Bowie Baysox Dunk Connecticut Defenders 7-1 - AA, Eastern League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - (Bowie, MD) – Kennard Jones had three hits and drove in two runs in the Baysox 7-1 victory over the Connecticut Defenders Friday. The win was the Baysox eleventh in a row at Prince George's Stadium, breaking a ten-year-old record for consecutive wins at home.

Connecticut jumped on Baysox starter Brad Bergesen for an early lead. Antoan Richardson reached on a bunt single with one out in the first. Bergesen fielded the ball and threw wildly to first. The ball wound up in right field and Richardson wound up on second base. Carlos Sosa singled to center, moving Richardson to third. Richardson scored on a single by Travis Ishikawa. With runners on first and second with one out, Olmo Rosario hit a ground ball to shortstop Blake Davis. Davis fielded the ball cleanly and threw to second for one out, but the Baysox could not turn a double play. Rosario was caught stealing second to end the inning.

After a rocky first inning, Bergesen settled into a groove and did not allow multiple runners to reach base again until the seventh inning. Olmo Rosario led off the seventh with a single to left. Dave Maroul hit a groundball to third that Jeff Nettles fielded cleanly, but Nettles' throw short-hopped Carlos Rojas at second and both runners were safe. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. With runners on second and third with one out, Adam Witter hit a chopper back to the mound. Bergesen made a great play, leaping into the air to grab the ball and looking the lead runner back to third before throwing to first for the second out. Kyle Haines grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

The Baysox gave Bergesen all the run support he could hope for, tying their season high for runs in an inning with five in the fourth. Jeff Nettles got the offense going with a one out solo homerun to left field. Nolan Reimold followed the homerun with a double down the left field line and scored on a Ryan Finan single to center. Brian Peterson drew a walk, and both Peterson and Finan scored on a Kennard Jones triple down the right field line. With two outs and Jones still on third, Jonathan Tucker hit a ground ball to shortstop Olmo Rosario. The ball went under Rosario's glove for an error, Jones scored and Tucker was safe at first. Carlos Rojas drew a walk to extend the inning before Lou Montanez struck out for his second out of the inning. After four innings, the Baysox led 5-1.

Bowie would add a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning. Brian Peterson led off with a walk. Kennard Jones followed with a long fly ball to left field. It looked like left fielder Carlos Sosa had a chance to catch the ball, forcing Peterson to stay close to first base. The ball bounced off the wall and was fielded by Sosa. Peterson could not advance past second on the play, and Kennard Jones was held to a long single. Blake Davis singled to left to load the bases and Jonathan Tucker singled to right to drive in Peterson. With one out and the bases still loaded, Lou Montanez hit a groundball to third baseman Dave Maroul. Maroul stepped on third for one out, but Montanez beat his throw to first and Kennard Jones scored on the play.

Rocky Cherry pitched a scoreless eighth and Jason Burch pitched a scoreless ninth for the Baysox. With the win Bergesen improves to 4-0 and the Baysox remain 2.0 games behind Harrisburg in the Southern Division.

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