Hampton, VA – The Fish Tacos continued their winning ways against the Pilots 7-4 on Tuesday night amidst rainy skies in Hampton, Virginia. The Fish Tacos broke the 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth inning to bring home the victory. Sam Rochard got the start for the Pilots, as Noah Covington (Maryland Eastern-Shore) opposed him for the Fish Tacos. Both teams went 1-2-3 in the first before the scoring started in the second. Dan Tauken (Albany) walked for Zach Marriott (Hendrix College), who blasted a double in the right center field gap to score Tauken, who slid into home just in front of the relay to the plate. The Fish Tacos would take a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the second, as the Pilots would come right back. A Hunter Cole single and stolen base for the Pilots would set the table for Mason Dunaway, who knocked him in with a RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The scoring would continue in the fifth inning, as Braylin Marine (Newberry College), and Tauken singled back-to-back to set the table for Marriott, who singled up the middle for his second RBI of the night to take the lead 2-1. With Evan Scavotto (Portland) at third base, Mike Kenney (Mount Olive) hit a fly ball into right field for Scavotto to tag up and score from third for a 3-1 Fish Taco lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, the bases were loaded with no one out, as Hunter Stevens (Mount Olive) entered and Houdini’d his way out of the jam with three straight strikeouts to end the inning. His stellar performance would land him the CPL pitcher of the night honor.
The Pilots would come back in the bottom of the fifth, as Aaron Manias would single in Justin Starke to pull a run closer at 3-2. The Pilots would keep fighting and pull even in the bottom of the eighth, as the Pilots would pull the game even at 3-3 on a Justin Starke RBI double.
In the top of the ninth, the Tacos bats exploded. The bases were loaded for Joseph Mershon (College of Charleston), who walked with the bases loaded to bring across the winning run and bring the score to 4-3, but the Tacos weren’t done yet. Scotty Young (Rutgers) sliced a double down the left field line to bring across two runs and increase the score to 7-3.
With a four-run lead, Zane Badmaev (Tarleton State) would come in to close the door. He would allow a Pilots run with two outs to bring the score to 7-4, but Badmaev induced a fly out by Ryan Dooley for the third out to end the game and secure the victory.
With the win, the Fish Tacos improve to 12-4 in CPL play. After an off-day Wednesday, the Marlins will make the trip to Wilson for the first time on Thursday. The game will be broadcast on the Morehead City Marlins Mixlr channel. First pitch is scheduled for 7PM.