The Redlegs took on the 2012 MVABL runner up Ohio Mariners on Sunday in what turned out to be an exciting back and forth contest that came down to the final at bat. Former Mariner now Redleg Don Parrish got the nod and pitched well against his old teammates, going 7 innings while striking out 6 and allowing only 4 earned runs.

The Mariners struck first, scoring once in the top of the 1st and another in the 3rd. Down 2-0, the Redlegs got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd. Matt Redman led the inning off with a single, his first of 3 hits on the day, and came around to score on a ground ball fielder’s choice from Kyle Arend. The Camden club was able to tie it in the 4th thanks to some shaky Mariner defense, but the Mariners were able to avoid giving up a big inning by inducing an inning ending bases loaded fly out. Kyle Arend then gave his club the lead by getting a 1 out single, stealing 2nd, advancing to 3rd on an overthrow, and then eventually scoring on a wild pitch in the 5th. The Mariners reclaimed the lead in the 6th, pushing 2 more runs across to make it a 4-3 ball game. They then pressed the advantage 7th, taking advantage of a Redleg error that yielded 2 more runs for the Mariners. Now down 6-3, The Redlegs battled back and scored 2 more in the bottom half of the 7th. Redman led the inning off with a single and ended up at 2nd after a groundout. Redman then moved up to 3rd on a passed ball, and then advanced home on a wild throw to 3rd. The play was close at the plate, but the throw ended up nailing Redman square in the back of the helmet just before he touched home plate. Robinson then reached on an error and moved up to 3rd when Arend doubled. Brandon Howard then brought Robinson in with a sacrifice fly to bring the Redlegs within 1.

Kevin Campbell then entered the game for the Redlegs and tossed 2 shutout innings in the 8th and 9th, allowing no hits and walking 1 batter. The Mariners countered by bringing in Matt Stiffler to finish it out on the mound and he promptly blew away 3 straight Redleg hitters in the 8th. But the Redlegs would rally in the 9th. After a flyout for the 1st out, Matt Mattice reached on an error before Redman walked to put the winning run at 1st. Kevin Campbell then put down a bunt that weaved its way down the first base line, alternating between fair and foul. But as fate would have it, it ended up fair and gave the Redlegs a great chance to win it with the bases loaded and only 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. But Stiffler would save the day for the Mariners as he recorded back to back punch outs to end the threat and the game.

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