Riversharks Lose Slugfest

Iggy Suarez had his second straight four-hit game as the Barnstormers pounded out 19 hits en route to an 8-6 victory in the final game of their three-game series over the Camden Riversharks. Camden has now dropped back-to-back series.

J.D. Durbin (2-1) picked up the victory after going the first six innings allowing five runs on eight hits.

Adam Calderone got the Barnstormers on the board in the top of the 1st with a two-out, RBI single that scored Tommy Everidge to make it 1-0 Lancaster.

Camden responded right away in the bottom of the 1st inning against J.D. Durbin. After Drew Macias drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 1-1, Lloyd Turner beat out an infield single and brought home Danny Richar to give the ‘Sharks a 2-1 lead.

Noah Hall doubled the Riversharks lead in the 2nd inning with an RBI single that plated Jonel Pacheco to make it 3-1 Camden.

Lancaster got the lead back with three runs in the top of the 3rd highlighted by Iggy Suarez’s two-run double.

Suarez finished the series 11-for-13.

The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the 4th when Noah Hall’s two-run double put Camden back on top 5-4.

The Barnstormers recaptured the lead in the 6th and chased Josh Towers from the ballgame. J.C. Holt followed up an RBI triple by Gilberto Mejia with an RBI single to give Lancaster a 6-5 lead. Iggy Suarez then delivered an RBI single to make it 7-5.

Towers (3-4) went 5.1 innings allowing seven runs on a season-high 13 hits.

Gilberto Mejia got the Barnstormers another insurance run in the 7th inning with an RBI single that scored Aaron Herr to extend the lead to 8-5.

On The Sharks 2011 All-Stars

Five players from the Sharks will be included in this year's Atlantic League All-Star Game: Pedro Feliz, John Bale, Jay Marshall, Toby Hall and Lloyd Turner.

I have somewhat of a problem with this.

Let's start with the pitchers. Jay Marshall has been lights out this season. In 31 games so far, his ERA is the best on the team's at 1.52. His WHIP is a respectable .96, he's walked 6 and struck out 10. I've got no problem with him.

John Bale, who's second only to Marshall for lowest ERA, has pitched six more innings than Marshall, but has given up nearly TWICE as many hits. His WHIP is a slightly lackluster 1.41. Atlantic League batters are hitting nearly 70 points higher off Bale than off Marshall.

Guys like Eddy Camacho (4-0) and Federico Baez (4-2) were passed over, and I'm not quite sure why. Both are proven, quality starters. Camacho began his year in the bullpen and was pressed into the starting role when Robert Rohrbaugh and Chris Mason were released. Baez has been the most consistent pitcher in the rotation, and may have the best stuff.

Hall is solid behind the plate, but making an All-Star out of a guy batting .255, who runs slower than a slow motion replay of the continents shifting? Please.

Noah Hall is batting .288 with 28 RBI's this year. His OPS is the highest on the team at .864. Burgamy, who's slumping recently but still has an OPS close to .8, is leading the team in both RBI's and home runs. And you're telling me Pedro Feliz and Lloyd Turner deserve to be All-Stars over those guys?

Riversharks Shutout by Barnstormers

Iggy Suarez was 4-for-4 and Matt Wright pitched into the seventh inning as the Lancaster Barnstormers knocked off the Camden Riversharks by the final score of 6-0. The Riversharks have now been shut out three times this season.

Wright (2-5) pitched 6.2 scoreless innings allowing just two hits while striking out five batters for his first win since June 3rd.

Aaron Herr gave Lancaster the lead in the top the 2nd when he connected with his 5th home run of the season, a solo shot, to give the Barnstormers a 1-0 lead.

Federico Baez (4-2), making his first start since coming back from injury, went the first three innings allowing one run while striking out four batters.

Lancaster doubled their lead in the top of the 5th on Iggy Suarez’s RBI single to make it 2-0. Suarez is now 7-for-8 in the first two games of this series.

The Barnstormers added insurance runs in the 8th inning when Ozzie Chavez and Gilberto Mejia drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to make it 4-0. Suarez then followed with a two-out, two-run single to extend the Lancaster lead to 6-0.

Pacheco Contributes Immediately, Defense Shines In 4-1 Win

Newly acquired outfielder Jonel Pacheco hit a leadoff double, and two batters later Brian Burgamy belted a 2 run shot over the right field wall to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead over the visiting Lancaster Barnstormers. The Sharks never looked back, and won the game 4-1 on a scorching hot night at Campbell's Field.

Pacheco, signed just yesterday by the Sharks, was batting .285 with 6 homers and 27 RBI's in 50 games with the Road Warriors this season. He brings some offensive pop back into a Sharks lineup that recently lost two of their best hitters in Raul Padron and Mike Lamb.

