After battling from behind twice on the day, John Rhodes delivered a walk-off infield single in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the win and series for the Bowie Baysox, taking down the Akron RubberDucks by a 6-5 final on Sunday evening at Prince George’s Stadium.
After a 1 hour, 14 minute rain delay pushed back the start, Akron built an early 2-0 lead against left-handed starter Cade Povich. The RubberDucks’ Jose Tena singled with one out in the top of the first, before scampering home on a wild pitch later in the frame. Angel Martinez notched a solo home run in the top of the third to double the Akron edge, but Povich did well to limit the damage there. The southpaw went five innings on Sunday, allowing five hits and walking two, while still striking out seven.
Bowie erased its first deficit of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth. After going scoreless for 12 consecutive innings dating back to Saturday night’s 1-0 win, the Baysox bats finally broke through in a fourth inning of relief for RubberDucks’ right-hander Tommy Mace. Jackson Holliday laced an opposite field double with one out, before coming home to score on a two-out single from Shayne Fontana to get Bowie on the board. Just as quickly, the Baysox tied the game on an RBI double to center field from Greg Cullen.
However, the tie would not last long. In the top of the seventh, three-consecutive one-out base runners against right-hander Houston Roth loaded the bases for Akron. RBI singles from Martinez and Juan Brito, with an error from Fontana in right field sandwiched in between, gave Akron a 5-2 lead. The Baysox matched the RubberDucks in the bottom half. Two base hits and a walk loaded the bases for Bowie, before a walk to Donta’ Williams forced in a run to make it a 5-3 Akron lead. Holliday then grounded into a double play that forced another run home and pushed the tying run in Anthony Servideo to third with two outs. A John Rhodes RBI single then knotted the game back up at five.
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the ninth, with right-hander Xavier Moore (W, 1-0) working out of a bases loaded jam in the top half in his lone frame of relief. Servideo led off the bottom of the inning with a single off RubberDucks reliever Trey Benton (L, 1-1), while an error allowed him to advance to second. Williams completed a sacrifice bunt to push Servideo to third, before Holliday was intentionally walked. That set the stage for Rhodes, who hit a sharp ground ball at the drawn-in shortstop Tena, who bobbled the ball and allowed Williams to easily score.
The win bolsters Bowie’s record to 38-46 on the season. The Baysox will continue their nine game home stand on Tuesday, with the first of six against the Harrisburg Senators. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET
