BURLINGTON, N.C. - In a battle for first place, it was the Sock Puppets who mounted a comeback to take the first game over Danville. Burlington scored all eight of its runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to earn the 8-6 win Tuesday evening.
It wasn’t the best start to the day for the Puppets, but the bats were able to catch fire in the second half of the game. Danville hitters came up to the plate ten times and scored five runs in the first inning to start the day.
From there, it was a relatively quiet game for both teams, as neither scored for the following four innings. It took until the sixth inning for Burlington to record their first hit of the game, but that’s what queued their offense for the comeback.
Ryan McCrystal got the ball rolling in the sixth with a double, and then Burlington would load up the bases. Nick Allen got the first few runs with an RBI single, and the Sock Puppets continued to cruise. Three runs in the sixth cut the lead to two and made it a 5-3 game after six innings.
The Otterbots scored one more run in the seventh inning, but Burlington responded with three more runs of their own in the seventh.
Tied at six in the eighth inning, Burlington would draw two lead-off walks and a single to load the bases. McCrystal, again, showed his late-game heroics and brought in the two go-ahead runs with another base hit. He finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Jerek Hobb and the Puppets would go on and close out the ninth for their 11th win of the season and take over first place in the east division. Game two against Danville will be tomorrow, June 26, at 7 p.m. back at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
