Colonial Heights, VA- After a close, back and forth affair through the first six innings at Shepherd Stadium, the Morehead City Marlins scored four runs in the seventh inning to put the lead out of reach for the Tri City Chili Peppers in a 14-9 loss for the home club Saturday. The top three hitters in the Chili Peppers order, Danny Estrada (Frostburg State), Brandon Eike (Virginia Commonwealth), and Michael Dolberry (Longwood) had nearly identical numbers for the night, each going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and at least one home run. Eike put two baseballs over the fence, increasing his team lead in the category with home runs eight and nine on the season. Dolberry’s blast opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning but as was the case most of the night, the Marlins had an answer.
William Bean gave Tri City a 3-2 lead in the second inning after the Marlins tied the game at two in the away half of the frame. It was his third of the summer and his second in as many games facing Will Walsh (Nebraska). Bean took Walsh deep in game two of a doubleheader in Morehead City on June 30 but Walsh, hitting for himself and for a shorthanded Marlins squad, hit a go-ahead home run himself in the top of the third that gave Morehead City a 4-3 lead. Walsh gave up five runs as the starting pitcher, but single-handedly made up for all of those, batting in five runs.
Despite racking up nine runs on 12 hits the Chili Peppers struggled from the pitchers mound, walking or hitting a batter twelve times and hitting another three.
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Sunday, July 16 (5:30 & 7:30) vs. Peninsula Pilots, Faith Night
Monday, July 17 (7:00) @ Peninsula Pilots, Listen on Mixlr