By Tim Wilcox

On Friday, the Senators tallied 10 hits to defeat the Big Train 8-1. But Saturday against the Cropdusters, Southern Maryland was stumped at the plate as they were shutout 10-0 by the Cropdusters.

Peyton Brannock (East Stroudsburg), Lucas Garton (Rider) and Michael Irby (East Carolina) each threw three innings to combine for the Cropdusters first shutout of the season.

“[Brannock] threw strikes, got outs and got us rolling and the next guys followed suit,” Cropdusters Head Coach Adam Leader said. “To get a shutout win in this league is pretty special.”

The pitching paired with constant run support propelled the Cropdusters to a key victory to stay 1.5 games out of first place in the North Division.

In the first inning the Cropdusters applied pressure by getting their first two runners aboard. Despite getting them into scoring position, they could not score as the Senators got out of the jam.

Next, it was the Senators who threatened by loading the bases in the top of the second. With one out, Brannock worked a strikeout and groundout to record a second scoreless inning.

In the second inning, the Cropdusters continued to put Southern Maryland on its heels. Koy Swanson (Maryland) led off with a single and stole second base before the next two batters walked.

With the bases loaded, Josh Reinhold (Christopher Newport) hit into a fielder’s choice and the Senators could not make the play cleanly, allowing the Cropdusters to take a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Carter Hinds (Shippensburg) laced a single to bring in the third run of the inning.

Brannock threw a scoreless third inning before the Cropdusters turned to Garton in the fourth. After walking the first batter, he got three straight outs.

Parker Frey (East Stroudsburg) led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, setting up the Cropdusters for another three-run inning. Frey scored on a wild pitch before Reinhold singled and came around to score on another pitch that hit the backstop. Hinds added his second RBI of the contest by grounding out, extending the Cropdusters lead to 6-0.

In the fifth inning, the Cropdusters returned to their proven recipe of getting the leadoff batter on and working them around to score. Ehi Okojie (Harford) and Swanson slapped back-to-back singles to start the inning. Okojie scored on a throwing error by the Cropdusters before Conner Spelman (Jacksonville) brought Swanson in on a single, pushing their lead to 8-0.

The Cropdusters added one run each in the sixth and seventh inning as they grew their lead to 10-0. In the seventh, Bryce Herb (Shippensburg) ripped an RBI double, adding to the long list of Cropdusters to tally hits in clutch moments.

“Regardless of where we are [in the lineup], we feel comfortable getting runs which was incredible for us tonight,” Leader said.

Meanwhile, the Senators could not get their bats going. Garton completed his three innings allowing minimal baserunners and then the Cropdusters turned to Irby to pitch the final three frames. Irby, who threw three scoreless innings against the Thunderbolts on June 2, continued to dominate.

The Cropdusters tallied 14 hits and scored 10 runs without hitting a home run, moving runners over before scoring them. After scoring just one run on Friday, Leader was pleased with the bounce back performance.

“I thought [our hitters] did a really good job with runners on base, moving the guys over, scoring guys today,” Leader said. “That was our main focus today so I'm really happy with the way our hitters did.”

The Senators take on the Giants Sunday at 5 p.m. in Gaithersburg. The Cropdusters continue their homestand as they face the Aces Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at First Responder Field by SERVPRO.