Perhaps more important, the latest bitch-slapping was a coming out of sorts for one of the rare commodities in the Washington organization: a pitching prospect. With the struggles of Alex Clemmey and Luis Perales in the upper minors, the hopes for the future may have shifted to the duo of Miguel Sime Jr. (who struck out nine on Friday night in four scoreless) and last night’s starter, Landon Harmon.
Harmon did not disappoint. The 19-y.o. Missippian was in control from start to finish, dispatching Delmarva with five whiffs, no walks, and two singles across five innings and needed only 56 pitches to get 15 outs – with 42 of his pitches landing in the strike zone. It was his first professional win.
Meanwhile, the offense was doing its job: scoring one in the 1st, two in the 2nd, and four in the 4th, highlighted by a 428′ three-run bomb off the bat of 19-y.o. Coy James. With the “help” of eight walks and three errors, not to mention seven stolen bases, Fredericksburg scored seven times on eight hits.
Luke Johnson followed Harmon and ran into a little bit of trouble in the 8th, losing the shutout on a hit batsman and two wild pitches. He still earned the hold while Levi Huesman worked around a single and struck out the side in the 9th, which was his pro debut.
Fredericksburg and Delmarva close out the series this afternoon, with a rematch of Carson Fischer vs. Kailen Hamson from Tuesday.