D-Backs Mercy Rule Blue Sox

By Dean Barker
​The Stuarts Draft Diamondbacks jumped on the board early and never looked back in an 11-1 mercy rule win at the Elkton Blue Sox on Tuesday, June 6. With the win, the D-Backs improved to 2-5 and snapped a five-game losing streak, while the Blue Sox fell to 0-8.
 
“Our pitching’s been well throughout the season, we just needed to put some runs on the board,” Diamondbacks head coach Les Sandridge said. “So we were able to piece that together tonight, and that’s what happens.”
 
Jacob Grabeel picked up the win for the Diamondbacks to improve to 1-0, pitching a full seven innings and giving up one earned run on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
 
“I just pitched to them… they kind of made it easy on me by hitting some rollovers, and I just trusted my defense and went after them,” Grabeel said.
 
Taran Baker took the loss for the Blue Sox to fall to 0-2, pitching six innings and giving up nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. Donald Seekford pitched the seventh and gave up two earned runs on two hits with two walks and a strikeout.
 
Cody Bartley would give Stuarts Draft a 1-0 lead with a two out RBI double, plating Ryan Farris in the top of the first. They’d add two in the second with a leadoff homer from Jacob Grabeel and a fielder’s choice grounder from Wyatt Wood. Elkton would cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom half with a balk to Jacob Hensley to score Ty Mauer.
 
Farris led off the third with a triple to center, and Caden Richter would score him with a single to right. With the bases loaded, Landon Lightner would drive in two with a double to right. Logan Duff would plate another with a sacrifice fly, and Wyatt Wood’s single to left made the score 8-1 through three. With runners on the corners in the fourth, a wild pitch from Baker would allow Farris to score the ninth run for the Diamondbacks.
 
With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Wood would single to the third baseman, and Nate Wayne would drive in one with a sac fly to center field to make it 11-1, which would be how the game ended.
 
The Diamondbacks had eleven runs on eleven hits with two errors and six runners left on base. Farris was 3-5. Wood was 2-4 with three RBIs. Grabeel and Duff were both 2-3 with an RBI. Bartley went 1-2 with two walks and an RBI. Lightner was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs. Richter was 1-4 with an RBI.
 
The Blue Sox had one run on three hits with two errors and four runners stranded. Colt Mauer was 1-3 with an RBI. Jacob Hensley was 1-3. Ty Stobbs went 1-1 with a walk.
 
The Diamondbacks will look to keep the energy going at home versus the Clover Hill Bucks on Friday, June 9 at 7:30 pm.
 
The Blue Sox will look for their first win at the Cardinals on Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 pm. To win that game, Elkton head coach Mike Sutton said his team will need to hit better.
 
“Just got to get the base hits falling again; we didn’t hit the ball near as well as we’re capable of,” Sutton said. “That’s going to be the big thing, is getting some base hits to fall and putting some pressure on their pitching and defense.”

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