by In front of over 5,000 people at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George the Staten Island Yankees go back to winning when they defeated the visiting Williamsport Crosscutters, 6-5.
The Yankees fell behind early when the Crosscutters plated a single run in the top of the first inning. However Staten Island took their first lead of the night when they plated two runs of their own in their half of the first. Shane Brown started it off with a line drive single to right before moving to second on another single by Kyle Roller. Brown scored and Roller would move over to third when Staten Island right-fielder Kelvin De Leon doubled on a fly ball to right field. Mike Ferraro then grounded out to the shortstop to bring home Roller and give the Yankees the 2-1 lead.
Williamsport tied the game up in the top of the third, but the tie would not last long as the Baby Bombers came back again in their half of the inning. Eduardo Sosa reached first on a fielding error then stole second but was caught stealing at third base when he collided with the Crosscutter third baseman. Shane Brown then walked and went to second on a Kyle Roller single. After a strike out by Kelvin De Leon Mike Ferraro would single up the left field line for his second RBI of the night when Brown came across the plate.
In the bottom of the fourth the Yankees plated another run Jose Mojica started it off with an infield single to third base and went to second when Luis Parache singled. Yankees catcher Jeff Farnham was next up and he laid down a bunt in an attempt to sacrifice the runners over but the pitcher was able to field the ball and throw out Mojica at third for a force out. With runners at first and second Eduardo Sosa struck out swinging for the second out before Shane Brown doubled to right to bring home Mojica. That gave Staten Island a 4-2 lead.
The Baby Bombers cemented their lead in bottom of the fifth when they plated their last two runs of the game. Mike Ferraro singled with one-out before Jose Mojica had a two-out RBI double to centerfield. Luis Parache was up next and he reached on a fielding error by the shortstop that allowed Mojica to come all the way home to score.
Williamsport added one more run to their line score in the top of the sixth but were unable to get anything going against the Staten Island relievers.
Starting the game and getting the win for the Staten Island Yankees was the left-hander Nik Turley. Turley had a quality start going six innings allowing three runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out five out of the 24 batters he faced. He was followed by right-handers Nathan Forer, Tommy Kahnle and Chase Whitley who each threw a shutout inning a piece. Whitley earned his eleventh save of the season when he pitched the ninth.
Monday night will be the rubber game of the series with left-hander Kramer Sneed taking the mound for Staten Island.
Notes: Catcher Francisco Arcia is officially out for the year with a broken finger after taking two fouls off of it last week. He left the team after the game to go back to his home. It is not known who will replace him on the roster yet.
