Trenton, NJ- The Frederick Keys earned a signature win on Independence Day over the Trenton Thunder Thursday night, defeating the Thunder 9-4 at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.
The Keys led from the first inning on and even with Trenton making a late run in the sixth inning, the Frederick offense scored enough late runs to secure the wire-to-wire victory on the road.
For the second straight game, the Keys struck first with two runs in the top of the opening inning courtesy of an RBI double from Brody Fahr (Presbyterian) and an RBI sacrifice fly from Daylan Pena (Texas St), handing the visitors a 2-0 lead going into the second after a scoreless bottom of the first was thrown by Grant Richars (Southwestern Illinois).
After both teams went scoreless in the second, Frederick added one more run in the third off a double play that made it a 3-0 game entering the fourth following another scoreless frame thrown by Richars.
The Thunder put two more runners on base in the fourth, but Richars finished strong and escaped the jam, taking the contest into the fifth with the Keys still out in front by three in Trenton.
In the top of the fifth, an error that brought home Fahr from third and a sacrifice fly from Owen Carapellotti (Georgetown) pushed the lead up to five for Frederick going into the sixth, after Dawson Netz (Arizona) picked up a scoreless bottom of the fifth in relief.
JoJo Jackson (Georgia St) made it 6-0 Frederick in the top of the sixth off a third RBI sacrifice fly, but the Thunder scored four runs in the bottom of the frame off a two-RBI single from Landon Frei and another two-RBI single from John Taylor.
Frederick still maintained a two-run lead entering the seventh, after Brayden Kurtz (George Washington) got a strikeout to end the inning with the Keys leading 6-4.
Jordan Williams (Florida State) extended the lead back to three in the top of the seventh off an RBI double, making it a 7-4 game heading into the eighth after Kurtz got a scoreless frame in the bottom of the seventh.
Another double play led to an eighth run coming home for the Keys in the top of the eighth, and Kurtz recorded two more strikeouts while finishing with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth to take the game into the ninth with Frederick now back up by four at 8-4.
Jackson added to his tally with an RBI double to left to put the lead at five going into the bottom of the ninth, giving the ball to Valek Cisneros (Central Oklahoma) to try and finish the game in the bottom of the frame for the Keys.
Cisneros finished with two strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth to finish the job for Frederick, handing the visitors the victory on Independence Day by a score of 9-4.
The Keys and Thunder conclude the four-game series Friday night at Trenton Thunder Ballpark with first pitch from the Garden State set for 7 p.m.
