Sunday Afternoon in Fredericksburg

The Shorebirds struggled to take advantage of the multiple chances Fredericksburg pitchers gave them, but were able to edge the FredNats, 3-2 to win for the third time in 21 games between the two teams.

Fredericksburg starter Travis “Sunday” Sthele had baserunners in each of his five innings pitched and had many long counts. But credit where credit is due: The 22-y.o. Texan did not give in and issue a walk and struck out six, including the first two of the ballgame.

Of course, he had some help – most notably when Delmarva tried a delayed double steal that catcher Nate Rombach sniffed out by faking a throw down to second, then catching Anderson De Los Santos trying to sneak down the line for a 2-5 putout that killed the momentum.

Alas, the loss came in the 6th when Mason Denaburg and the strike zone became estranged, with 13 of his 22 pitches sailing high, low, or wide for three walks. Delmarva’s Jake Cunningham broke up the Star Trek Convention with a two-run single.

The Shorebirds extended the lead to 3-0 with Bubba Hall giving up a walk, then a double to put two runners in scoring position. A popup and another walk set up bases-loaded and one out, but Hall couldn’t get the twin-kiling, instead giving up a flyball to shallow LF. John McHenry’s throw was strong but toward the first base, enabling De Los Santos to slide in safe.

The FredNats broke up the shutout in the 8th with Cristhian Vaquero drawing a walk and scoring all the way from 1st on a hit-and-run play as Brandon Pimentel’s single up the middle.

In the 9th, Fredericksburg got back-to-back walks with one out to bring the tying run up to the plate for newcomer Jorgelys Mota, who beat out a double play ball to give McHenry a shot at redemption, but the light-hitting utilityman struck out looking to end the game.

With the loss, Fredericksburg fell to 20-10 in the second half, 55-41 overall. They still lead the division by 3½ games over the first-half champs Carolina.