With one out in the bottom of the ninth, the red hot Coby Mayo clobbered a solo home run over the wall in left field, bringing the Bowie Baysox all the way back from an early 2-0 hole to take down the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 3-2 on Friday night at Prince George’s Stadium.
Mayo’s massive shot, his tenth home run of the season, is Bowie’s third walk-off win of 2023. It came on a 1-1 pitch, traveling an estimated 380 feet after being launched 107 miles per hour off the bat.
The day did not start out on as high of a note for the Baysox, who fell behind 2-0 just three batters into the game. Right-handed starter Garrett Stallings walked leadoff hitter Shane Matheny before allowing a two-run home run to Andy Thomas with one out in the frame. Despite the unfortunate start to the evening, Stallings would bounce back and be very effective on the night. Despite walking a career-high five batters through five innings, the right-hander did not allow another hit or run on the night, fanning six batters for the fourth time in his 12 appearances this season.
Offensively, the comeback charge was led by Donta’ Williams for Bowie. First, John Rhodes led off the bottom of the second inning with a double to center field off Richmond right-handed starter Carson Seymour. Rhodes advanced to third on a fly out from TT Bowens, before tagging and scoring on a sacrifice fly to center by Williams. On the evening, Seymour was quite effective for the Flying Squirrels, allowing just that one run on two hits across four innings, walking none and striking out four.
Williams was the first hitter to face right-handed reliever Spencer Bivens in the bottom of the fifth, where he greeted him with a game-tying solo home run to left-center field. Williams’ third long ball of the season and second run driven in on the night brought the Baysox back from an early deficit for the second time on the week.
Richmond’s bats continued to be kept in check by Bowie arms, as right-hander Peter Van Loon took the ball from Stallings in the sixth. Van Loon peppered the zone aggressively in his outing, as he struck out a season-high seven batters through four hitless innings. Van Loon (W, 1-3) only allowed two base runners, a single to Logan Wyatt in the seventh and a walk to Vaun Brown in the eighth, stranding both. The right-hander fired 52 pitches in the outing – 40 of them for strikes.
Van Loon got the Baysox to the dugout in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to walk it off against Flying Squirrels’ right-hander Blake Rivera (L, 1-4), who managed a strike out before Mayo came to the plate to play hero for the Baysox. After extending his on-base streak to 30 games in the sixth inning when he was hit by a pitch, Mayo left the yard for the second-straight night – helping Bowie to its second consecutive win.
The victory improves the Baysox record to 26-34 on the season. Bowie and Richmond will continue the seven-game series on Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET from Prince George’s Stadium.
