| Team | Yesterday | Tomorrow | Announced Starters |
| Auburn | Lost, 8-4 | vs. Tri-City, 7:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 3-1 | @ Greensboro, 7:05 p.m. |
Estevez (5-2, 5.76) vs. Esch (1-3, 3.13) |
Williamsport 8 Auburn 4
• Pineyro (L, 3-2) 2⅔ IP, 9H, 7R, 7ER, BB, K, 0HR
• Hudgins 2⅓ IP, H, 0R, BB, K
• McQuillan 2-3, 2R, 3B, RBI
• Ramos 1-3, R, BB, RBI
A six-run 3rd put this one away early for Williamsport as they doubled up Auburn, 8-4 in the regular-season finale. Ivan Pineyro gave up seven of the eight Crosscutter runs, allowing nine hits and a walk with just one strikeout over two and 2/3rds. Mike McQuillan singled and tripled and scored twice to lead the Doubleday offense. It’s an off day today as Auburn learned its first-round opponent: The Tri-City Valleycats, which became the No. 2 seed after losing to the Hudson Valley Renegades, 3-2. In case folks missed the correction to yesterday’s story, Auburn hosts Game One tomorrow before heading east across the Thruway for Games Two and Three (if necessary) on Saturday and Sunday in Troy, NY.
Roster moves: LHP Blake Monar placed on the DL; LHP Andrew Wall activated from the DL.
Greensboro 3 Hagerstown 1
• Schwartz (L, 0-1) 5IP, 7H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• Meza 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 2K, WP
• Ortega 2-2, R, BB, SB
• Burns 2-4, SB, CS
Greensboro’s Andrew Heaney shut down Hagerstown for seven scoreless innings as the Grasshoppers took Game One of the Sally League Northern Division Series, 3-1. The Suns mustered just four singles against the 21-year-old southpaw, Miami’s No. 1 draft pick this past June, and drew one walk one while whiffing eight times. Blake Schwartz took the loss with a first-inning run that came when Hagerstown botched a rundown play after a two-out single enabled the Grasshoppers to score a runner from first base. Schwartz gave up seven singles total with no walks and no K’s over five innings.
Christian Meza was touched for two runs on three hits in the 6th, only one of which left the infield as a drag bunt, a single to right, and a single to second base combined with a throwing error sent in the first run, while a wild pitch two batters later sent in the insurance run. All three Grasshopper runs scored with two outs and without an RBI.
Gregory Holt and Colin Bates combined for three innings of scoreless relief, but the Hagerstown offense didn’t have as much pluck, scoring just once in the bottom of the eighth as Bryce Ortega and Billy Burns, who combined for four of the five Suns hits, got on base to start the inning but needed a wild pitch and Cutter Dykstra to beat out a double-play ball to break up the shutout.
The two teams will rematch on Friday night in Greensboro, as the defending Sally League Champions will have two chances to win once and advance to the Finals. Wirkin “For The Weekend” Estevez (5-2, 5.76), who tossed four scoreless against the Grasshoppers last week, is the announced starter for Hagerstown, with Jake Esch (1-3, 3.13) scheduled to take the hill for Greensboro.