The 2nd member of the Redlegs pitching staff law firm of
Campbell, Carmack, and Cookson had a tall order to follow
up Carmack’s sparkling performance in game 1. Michael
Cookson would prove to be up to the challenge.
Game two was all Camden as they cruised to a 14-1 victory
to complete the sweep. The Redlegs jumped out to an
early lead in the 2nd when James Robinson plated the
games first run, followed by a 2-run single by Michael
Cookson in his first career at bat as a Redleg. Saige
Micomonaco then blasted his first home run of the season
in the 3rd to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Machine got on the board in the bottom of the 4th
when a runner reached on a strikeout pitch that made its
way to the backstop. The runner would later score on a
fielding error. The inning could have been worse, but
Brad Malott made a slick diving backhanded play down the
line at 3rd base and fired to 2nd for a force out. This
This left the Machine with runners on 1st and 3rd with
two out rather than having the bases loaded with one, and
Cookson was able to induce an infield pop up to end the
inning.
Camden really got the offense rolling in the 4th. They
sent 13 batters to the plate which yielded 8 runs. Matt
Redman and Jared Bradley started things off with singled,
followed by a walk to Michael Cookson to load the bases.
Matt Morrison then brought a run in with a sacrifice fly.
Saige Micomonaco would later double in two runs, followed
by an RBI single by Brandon Howard. Brad Malott kept
things rolling with a single before James Robinson roped
a double down the right field line to score two more
runs. Matt Redman logged the final RBI of the frame with
a two-out base knock for his 2nd hit of the inning.
Cookson got a little more glove work help from Malott in
the 5th. Malott leapt and snagged what looked like a
line drive hit into left field, but Malott was able to
show off his vertical and pick it at full extension.
That was more than enough run support for Cookson, who
was turning in an absolute gem of a performance. Despite
the lone unearned run, Cookson cruised through 7 innings
and picked up his 2nd no-hitter as a member of the
Redlegs, the only two no-hitter’s in franchise history.
He struck out 12 in the dominate performance.
Brandon Howard played add-on in the 7th when he launched
his first home run of the 2020 campaign, a 2-run shot
that sailed over the left field fence.
The Redlegs will taken the only perfect record in the
league into a matchup with the 4-1 Xenia Scouts at
Athletes in Action next weekend.
Boxscore
| M Morrison | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| S Micomonaco | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| B Howard | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| B Malott | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| M Redman | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| J Bradley | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| M Cookson | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| T Sullivan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2B: Micomonaco; Robinson
3B: Malott
HR: Micomonaco; Howard