The Sussex County Miners (13-17) beat their Atlantic East Division rivals, the Down East Bird Dawgs (15-17), 5-1 on Saturday night at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, North Carolina.
Sussex County spent basically the whole game in the lead because it went up 1-0 on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Sean Roby Jr. in the top of the first inning. Miners starting pitcher Rob Hensey (2-4) kept his squad in front early on, despite allowing runners to reach scoring position in both the first and second innings.
In the fourth inning, Sussex County doubled its advantage when right fielder Edwin Mateo doubled and drove in shortstop Haiden Walters. Although there was an error on the play, the run was still charged to Down East starter Spencer Johnston (4-1). The Bird Dawgs got two runners aboard with just one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Hensey coaxed two outs in as many pitches to keep the slate clean.
Two infield errors at the onset of the fifth gave the Miners a chance to score. The visitors obliged, plating a runner on a groundout by Roby. Hensey defended the fresh 3-0 lead in the bottom fifth, once again stranding a pair of Down East runners. More errors created another jam for Hensey in the bottom of the sixth. A runner scored unearned to make it 3-1 on Bird Dawgs catcher Tyler Blaum’s single, but the lefty starter finished his night strong by retiring the next batter and ending the inning.
Second baseman Hunter D’Amato gave the Miners a 5-1 cushion with a two-run single in the top of the seventh. Center fielder Will Zimmerman, who reached base thanks to Down East’s fourth error of the game, scored the second run. Relief pitcher John Perozzi continued the theme of letting multiple runners reach base and stranding them. In the seventh inning, Perozzi ended things with two aboard, and in the eighth, the bases were loaded. Those chances were not enough for the Bird Dawgs to put any sort of dent in their deficit.
Sussex County could not tack on insurance runs in the late innings, which meant reliever Parker Primeaux had a four-run lead to defend in the bottom of the ninth. Primeaux pitched a clean inning to seal the victory for the Miners, while the Bird Dawgs left their thirteenth and fourteenth runners on base.
D’Amato collected two of Sussex County’s four hits. Mateo and designated hitter Mahki Backstrom had the others. Hensey struck out six batters and did not surrender an earned run in his six innings of work. Perozzi and Primeaux combined for three scoreless frames in relief.
Hensey was credited with his second win of 2026, and Johnston was saddled with the loss.
The Miners are fourth in the Atlantic East Division with a 13-17 record. Sussex County is half a game behind third-place New Jersey.
Click for Box Score (https://pro.iscorecentral.com/FL/games/04d8f498-0163-49c5-ba90-4d8721a51e80)
The final outing of this six-game series between the Miners and Bird Dawgs gets going on Sunday, June 14th, at 4:00 PM. Watch all Miners games live on HomeTeam Network and listen to the Miners Radio Network broadcast on Mixlr.
Please visit sussexcountyminers.com for tickets, news, and updates, and follow the Miners on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
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Sean Bretherick
Director of Broadcast/Media Relations
Sussex County Miners
cell: (908) 752-8288
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