MOREHEAD CITY, NC – The weather was cold, but the vibes were immaculate.

Country music star Mitchell Tenpenny set the stage for a 6-3 Marlins victory over the Tri-City Chili Peppers in the first-ever meeting between the teams. Over 1700 fans were in attendance for the concert and the game.

The first inning was a wild, back-and-forth affair that saw the teams put up 2 runs each. Marlin starter Cam Seguin (Umass-Lowell) battled the Chili Pepper hitters, with neither side giving an inch early. The first batter of the game was a 12-pitch battle between Seguin and Wilson Galvan of the Chili Peppers. Galvan walked, moved up to second on an infield single, Seguin struck out Hunter Gilliam, Logan Jarvis walked, and then Casey Harford opened the scoring with a 2-run single.

That would be it offensively for the Chili Peppers until a Marlin error allowed a run to score in the 9th inning.

“I thought I battled hard tonight,” Seguin said. “There were some nerves, I haven’t pitched in front of that many people in a long time. I was really happy with how I settled in and worked through some stuff tonight.”

Marlins head coach Jesse Lancaster concured.

“Cam fought hard tonight,” Lancaster said. “They weren’t making anything easy for him, but I thought he really settled in and pitched well. Ryder (Yakel) was Ryder, (Brendan) Bean pitched great, and it was good to get Jon Vore an inning too.”

The Marlins hit right back after the big Chili Pepper first inning, with Justin Johnson (Lafayette) and Jack Harris (Newberry) singling on back-to-back pitches to start the Marlin offense. Then, with Chandler Bloomer (Emporia State) at the plate, Chili Pepper starter Collin Lowe threw a wild pitch that the catcher couldn’t find, allowing Johnson to score from second. The Chili Peppers botched the throw home, and Harris was able to score as well, quickly evening the score at 2.

It remained 2-2 until the 4th, when Caleb Morris (Pitt CC) came around to score on a double off the bat of Ronnie McBride (LSU-Alexandria), giving the Marlins their first lead at 3-2.

They added another run in the 5th, after Harris hit his second triple in as many games and came home on the RBI single from Bloomer. The Marlins added 2 more runs in the 7th, taking advantage of an error by Tri-City, and Vore came on to shut the door in the 9th.

Seguin pitched 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up the two earned runs in the first inning and racking up six strikeouts.

Ryder Yakel got his second win in as many games, pitching 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts, earning him the CPL Line of the Night.

Brendan Bean (Penn) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning on just seven pitches, and Vore pitched the ninth inning giving up just the unearned run.

Harris went 3 for 3 at the plate with a triple an RBI, and Justin Johnson went 2 for 4 with an RBI to pace the Marlins offensively.

The Marlins are off Memorial Day, and then head to Colonial Heights, VA, to take on the Chili Peppers for the first time on the road Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7 PM at Shepherd Stadium. You can watch with a FloBaseball subscription, or listen live for free on the Morehead City Marlins radio network.