Delmarva

This time, the Hagerstown Suns were possessed instead of being possessive. The Suns have made a habit of casting a spell on opponents in tight situations. On Thursday, they were the ones put in a trance. “When you don’t take advantage of opportunities, sometimes they come back to haunt,” surmised Suns manager Brian Daubach. Hagerstown suffered through a Shorebirds spell as the offense went cold after the third inning and the pitching became erratic shortly after in a 6-3 loss before a quenched Thirsty Thursday crowd of 2,611 at Muncipal Stadium.

Sometimes it all evens out. The Hagerstown Suns spent the week suffering through miscues and errors that led to losses. Thank goodness for the weekend. The Suns found out what it was like to be on the other side as Delmarva committed all the gaffes to go with two key Hagerstown hits Saturday in a 4-0 victory. A pair of Shorebird errors gave the Suns their first run in the second. A pair of triples and a wild pitch in the sixth helped the Suns nail down the shutout win. Hagerstown starter Paul Demny allowed one hit and one walk in six innings while striking out seven to earn his third win. Delmarva had two hits on the night.

SALISBURY, Md. -- Hagerstown and Delmarva each captured a win in a final at-bat in Sunday's South Atlantic League doubleheader. Derrick Norris delivered the winning RBI in the ninth inning that gave the Suns a 2-1 victory over Delmarva in the second game after a tough loss in the opener. Hagerstown kept Delmarva at bay until the seventh inning of the first game before Joe Mahoney struck for a two-run homer and a 2-1 win for the Shorebirds. In the nightcap, the Suns pushed across the winning run in the top of the ninth inning when Nick Arata led off and was hit by a pitch.

SALISBURY, Md. -- Delmarva erupted for 15 hits against Hagerstown in a 6-3 victory over the Suns on Saturday night. Leadoff hitter Xavier Avery led the Shorebirds with three hits, including a triple and a double, and two RBIs. Jacob Julius hit the lone homer of the game and was one of four Shorebirds with two hits. Delmarva led 6-0 before the Suns finally got on the board with a run in the seventh. They added two more runs in the eighth. Steven Souza went 4-for-4 for Hagerstown, collecting half of his team's hits.

SALISBURY, Md. -- After Hagerstown scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning, Delmarva answered with four in the bottom half as the Shorebirds beat the Suns 5-4 on Thursday night. Delmarva rallied in the 10th against Chris Rivera (0-3), the Suns' third pitcher of the night. After a walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs, a fielding error by Suns shortstop Nick Arata allowed two runs to score to make it a 4-3 game. Xavier Avery followed with an RBI double to tie the game.

SALISBURY, Md. -- Juan Jamie pitched six innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts, leading the Hagerstown Suns past the Delmarva Shorebirds 6-2 on Friday night in the South Atlantic League. The Suns took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on an error, James Keithley's single, Steve Lombardozzi's sacrifice fly and a pair of wild pitches. Hagerstown scored two more runs in the fourth on one hit -- Robby Jacobsen's single -- with the help of four walks and Derek Norris' sacrifice fly. Steven Souza scored the Suns' fifth run in the fifth inning after striking out and reaching base on a wild pitch.

SALISBURY, Md. -- Hagerstown scored four runs in the top of the third inning, and Brad Peacock pitched 5 1/3 solid innings as the Suns beat the Delmarva Shorebirds 4-2 Saturday in seven innings in the first game of a doubleheader. Elvin Polanco hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loads in the ninth inning to lift the Shorebirds to a 6-5 win in the nightcap. The Suns and Shorebirds also played a doubleheader Friday night, with each team winning a game. In the first game Saturday, Robert Jacobsen got the Suns going in the third inning with a leadoff double to center off Delmarva starter Ryan O'Shea (5-3)

The Delmarva Shorebirds played a little knock-knock on Monday. It wasn't a great joke for the Hagerstown Suns, especially since the Shorebirds got the last laugh. Elvin Polanco had two hits and drove in both runs to lead the Shorebirds to a 2-1 victory over the Suns before a hearty home-opening crowd of 2,556 fans at Municipal Stadium. "We pitched well. They pitched well. But they got two big two-out knocks," said Suns manager Matt LeCroy. Polanco gave Delmarva (4-1)

EASTLAKE, Ohio -- The Hagerstown Suns broke loose for a season-high nine runs and beat Lake County 9-2 on Sunday to take three of four games from the Captains to begin the year. The Suns had only seven hits but took advantage of eight walks issued by Lake County pitchers. Hagerstown took the lead for good with a two-run fifth inning. Stephen Lombardozzi and Steven Souza both walked, and Derek Norris singled to score Lombardozzi for a 3-2 lead. After a wild pitch moved the runners up, Souza scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Guerrero.

The Cincinnati Reds were known as the Big Red Machine. The Pittsburgh Pirates were Fam-a-lee. Now the Hagerstown Suns enter the pet nickname ring of fame. Please welcome the Dirtbags. That is the term of endearment that Suns manager Matt LeCroy has for his band of nitty, gritty players who will open the 2009 season Thursday at Lake County. They will start kicking up some dust at Municipal Stadium with the home opener against Delmarva on Monday. "We have a lot of dirtbags," LeCroy said Tuesday during the team's media day. "They aren't big. You see them at the mall, you wouldn't think they were baseball players.