Frederick, Maryland
Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium
The Keys stretched their winning streak to five games on Friday night, but they did it the hard way. What started as a quiet, low scoring duel turned into a full sprint to the finish, ending with Elis Cuevas launching a walk off homer in the eleventh inning to seal an 11 to 10 victory over Jersey Shore.
Yeiber Cartaya opened the night with a steady first inning that included a strikeout and kept the BlueClaws from gaining any early momentum. He followed that with a clean second and a perfect third, giving Frederick room to settle in before the bats finally woke up.
Reed Trimble broke the scoreless tie in the fourth with a solo shot to right, and the Keys followed that up with a three run burst in the fifth. Ike Irish punched an RBI single into the outfield, and Vance Honeycutt cleared the bases with a two run double that pushed the lead to four.
Jersey Shore answered in the sixth with two runs on a wild pitch and a groundout, but Brandon Downer slammed the door in the seventh. He entered with the bases loaded and struck out all three hitters he faced, a momentum swing that set up Leandro Arias to blast his first homer of the season for a 5 to 2 lead.
The BlueClaws refused to go away. A three run homer in the eighth tied the game, only for Colin Yeaman to immediately restore the Frederick lead with an RBI double. Jersey Shore tied it again in the ninth, sending the game into extras at six apiece.
The visitors finally grabbed their first lead of the night in the tenth with a two run frame. Frederick answered with a sacrifice fly from Yeaman and a game tying single from Arias that forced an eleventh inning.
Jersey Shore struck again with a two run homer in the top half, putting Frederick behind 10 to 8 and down to their final three outs. The Keys responded with their loudest swings of the night. Maikol Hernandez tied the game with a two run blast, and moments later Cuevas stepped in and crushed a no doubt shot to left that sent the ballpark into a roar and the Keys into a pile at home plate.
Frederick 11, Jersey Shore 10. Eleven innings. Another walk off. Another night where the Keys refused to fold.
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