HOLLY SPRINGS, NC – For the second consecutive night, a walk-off decided it between the Marlins and the Salamanders. This time, it did not go in Morehead City’s favor.
A walk-off sacrifice fly from Isaac Coffey gave Holly Springs a 5-4 win at Ting Stadium on Saturday night.
“That wasn’t very fun,” said Marlins head coach Jesse Lancaster. “We had some chances that we missed out on offensively, and we paid for it late. Can’t walk the first guy of the innings when it’s close. We got a good start from Cam Seguin, and if we keep pitching like that we’re going to win a lot of ball games down the stretch.”
Once again, the Salamanders got out on top. But not until the bottom of the fourth inning. Jake Gitter scored on an error to score the game’s first run for the Salamanders.
The Marlins would have answers in the top of the fifth, though. Zack Smith (Mount Olive) singled and moved up to third on Jeff Wehler’s (Pittsburgh) double. Dom Bucko (Youngstown State) walked, and Smith came home on a passed ball during his at-bat to tie the game. Hunter Shepherd (Catawba) slapped an RBI single to left field to score Wehler for the Marlins’ first lead, and Bucko came around to score on another wild pitch.
Holly Springs drew closer on a solo home run from Justin Quinn in the fifth. At that point, the game was 3-2 Marlins.
The Salamanders drew even in the seventh, but the Marlins regained the lead in the eighth after back-to-back doubles by Zack Miller (Catawba) and Joe Mason (Mount Olive). After getting out of the eighth inning unscathed, Marlin pitching ran into trouble in the ninth.
A leadoff walk to Ben Miller started it, followed by a single by Quinn and a double by Cash Young. The game was tied at that point. After Jake Gitter popped out, Isaac Coffey hit fly ball to right field that was just deep enough to score Quinn from third base to give the Salamanders a walk-off win. Tonight was the Marlins’ third walk-off loss of the season.
Cam Seguin (Elon) gave the Marlins their first quality start in over a week, going six strong innings. The lefty only allowed two runs and struck out eight.
The Marlins return home to The Rock tomorrow night as they try to clinch the inaugural Golden Chumbucket series with the Wilmington Sharks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.