would cross home later in the frame courtesy of Jordan Sanchez single, pushing the lead to four.
Much like game one, the trailing team would rally to tie and eventually take the lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Hill City struck for five as the first would touch home on a throwing error. That helped spiral the innings in favor of the Howlers as Riley Nelson scored two more with a triple in the right-center gap.
Yeiferth Castillo brought him home with a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game. Then, with a runner on third, a wild pitch provided the clearing for Jhorvic Abreus to scamper home for the 5-4 lead.
Back-to-back doubles in the sixth tied the game for the Shorebirds as Miguel Rodriguez brought home the tying run.
The game spiraled in the final frame for the Howlers as Delmarva scratched across eight runs over the course of the inning, burying Hill City and sweeping the doubleheader.
The Howlers and the Shorebirds square off again on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at City Stadium. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.