The Miami River Marlins came in to face the Redlegs in
the nightcap at Belmont HS. The Redleg offense was quiet
early on and the Marlins dominated out of the gate, but a
gutsy pitching performance and a late rally would save
the game for the Camden club.
Andy Evans started on the hill for the Redlegs and he
cruised through the first two innings, allowing only one
run while picking up a couple of strikeouts. The offense
got behind Evans in the top of the 3rd by putting up 3
runs. Matt Redman drew a one out walk and moved to 2nd
base on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Matt Morrison.
Jackson Millard then drove Redman in with a double and he
then scored on a base hit by Jacob Robinson. Robinson
would then score on a double from Brandon Howard.
But the Marlins rallied in the bottom of the 3rd. They
only were able to record one hit on Evans, but worked 6
walks which resulted in a 6 run frame. The Redlegs then
stranded two runners in the top half of the 4th.
Trailing 7-3 the Redlegs turned to none other than Kevin
Campbell. Campbell, fresh off of a 9 inning complete
game an hour before, tossed the final 6 innings and
scattered 5 hits and allowed 4 runs (3 earned) which was
enough to earn his 2nd victory of the afternoon. He also
recorded his 200th career strike out in the 5th inning.
His performance may have inspired the offense to come to
life as the Redlegs began to score at will throughout the
rest of the game.
In the 5th Matt Morrison started the inning with a
single, stole 2nd, and eventually scored on a sacrifice
fly by Jacob Robinson. They scored 6 more times in the
6th. Matt Mattice led the inning off with a walk, Mike
Hartman doubled, James Robinson walked to load the bases,
and Matt Redman brought the first runner in with a
single. Morrison then was hit by a pitch to earn an RBI,
Millard hit a sacrifice fly to score another run, and
Jacob Robinson brought another run in with a base knock.
Brandon Howard then walked and Kyle Arend ended the
innings scoring with a 2 RBI single.
Kyle Arend and Mike Hartman each drove a run in during
the 8th before the Redlegs tallied 5 more runs in the
9th. James Robinson doubled to lead off the inning,
Redman walked, Matt Morrison advanced the runners with a
sacrifice bunt, and Millard drove both runners home with
a double. Jacob Robinson was then plunked which led to a
towering 3 run blast off the bat of Brandon Howard.
The Marlins tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of
the 8th. They loaded the bases after a leadoff single, a
defensive error, and a hit batter. A base hit then
scored two which left runners at
2nd and 3rd with no outs. The next batter hit a sharp
ground ball to Brandon Howard, who was manning first base
in game 2. Howard fielded the ball cleanly and fired to
the plate to try and nail the runner who was trying to
score from 3rd. The throw came in low, but Mike Hartman
made a great backhanded snag and was able to apply the
tag before the runner scored to get the innings first
out. The next two batters grounded out and popped out
respectively to end the threat.
With the win, the Redlegs improve to 5-1 on the year
leaving them in first place in the Buckeye division and
tied with the Dayton Rangers for the best overall record
in the MVABL.
Boxscore
| M Morrison | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| J Millard | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| B Howard | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| K Arend | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| M Mattice | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| M Hartman | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| J Bradley | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| M Redman | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
2B: Millard 2; Howard; Robinson
HR: Howard
| A Evans | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| K Campbell (W) | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |