Thursday night was opening night for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf and the offensive bats came alive with the help of three RBIs from outfielder Jeremy Owens. The Blue Crabs, celebrating their fifth season, shut out the Lancaster Barnstormers 6-0 to put a win on the board in the first of a four game series against Lancaster.

Owens landed the first RBI in the bottom of the third inning of the game which allowed Richard Giannotti to score. Owens then knocked an RBI home run out of the park allowing Christian Lopez to score. The bottom of the seventh inning saw Mike Daniel score a run off a Giannotti hit, which was charged as an error on Lancaster. Giannotti was again able to score off a three base hit RBI from Owens. Former New York Mets player Chin Lung-Hu scored a run off a Mike Daniel RBI to make the game 6-0 in the bottom of the inning, essentially putting the game away.

“It felt good to contribute to the club and get things going,” Owens, who hit three RBIs including a home run, said. “Giannotti got us going with a good double and Christian made a really nice sacrifice and I was just trying to stay up the middle of the field. I got my hands through just enough on that change up. Wins are always great and when you start the season off with a win, you get started on the right foot. It is great to be back and to get this first win underneath our belts and hopefully it will be a chain reaction in to tomorrow.”

Lancaster was able to get hits and even loaded the bases a couple times. At one point, the bases were loaded with only one out and Lancaster was in scoring position when a double play put a stop to those hopes.

Nick Green pitched five innings for the Crabs, allowing only three hits and striking out five players. Chris Mobley, Ryan Speier and Charlie Manning also got time on the pitcher’s mound. Manning had three strike outs.

“It’s always nice to start off on the right foot,” Blue Crabs Manager Patrick Osborn said. “Nick Green pitched a heck of a game and we were able to get a win under our belt. It’s kind of relaxed now. Opening night is always a little stressful because everyone’s excited and the nerves are high. Now we can kind of relax and play the game. This team has the ability to (come alive). We have a very deep lineup, one through nine. A lot of good hitters, a lot of tough outs, it’s going to be a fun team to watch.”

The Mary B. Neal Elementary School chorus performed the National Anthem prior to the start of the game and youth teams from all over the county got to go on the field for pregame ceremonies and meet the players of both teams. The Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents mascots joined Blue Crabs mascot Pinch for the game and even did their routine running of the presidents between one of the innings. The Washington Nationals, founded in 2005, are currently atop the National League standings in Major League Baseball.

Thousands of people came out for the season opener despite the threat of rain throughout the day and the chilly weather conditions. Minutes before the start of the game, the clouds that had darkened the sky all day lifted, the sun came out and it was back to baseball.  Immediately following the season opening win, a fireworks display was put on to entertain the crowd that attended.