Delmarva Shorebirds

Hagerstown Suns 1999 Schedule (Home games in Caps ) April 8-11 - Columbus RedStixx 12-15 - Hickory Crawdads 16-19 - GREENSBORO BATS 20-22 - Charleston Alley Cats 23-24 - DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS 25 - Off 26-29 - AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS 30 - Charleston Alley Cats May 1-3 - Charleston Alley Cats 4-7 - HICKORY CRAWDADS 8-9 - DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS...

The Hagerstown Suns pounded out 14 hits, including three each by Ambiorix Concepcion and Matt Fisher, to beat the Delmarva Shorebirds 9-7 and win the South Atlantic League North playoff series, 2-1. The Suns will play host to Kannapolis in Game 1 of the SAL championship series Monday night. See Sunday's Herald-Mail for the full story and check back all week for continuing coverage of the Suns.

Tuesday evening's game between the Hagerstown Suns and Delmarva Shorebirds at Municipal Stadium was rained out. The teams will play two seven-inning games today for Education Day, with the first beginning at its originally scheduled time of 10:35 a.m. The second game will begin shortly after the conclusion of the first. Gates open at 9 a.m. Individuals with tickets to Tuesday's game can redeem their ticket stubs for a ticket of equal or lesser value to any future Suns game this season.

Francisco Plasencia doubled in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Hagerstown Suns to a 6-5 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Tuesday at Municipal Stadium. Plasencia drove in three runs and Trevor Lawhorn had two hits and two RBIs for the Suns. Lawhorn's 2-run single gave the Suns a 4-2 lead in the eighth, but Delmarva regained the lead with three in the top of the ninth.

SALISBURY, Md. - The Hagerstown Suns and Delmarva Shorebirds were locked in a 2-2 tie after six innings when rain forced play to be suspended Wednesday night. The game will be completed when the Suns return to Delmarva for a three-game series beginning Aug. 25. Hagerstown travels to Kannapolis for a four-game series beginning today. Hagerstown scored the game's first run in the fifth inning when Derran Watts singled with one out, stole second and scored on Joseph Mihalics' two-out single.

SALISBURY, Md. - Drew Butera went 5-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, and the Hagerstown Suns raced out to a 6-0 lead after four innings and racked up 18 hits on the way to a 9-4 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Saturday night. Jonel Pacheco went 3-for-5 and Fernando Martinez, Jonathan Sanchez, Jon Schemmel and Matt Anderson all had two hits for the Suns. Sanchez homered in the third inning, and Anderson drove in three runs. All the offense made for a relaxing night for Suns starter Bobby Parnell (1-4)

SALISBURY, Md. - The Hagerstown Suns scored twice in the top of the 11th inning, then held on in the bottom half to defeat the Delmarva Shorebirds for the second straight day, earning a 4-3 victory Sunday. Elvis Cruz' RBI double gave the Suns (25-38) a 3-2 lead and Drew Butera's RBI double drove in Cruz and made it 4-2. Lorenzo Scott's RBI triple in the bottom half cut the lead to 4-3. Suns reliever Kevin Tomasiewicz (5-1) left Scott stranded at third to earn the win. Hector Pellot had three hits and Nick Evans, Cruz and Luis Rivera each had two hits for the Suns.

Jhonatan Solano hit a three-run, walk-off home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night as the Hagerstown Suns beat the Delmarva Shorebirds, 8-7. With the Suns trailing 7-5, Brent McMillan led off the bottom of the ninth with a double against Delmarva closer Luis Lebron (0-1), who then walked Justin Maxwell. After Joe Napoli struck out, Solano hit the game-winning shot to right-center field. Solano finished with four RBIs for the Suns (8-14), who won back-to-back games for the first time this season, while securing their first series win. Mike Daniel, McMillan, Maxwell, Napoli, Solano and Michael Martinez each had two of Hagerstown's 13 hits.

SALISBURY, Md. - Miguel Abreu hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie Saturday and lead the Delmarva Shorebirds to a 4-3 win over the Hagerstown Suns. The Suns battled back to tie the game in the seventh inning on Francisco Guzman's leadoff home run off of Delmarva reliever Bruce Galloway. The Suns took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Mike Daniel. The Shorebirds took the lead with three runs in the third off Hagerstown starter Jhonny Nunez, keyed by David Cash's two-run single.

Justin Maxwell's grand slam highlighted a six-run second inning Sunday for the Hagerstown Suns, who went on to beat the Delmarva Shorebirds 10-0 at Municipal Stadium. After Maxwell's four-run shot to center field off Delmarva starter Josh Tamba (0-1) gave the Suns a 5-0 lead, the next batter, Alex Nunez, homered to right. Christopher Marrero's two-run homer to center in the fifth made it 9-0. The Suns scored their final run in the eighth on an RBI single by Nunez. Brett McMillan, Marcos Cabral and Nunez each had two of Hagerstown's nine hits.

