By Michael Stamatos

Coming into the DC Grays’ game with the Cropdusters, the Grays’ offense was sputtering.

The team was in the midst of a four-game losing streak during which the bats had just gone cold: the Grays were averaging 3.25 runs per game over that stretch, scoring only two runs in their most recent loss to the Big Train while picking up four hits.

There was no sign of that on Monday. The Grays exploded for 13 runs on 14 hits, barrelling up balls left and right in an eventual 13-3 victory.

They were the first ones on the board, putting a run across in the second off Cropdusters starter Marty Coyne (Penn). Matt Colella (Lafayette) led the inning off with a double, and he would score two batters later when the third baseman threw the ball away on a high chopper off the bat of Ellis Reid (North Carolina A&T).

Patrick Sanchez (Molloy) responded for the Cropdusters in the third. He smoked a leadoff double, took third on a wild pitch, and then sprinted home on a slow groundout to the third baseman to tie the game. However, that was the last time it would be close.

The fourth inning was a seemingly endless cycle of Grays hitters. Back-to-back-to-back singles to open the inning loaded the bases with no outs, and a walk gave the Grays the lead.

Then the Grays started going station to station. A single from Elias Owens (Washington and Jefferson) drove in two runs, and a sacrifice bunt moved everyone up a base. A wild pitch brought in another run, and two pitches later a single from James Layman (Wofford) made it 6-1.

The next two batters would walk, loading the bases for Colella, who ripped a double down the third base line for two more runs. A single by Joey Wilga (Richmond) would bring in another two before the Cropdusters finally escaped the inning.

They would get two back in the fifth. Sammy Leis (Alabama) singled, and then Parker Frey (East Stroudsburg) clubbed his second homer of the season over the right field fence, bringing the score to 10-3.

The Grays immediately responded. A double from Michael Lavanga (William and Mary) and single for Colella put runners at the corners, and a walk loaded the bases. That brought up Reid, who drilled a ball off the base of the wall in left center to make it 12-3. They’d put one more run across in the inning on a fielder's choice.

The Grays’ pitching staff also played a significant role in their victory. After Jay Aghanya’s (Oberlin) solid start (five innings, five hits, three runs, and two strikeouts), the bullpen was flawless. Corey Savedoff (Lafayette), Patrick Brizendine (William and Mary), and Will Stambaugh (Loch Haven) combined for four innings of no-hit baseball, stomping out any hopes of a Cropdusters comeback.