Niles, OH- The Frederick Keys earned a crucial road victory Sunday afternoon, after defeating the Mahoning Valley Scrappers by a score of 4-3 at Eastwood Field.
The Keys took a 3-0 lead early in the contest and never gave up the lead leading to the victory, as Frederick finished its six-game road trip with a win heading into the team’s home opener on Tuesday night.
Following a scoreless first inning for both sides, Zech Samayoa (Golden West) gave the Keys an early 1-0 lead on an RBI triple to right-center field, plating home Daylan Pena (Texas St) from second and giving Frederick an early 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
Adam Falinski (Eastern Michigan) got his second scoreless inning of work on the hill after he retired the first six batters he faced overall, to keep it a 1-0 advantage for Frederick entering the third at Eastwood Field.
After each team went scoreless in the third, Frederick plated home two runs on a wild pitch that scored Pena from third and an RBI sacrifice fly from Irvin Escobar (Bethune-Cookman) making it a 3-0 lead for Frederick through three and a half innings of play.
Christian Rodriguez (Cal State Fullerton) picked up his second scoreless inning of relief in the bottom of the fourth, keeping the visitors out in front 3-0 halfway through the ballgame following a scoreless top of the fifth for Frederick.
As Rodriguez threw another inning without allowing a run in the bottom of the fifth, he continued to get batters out when needed as despite two two-out base hits from the Scrappers, Rodriguez escaped the jam by forcing a fly out, taking the game to the sixth with the Keys still in front by three.
The Scrappers scored their first run of the day on a double steal that scored John Schroeder from third, but Rodriguez picked up his second strikeout to end the inning with the Keys still ahead by two entering the seventh.
Two more runs came around to score in the bottom of the seventh for Mahoning Valley to tie the game at three apiece, but Evan Yates (Cal State Fullerton) finished the inning with a strikeout with the score still tied at three apiece heading into the eighth.
Allan Gil-Fernandez (State College of Florida) drew a bases loaded walk to give the Keys a one-run lead in the top of the eighth, and then Yates threw a scoreless bottom half to give the Keys a one-run lead going into the ninth Sunday afternoon.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Scrappers put two runners on, but Yates slammed the door shut to hand the Keys the victory on the road by a score of 4-3.
The Keys return home and will get to play in their home opener coming up on Tuesday night, with first pitch from Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium set for 7 p.m.
Fans who attend Tuesday night’s game will be able to participate in a Magnet Schedule Giveaway presented by United Service Specialists. Additionally, it will be the first of seven Taphouse Tuesday specials taking place at the ballpark.
