Sussex County’s bullpen key to first road victory
Backed by a huge bullpen performance, the Sussex County Miners edged the New Jersey Jackals, 4-3, at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ.
Sussex County (5-5) won game one of a mid-week series against their in-state and division rivals. Sussex County led wire-to-wire, but there were some scares down the stretch.
Kellen Brothers (W, 1-0, 4.91 ERA) made his second start of the season and turned in a quality outing. He went six innings, had six strikeouts, and allowed 3 runs off 8 hits.
After Hunter D’Amato got on base by way of an error, Mahki Backstrom drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double. Kiko Romero added to the explosive first inning with his fourth home run of the season. His two-run shot to right field made it a 3-0 contest.
Outside of a leadoff double from Gustavo Sosa in the third inning, New Jersey’s (5-5) bats remained silent for the first third of the game. Gabriel Maciel extended the Miners’ lead to four runs after another RBI double in the fifth inning.
Duante Stuart of the Jackals drove in their first run of the game with a two-bagger in the home half of the sixth. The inning started with two infield singles by the top of the Jackals’ batting order. It ended with the Jackals scoring two more runs to cut the Miners’ lead to 4-3.
Sussex County then used a combination of bullpen arms to keep the Jackals off the board. Jacob Widener (13.50 ERA) relieved Brothers in the seventh, pitched 1 1/3 innings, and halted the trending Jackals bats. Parker Primeaux (1.35 ERA) used his velocity to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth to keep the score at 4-3 heading into the final frame.
Miles Langhorne (2.08 ERA) closed the door on New Jersey in the ninth. With two outs and the tying run in scoring position, the Miners capitalized on the Jackals’ confusion on the basepaths to get the final out and secure the W.
Sussex County improved its record to 5-5 and is tied for second place in the Atlantic East Division with the New Jersey Jackals.
The Miners play game two on Wednesday, May 20, at Hinchliffe Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM. Watch all Miners games live on HomeTeam Network and listen to the live Miners Radio Network broadcast on Mixlr.
Written by Grayson D’Avella with Scott Davies
Above: Kellen Brothers pitches the Miners to their first road victory of the young season. Photo by Phil Hoops.