Ducks Walk Into Ugly Loss in Game 1

By Brian Bohl on May 11, 2008

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – On paper, the Ducks pitching was supposed to be a huge asset entering a doubleheader against Southern Maryland. Jon Searles entered the opener with carrying a perfect earned run average through two starts. A strong bullpen also helped the Ducks compile the lowest collective ERA in the eight-team Atlantic League.

But those gaudy statistics looked like an aberration after three Ducks pitchers surrendered 13 walks and 14 hits, leading to a 12-8 defeat to the Blue Crabs in the opener in the ugliest game of the season at Citibank Park.

How poor was the pitching? First baseman Rob Cafiero was the most efficient Duck hurler, tossing a scoreless ninth inning in a mop-up appearance. Both teams combined for 20 walks, 28 hits and 50 base runners.

The seventh, eighth and ninth hitters all blasted home runs as Southern Maryland jumped on Searles for seven runs (four earned) in four innings. Blue Crabs starter Adam Johnson didn’t fare much better, recording just three outs before giving way to the bullpen.

The Ducks still had a chance to win the four-hour, five-minute monstrosity before Scott Rice (2-1) was tagged for four runs in the eighth. Patrick Osborn led off with a single and Chad Ehrnsberger broke an 8-all tie, blasting a two-run homer to left. John Ramistella and Kyle Nichols added RBI singles for the insurance markers.

Plate umpire Kareh Valentin appeared to squeeze both teams’ pitchers, contributing to eleven walks through the first three innings. Ducks manager Dave LaPoint said the control problems stemmed from poor pitching and a tight strike zone.

“It’s a combination of both,” LaPoint said. “Both sides were erratic, and it’s hard for an umpire to get a rhythm when no one is throwing first pitch strikes. Normally if you’re throwing first-pitch strikes, you’ll get the calls on the corners. You can’t blame him [Valentin] for the whole game.”

Kevin Haverbusch started at third base for the first time this season. His inexperience showed in the first when he couldn’t secure a catchable ball, leading to the opening run.

His second-inning fielding error made three of the four runs that inning unearned. The Massapequa native atoned for his mistake, as Haverbusch finished 4-5 and ripped a two-run single in the fourth.

Searles’ shortest outing of the year was still better than Johnson, who issued four consecutive walks to start the second before getting the hook. Johnson’s final line read three runs, five walks and two hits in one-plus innings.

In the fifth, Dennis Donovan singled and scored the tying run when Estee Harris doubled him home. Pete Rose Jr. put the Ducks ahead 8-7 thanks to a single that drove in Harris.

That lead held up until ninth-hitting Adam Shorsher ripped a solo shot leading off the seventh, taking Steve Kent deep in his Ducks debut.

Kent, singed the day before the contest, didn’t allow any other run in his three innings. The southpaw preserved an overworked bullpen for the nightcap, which LaPoint acknowledged by coming out of the dugout to pat him on the back following the seventh inning.

The slugfest could have featured many more runs. Southern Maryland left 16 men on base. The Ducks stranded 13 runners.

Notes: Eric Crozier walked four times… The first eight runs came on just five combined hits. How slow was the pace? The Yankee game started two hours after first pitch was in the seventh when the game concluded…The attendance was 5,515.

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