The Sharks defense came up big tonight. In the bottom of the fifth Drew Macias made a spectacular diving catch to rob Iggy Suarez of a base hit. In the eighth, Lloyd Turner's dazzling shoestring grab robbed Tommy Everidge.


But Lancaster managed to cut the lead to one in the top of the 6th when Everidge took starter Eddy Camacho deep to right center. With runnners on, they seemed likely to tie it up. But with 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Camacho got Adam Calderone to ground out softly to first to retire the side. Camacho went 6 2/3 innings, giving up one run and striking out two. He's now 4 and 0 as a starter this season.


The Sharks then added some insurance runs. In the 7th Pedro Feliz scored on a wild pitch from reliever Jon Huber to make it 3-1, and in the 8th Danny Richar took a TJ Beam offering and lined it over the right field wall to make it 4-1 Sharks.

Brian Stokes picked up his 5th save of the season when he struck out Gilbeto Mejia to end the game.

Sharks Lose Fourth Straight, Are Now 0 For July...

Starter John Van Benschoten cruised though 7 2/3 innings, allowing only one run on six hits in the Rev's 3-1 victory over the Camden Riversharks today.

The lone run for the Sharks came in the top of the first inning, when Danny Richar grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that scored Drew Macias to make it 1-0.


York tied the game in the fifth, when centerfielder Chris Walker singled to left to score Octavio Martinez. They added two more in the sixth to make it 3-1, when a Val Majewski triple scored Chris Nowak, and Majewski scored on a wild pitch one batter later.

Meantime, Van Benschoten was busy mowing through the Sharks lineup, retiring 21 of 27 batters before being lifted in the eighth for reliever Ricardo Gomez.


The Good: The bottom of the Sharks order produced nearly all of the hits today, with Juan Francia and Ruddy Yan combining to go 4 for 5. Relievers Mike Koplove and Brian Stokes both pitched scoreless innings in relief of starter Carlos Vasquez. Lloyd Turner gunned down Scott Grimes at the plate for a 7-2 inning ending putout in the fifth.

The Bad: Danny Richar, Pedro Feliz, Brian Burgamy, Noah Hall and Toby Hall went an appalling 0 for 17. With six strikeouts.

The Ugly: The Sharks, who started out terrible in May (7-18), then got better in June (14-13), are starting out July 0 and 4.


If you weren't at the game today (I checked, you weren't) this is pretty much how it went down, if you replace Mola Ram with the Revs and the "Om Namha Shivaye" guy with the Sharks.

Camden Drops to 0-5 at York

The York Revolution pounded out 15 hits and Chris Cody gave up just two runs as the Riversharks lost their third straight game by the final score of 5-3. Camden is now 0-5 on the season at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

Cody (6-4) pitched into the 7th inning and picked up his second victory of the season against the Riversharks.

Jose Herrera brought home Chris Walker with an RBI groundout for the first run of the game in the bottom of the 1st inning.

Octavio Martinez made it 2-0 York in the 2nd inning with an RBI single off J.R. Mathes that scored Eric Eymann.

Camden cut the lead in half in the top of the 3rd on when Drew Macias scored on Juan Francia’s RBI single.

Herrera picked up his 2nd RBI of the night in the bottom of the 3rd with an RBI groundout that scored Chris Walker once again.

The Riversharks got back within a run again in the top of the 4th after Pedro Feliz scored on Danny Richar’s fielder’s choice.

Martinez drove in his 2nd RBI of the night in the 6th inning with an RBI single that scored Val Majewski.

Martinez finished the game 2-for-4 with the two runs batted in.

Mathes (1-2) allowed a season-high 13 hits and five runs in 6.2 innings.

Revolution Hand Sharks Second Straight Loss

Jose Herrara hit two home runs and Matt DeSalvo pitched seven strong innings as the York Revolution took the first game of their three-game series with the Camden Riversharks by the final tally of 10-4. York is now just a game behind Lancaster for first place in the Freedom Division.

DeSalvo (4-3) gave up four runs in seven innings of work for the victory and held the ‘Sharks scoreless in his last five frames.

Camden took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st on back-to-back solo home runs by Danny Richar and Pedro Feliz. Richar and Feliz were the only two Riversharks hitters to have multi-hit games.

The Revolution answered right back in the bottom of the 1st against Josh Towers as Herrera tied the ballgame at 2-2 with his first home run of the game, a two-run shot.

Drew Macias put the Riversharks back on top at 4-2 in the 3rd inning with a two-run home run, his 5th of the season.

Jose Herrera gave the Revolution the lead right back in the bottom of the 3rd when he hit a three-run home run to give York a 5-4 advantage.

York blew it open in the 4th inning against Towers when Chris Walker and Ramon Castro hit back-to-back, two-run singles to extend the lead to 9-4.

Towers (3-3) allowed a season-high nine runs on eight hits in just 3.2 innings.