WALDORF, Md. – Baseball is a game of ups and downs; while hitting is arguably the hardest thing to do in sports, there is the thrill of a hot streak and the discouragement of going on a slump. Second-year Blue Crab Michael Wielansky had the biggest game of his Blue Crabs career during the thrill of his own hot streak to begin the new season.
After a home run in the top of the first from Carlos Franco, Wielansky hit his solo shot into left field as it soured over the monster in left and onto the backside of the clubhouse. The home run extended his hitting streak to five games and an extra-base hit streak to four games.
In the fourth, the Honey Hunters continued their offensive attack on Southern Maryland in this series, as Scott Manea delivered a two-out, two-RBI hit to get the lead 3-1. Gastonia would score two more in the fourth and fifth and then have a big three spot in the sixth.
The Warriors from Waldorf were held scoreless until the seventh as the slugger K.C. Hobson smashed his second home run in as many days, sneaking down the right field line again. The Crabs chipped away with two more runs in the eighth, with the Honey Hunters matching them in the top of the ninth.
Despite the deficit, Wielansky was chasing history in the latter half of the ninth. He was 3-4, chasing a triple to hit for the cycle. Instead, he was gifted a hanging changeup and didn’t miss it, as he hit his second home run of the night, making it his second career two-homer game with the Crabs.
The final was 11-6; the Crabs look to salvage one game from the series as their record becomes 3-2. Left-hander Mitch Lambson will climb the hill for Southern Maryland for the first Baseball and Education Day at Regency Furniture, with the first pitch arriving at 10:35 A.M.
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