NEWS

By Brandon Schwartzberg

Grays starter Adam Fischer (William and Mary) dominated the Giants’ lineup over the first three innings, allowing just one baserunner while striking out four.

But, things fell apart for the D.C. hurler in the bottom of the fourth.

Hits from Tucker Love (Murray State) and Wilfredo Mendez Jr. (Delaware State), alongside a Noah Leib (Denison) walk, loaded the bases for Randy Steen (Frostburg State), who drove home Love on a single past the diving glove of third baseman Kyle Tyler (Valparaiso).

Another walk ended Fischer’s day in favor of Lucky Perrotto (Catholic University), but the damage was far from over. Perrotto faced just four batters, allowing all to reach base, before getting replaced by Evan Bouldin (Delaware State).

Bouldin got D.C. out of the frame but not before four more Giants crossed home plate, as Gaitherburg turned a four-run deficit into a six-run lead.

The Giants (2-2) used their explosive fourth inning to down the Grays (1-3) at Criswell Field on Saturday, 13-7.

“The first few innings we started off a little slow,” Giants manager TJ Brockway said. “We were barrelling the ball hard, hitting the ball right at people, and that’s just baseball for you … what really got us started was in that fourth inning … hitting is a contagious thing so once that started happening everybody just started to do little things.”

Coming off a high-scoring loss to the Alexandria Aces Friday night that featured five of their arms being used, the Grays needed length from Fischer. The 6-foot-1 left-hander, who entered the afternoon with just one inning thrown, was on track through three frames to do just that.

But Fischer faltered once he faced trouble, and the fourth inning proved too much to overcome for the Grays.

Gaithersburg — a club that entered the day averaging 6.3 runs a game — exceeded that number against DC as the Giants used a collective effort to pound the Grays’ pitching. All nine batters reached base and registered at least one RBI in the team’s best offensive performance of the season thus far.

Love and Steen shined the most for the Giants, finishing the afternoon a combined 5-for-7 with three runs scored and four runs batted in. Love reached base in all five of his plate appearances in the two-spot, while the performance was a welcome sight for Steen, who broke out of an 0-for-9 slump at the plate.

“Any ball I saw I was just gonna get it to the outfield, and what happened was I got on, I got a little kickstarted for the team and we just rallied after that,” Love said.

Robert Lee (Denison) received the start for Gaithersburg, looking to get the Giants back in the win column following a one-run defeat to the Metro South County Braves Friday night.

But DC got to Lee early, and it looked as if Gaithersburg would fall on back-to-back days before its offense exploded.

Lee’s first pitch of the afternoon to Kaleb Willis (Lafayette) was sent into left field for a base hit, and Willis later scored on a wild pitch to put Gaithersburg in an early 1-0 hole. Parker Goff (Brigham Young) brought home Connor Larson (Wofford) on a sacrifice fly two innings later, and two more Grays crossed home in the top of the fourth to put DC ahead 4-0.

Gaithersburg’s 6-foot-3 right-hander lasted four innings, getting replaced in favor of Julian Elizondo (Washington & Jefferson College) in the fifth frame. Lee allowed four hits, two walks and four runs in his second outing of the season, unable to pitch deep enough to receive credit for the win.

Elizondo registered the win, allowing one run in two innings of work.

Tyler Russo (Towson) fired two dazzling innings before Mason Levin (Harford Community College) secured the final three outs for the Giants — despite allowing a pair of Grays to score — to secure Gaithersburg’s first home victory of the season.