Wild Pitch

EASTLAKE, Ohio - The Hagerstown Suns fell behind 5-0 after three innings, rallied to make it 5-4 in the sixth but ultimately lost for the eighth straight time, falling 6-4 at Lake County on Saturday. The Captains scored twice in the first on a wild pitch and a balk. Nick Petrucci hit a solo home run in the second and Joshua Noviskey's two-run single made it 5-0 in the third. The Suns cut it to 5-3 in the fifth on a two-run single by Jose Castro and a sacrifice fly by Jonel Pacheco.

EASTLAKE, Ohio - The Lake County Captains extended the Hagerstown Suns' losing streak to six games with a 5-3 victory on Monday. The Suns are 0-5 in the South Atlantic League's second half. Hagerstown took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on Marvin Lowrance's solo home run and doubles by Devin Ivany and Jhonatan Solano. Lake County tied it at 2 in the bottom half on doubles by Nick Weglarz and Cirilo Cumberbatch and a wild pitch. The Suns made it 3-2 in the fifth on Lowrance's RBI single, but the Captains took the lead at 4-3 in the bottom half on Jason Denham's solo homer and Matt Whitney's RBI single.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Pinch-hitter Jesse Zepeda turned an 0-2 count into a run-scoring bases-loaded walk to break a 1-1 tie with two outs in the ninth Sunday to lead the Hagerstown Suns to a 3-1 win over the Capital City Bombers. [cont. from sports page ] Zepeda coaxed four straight balls from reliever Derek Gaskill to help the Suns (5-6, 53-29) to its second straight win. Tyler Thompson scored on a wild pitch for the insurance run. Brian Bowles (2-2) struggled through the ninth inning, but struck out Robert Stratton with runners on first and second to seal the victory.

CHARLESTOWN, W.Va. - The Hagerstown Suns lost for the 12th time in 15 second-half games, bowing to the Charleston Alley Cats 9-3 on Thursday night. Hagerstown (37-48) never led Wednesday. Chaleston jumped out to a three-run lead before the Suns cut the lead to 3-1 in Keith Anderson's RBI groundout. Hagerstown closed the gap to 4-2 on a wild pitch before Charleston built a 9-2 lead. The Suns scored in the ninth on Miguel Miranda's RBI single. Hagerstown, currently last in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division, begins a season-long 12-game homestand tonight against the Hickory Crawdads.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - The Kannapolis Intimidators scored three times in the third inning, more than enough to outlast the Hagerstown Suns 4-1 on Tuesday night in the South Atlantic League. Andrew Salvo led off the bottom of the third with a double to left and went to third on a wild pitch by Anythony Pannone (3-2). He scored on a Mike Morse single. Mike Spidale singled, and Chris Amador's butn single loaded the bases. Morse and Spidale both scored on a single by Scott McKee for a 3-0 lead.

HICKORY, N.C. - Josh Habel must be enjoying life as a starting pitcher. Habel improved to 6-1 as a starter and 9-5 overall, throwing seven innings of four-hit ball as the Hagerstown Suns defeated the Hickory Crawdads 5-1 in the opener of a four-game South Atlantic League series Wednesday night. Hagerstown (57-54, 22-22 second half) took a half-game lead over Greensboro in the race for a Wild Card berth in the Northern Division. Greensboro lost to South Georgia, 6-5. The Suns scored twice in the third inning on RBI singles by Brian Buscher and Brian Munhall, and added three more in the fourth.

CLEAR SPRING - The Williamsport Wildcats, behind a fine performance by pitcher Emily Huff and a five-run sixth inning, ended their six-game losing streak by defeating the Clear Spring Blazers 9-5 on Monday in an MVAL Antietam softball game. Huff (5-4) pitched a three-hitter, giving up no earned runs and two walks. "I did pretty good," Huff said. "The hitting support that I got was very good. " "I'm very pleased with Emily's pitching," Wildcats coach Tom Dzur said. "She is only a freshman and she has more than met my expectations.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - The Kannapolis Intimidators scored 12 unanswered runs to wipe away an early deficit and beat the Hagerstown Suns 12-5 Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 South Atlantic League Championship Series. Down 2-1, Kannapolis rallied for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Bernard Gonzalez drew a one-out, bases-loaded walk from Suns starter Michael Devaney to tie the game, Adam Ricks hit a two-run single to put the Intimidators ahead for good with a 4-2 lead.

PREP SOFTBALL LYONS, Pa. - Muhlenberg scored two runs on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to knock off Greencastle-Antrim 6-5 in the first round of the Pennsylvania Class AAA District 3 playoffs Tuesday. The Blue Devils (20-4) took the lead in the top of the eighth on Sarah Signore's two-run triple, but Muhlenberg came back with three hits, followed by the wild pitch to score three and steal the win. Signore finished with two hits and three RBI, while Kris Root and Whitney Meyers each added a run-scoring single.

Bethany Garnand fired a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts to lead Smithsburg to a 4-0 win over North Hagerstown on Monday. "I think everybody was ready," Garnand said. "I knew they were behind me. I was happy with my ball movement and my changeup was working well. " Garnand retired 11 of the last 14 batters that she faced. Garnand had to make 135 pitches to get her complete game. "Bethany Garnand pitched an awesome game," Smithsburg coach Brian Getz said. "It helps when a pitcher has 15 strikeouts.