Cauley Strikes Again

6/3 Game Recap

By: Jackson Pass

In game five of the series between the Columbia Fireflies and the Down East Wood Ducks, the game started off as another pitching duel in the first three innings. Lopez for the Woodies struck out 4 of 10 batters faced, only allowing Leyton on board with a single. Sandlin, the starter for the Fireflies, went a perfect 9 up 9 down through the first three innings with 6 strikeouts.

The runs piled in during the fourth as Lopez started to lose command giving up three walks and two hits. Lopez gave up a one out RBI single to Pena to put the Fireflies up 1-0 before leaving the game after the second hit. Jacob Maton replaced Lopez on the mound, recording the second out on a pop up to shortstop before giving up a grand slam by Leyton. This put the Fireflies up 5-0. The Woodies pieced a couple runs together for a two-hit inning as Specht had a single and Cueva went deep to cut into the deficit, Fireflies up 5-2. Maton threw the fifth, escaping danger with a strikeout, leaving a runner on third that reached on an error. Griffin Cheney went deep for a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead down to two as the Fireflies remained ahead 5-3. Luis Ramirez relieved for the Woodies in the sixth, narrowly escaping the inning as the Fireflies threatened to extend the lead with a runner on third. Sandlin ended his night with a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the sixth, finishing the night with 6.0 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, and 10 strikeouts.

The seventh inning was madness. In the top half of the inning Florentino led off with a double, scoring on a triple from Usher, the second batter of the inning. Ramirez struck out Hernandez for the first out of the inning and a fly ball to center field resulted in a double play at the plate as Morrobel threw out Usher trying to score. The Woodies put up four in the bottom of the seventh against Martinez, who replaced Sandlin on the mound, as three errors in the inning allowed the Woodies to take the lead making it 7-6. Zion Bannister had a two RBI single, and Specht added an RBI single to his name with Piotto scoring from third and Bannister scoring on a throwing error during Specht’s at bat.

With Columbia down to their final out in the ninth as Ramirez was still on the mound, Hernandez tied the game up 7-7 with a solo homerun. The Woodies could not muster up another run, pushing the game into extras. In extras the last out starts on second base. With Rodriguez on second, a Squires hit by pitch made it runners on first and second with no outs for the Fireflies. A sac bunt by Vazquez advanced the runners to second and third. Then a wild pitch scored Rodriguez with Squires moving to third. A balk by Ramirez allowed Squires to cross the plate with Columbia now leading 9-7. Ramirez got a strikeout for the second out before giving up a walk and a single to put two runners on base. Adrian Rodriguez entered from the bullpen for the Woodies to record the last out of the inning leaving two Fireflies stranded. It was rally time in Kinston as the Woodies were down 9-7. Morrobel started on second for the Woodies. Ben Sears was on the mound for the Fireflies. Cueva singled with one out, advancing Morrobel to third. Morrobel was able to score on the play due to a throwing error by the Fireflies’ centerfielder. A double by Galan in the gap scored Cueva from first base tying the game up at 9-9. Figuereo moved Galan to third on a groundout to second base. The Woodies were down to their final out of the tenth inning with Cauley at the plate, who had a grand slam the night before. With Cauley batting to stay alive in a 3-2 count, he poked a single to the right side of the field that scored Galan from third base and walked it off in a 10-9 Woodies win. Adrian Rodriguez got the win on the night for the Woodies.

The Wood Ducks (28-18) and Columbia Fireflies (28-22) play game six tomorrow at Historic Grainger Stadium in Kinston, NC. First pitch is set for 1 PM. Join the Wood Ducks for Dogs & Dogs Day with $1 hotdogs and bringing your dog to the ballpark presented by Riverbank Animal Hospital and Minuteman Food Mart. Wood Ducks lead the series 5-0.

Fans can purchase tickets on woodducksbaseball.com, by calling the Wood Ducks Team Offices at (252) 686-5164 or in the Wood Ducks Team Offices located at Grainger Stadium (Tues-Fri – 10am - 4pm). Make sure to follow your Down East Wood Ducks on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook so you don’t miss anything!