Early Offense Not Sustained, Big Second Fruitful for Miners in Middle Game
AUGUSTA, NJ (July 19) – Washington scored four times in its first three trips to the plate in the middle game at Skylands Stadium but struggled to maintain the strong, early offensive attack, falling 7-4 to Sussex County, which was helped in a big way by a six-hit, four-run second inning, helping the Miners even the weekend set.
A Tommy Caufield RBI double scored Robert Chayka, who walked to start the game, in the first inning which allowed Washington to draw first blood. The Miners answered in the bottom half against Zach Kirby with an RBI single by Gabriel Maciel to even things up through one.
The Miners scored four times in the second highlighted by a two-run double by All-Star first baseman Mahki Backstrom. Washington responded quickly though. Caufield drilled a two-run homer to score Jeff Liquori and himself on the first pitch he saw in his third-inning trip to the dish. The homer was Caufield’s seventh of the campaign and it was followed by a solo homer the opposite way from Wagner Lagrange, his fifth. The back-to-back homers pulled the Wild Things back within a run but that was all the closer they’d get in the loss.
Sussex County added singular runs in the fourth and seventh innings, both against Kirby, who allowed 11 hits in total but just three after the second inning. He was tagged for his fourth loss of the season after working seven frames. Chad Coles worked a scoreless eighth.
The finale of the series is now a rubber game tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Kobe Foster will take the ball for Washington and work against Miners’ lefty Jackson Balzan.
