The Barnstormers continued their homestand on Friday with the first game of a new series, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs visited for the third weekend out of the last four (the exception was from July 23-25 when the Stormers themselves were out of town). On this night the Blue Crabs would ultimately prevail but not without a touch of controversy. The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Stormers matched it in the bottom half when Blake Allemand singled and scored on Alejandro De Aza's RBI single. In the second the Crabs went up 3-1, that lead held until the fourth when De Aza walked and Trayvon Robinson singled ahead of Kelly Dugan's two-run hit tying the score at 3-3. In the home fifth Allemand reached on a two-base hit, he trotted home on a two-run moonshot by Blake Gailen (just back from a stint with Team Israel at the Tokyo Olympics) giving the Stormers a 5-3 advantage. SM pulled to within one in the sixth, in the seventh Caleb Gindl singled and scored on a fielders choice putting the Stormers up 6-4. In the visiting eighth we officially entered The Twilight Zone, the Crabs scored twice to tie it 6-6 and had runners at second and third with two out. The man at bat grounded out to seemingly end the inning, as the fans reacted and the Stormers jogged to the dugout nobody seemed to realize that the umpires at home-plate and third base had called timeout. A balk had been called during the pitch allowing the lead run to score and the inning to continue, Stormers manager Ross Peeples argued the point and was ejected. The Crabs took full advantage of the reprieve plating three more to take a 10-6 lead, that would prove to be the final score. Nile Ball started and worked the first six innings, Yoel Espinal was the tough-luck loser in relief. The series continues (as you might expect) on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Take care, thanks for reading