The Delmarva Shorebirds did something on Saturday they couldn't manage on Friday. They scored ... and did it early and often. Nik Balog highlighted a four-run first inning as the Shorebirds took an early lead and then held on tightly for a 7-6 victory over the Hagerstown Suns. It was a twist from Friday, when the Suns shut down the Shorebirds to the tune of 4-0. But this time, Delmarva scored all seven of its runs in the first three innings and settled in behind Branden Kline (1-0)

The Hagerstown Suns took the field for their minor league baseball home opener Thursday, an unseasonably warm spring night, sporting new red, white and blue uniforms mirroring their parent team, the Washington Nationals. Mayor David S. Gysberts ceremoniously tossed out the first pitch before the Suns took on the Delmarva Shorebirds. “It was exhilarating,” said Gysberts, who is in his first term as mayor. “To think I used to sit in this dugout as a bat boy ... I never thought I would be here, as the mayor, throwing out the first pitch.” Chris Preisler, 65, of Chambersburg, Pa., said she has been attending Suns' games for the past 20 years.  Preisler said on Thursday, however, she expected a larger opening day turnout, before calling out to another longtime fan, 49-year-old Glenn Reynolds, jokingly chastising him for nearly being late.

The Delmarva Shorebirds edged the Hagerstown Suns 4-3 on Thursday night in the teams' South Atlantic League season opener. The Shorebirds broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning against Suns reliever Brian Rauh. With two outs and the bases empty, Joel Hutter hit his second triple of the game and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Delmarva went up 2-0 in the second against Suns starter Dixon Anderson. Hutter hit an RBI triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Roderick Bernadina.

For one day, Dixon Anderson has a chance to feel like Stephen Strasburg. “That would be awesome,” the right-handed pitcher said. Like Strasburg, Anderson will be the opening-day starter for a Washington Nationals team, albeit the Hagerstown Suns, the Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. So, it's not at Nationals Park against the Miami Marlins. It's in Purdue Stadium Thursday at 7:05 p.m. against the Delmarva Shorebirds in Salisbury, Md. And no one will be expecting a cool seven shutout innings on 80 pitches.

Brian Rauh allowed just three hits in six innings as the Hagerstown Suns defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 3-1 in the first game of a South Atlantic League doubleheader at Municipal Stadium on Saturday. Billy Burns' RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Suns a sweep with a 6-5 victory in the nightcap, after Hagerstown blew a 5-1 lead in the top of the sixth. Hagerstown (79-51, 37-24), which leads the Northern Division's second-half race by 3 1/2 games over Hickory and West Virginia, has won five straight and 12 of 14. The Suns have won 13 straight against Delmarva.

Caleb Ramsey went 3-for-3 and four other Hagerstown hitters had two hits each as the Suns finished with 13 hits in an 8-5 victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Thursday night at Municipal Stadium. Hagerstown (77-51, 35-24 second half) leads the South Atlantic League's Northern Division by 2 1/2 games over Hickory and West Virginia. The red-hot Suns have won three straight and 10 of 12. Hagerstown has won its last 11 games against Delmarva (50-79, 22-38) since an 8-6 loss on June 2. The Suns opened Thursday's scoring with a run off Shorebirds starter Juan Guzman in the second inning.

The Hagerstown Suns jumped on top of the Delmarva Shorebirds with a four-run first inning and finished with 14 hits to the Shorebirds' three in Sunday's 8-2 victory in the South Atlantic League. Hagerstown (74-50, 32-23) completed a four-game sweep and remained 1 1/2 games in front of Hickory and West Virginia in the Northern Division's second-half race. The Suns greeted Shorebirds starter Williams Louico (0-6) by scoring four runs on five hits in the first, including RBI doubles by Khayyan Norfork, Cutter Dykstra, Adrian Nieto and Brett Newsome.

The Hagerstown Suns took the lead in the third inning and pulled away from the Delmarva Shorebirds in the final two innings for a 9-3 victory in Tuesday night's South Atlantic League game. Leading 4-3 after seven innings, the Suns (46-29, 4-2) put the game away with a two-run eighth and a three-run ninth. Facing Shorebirds reliever Zach Petersime in the eighth, Bryce Ortega led off with a double to left and Cole Leonida beat out what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt. Billy Burns' RBI single scored Ortega, and Cutter Dykstra's two-out RBI single scored Leonida.

The Hagerstown Suns took the lead for good in the sixth inning, then pulled away from the Delmarva Shorebirds 7-3 in a South Atlantic League game Monday night. The Suns (45-29, 3-2) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Shorebirds starter Parker Bridwell. Brian Goodwin led off the game with a double and scored on Cutter Dykstra's ground-rule double. Delmarva (28-45, 0-4) struck back for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first against Hagerstown starter Christopher McKenzie.

Steven Souza had three of Hagerstown's 11 hits, including a home run and a double, and drove in four runs as the Suns defeated the Delmarva Shorebirds 13-5 on Sunday at Municipal Stadium. Cutter Dykstra and Jason Martinson also homered for the Suns (33-23) and finished with two hits each. Dykstra had four RBIs. Martinson's seventh long ball of the season - a solo shot in the first - gave the Suns a 1-0 lead and upped his league leading RBI total to 56. Souza's eighth homer of the year - a solo shot in the third - put Hagerstown up 4-2. The Suns broke the game open with a six-run fourth, highlighted by Dykstra's three-run homer and Souza's two-run double.