(Breaking news) Blue Crabs erupt offensively, knot championship series at 1

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009

Center fielder Jeremy Owens was straightforward Thursday night following the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs' hapless showing in a Game 1 loss of the Atlantic League championship series at reigning champion Somerset.

He said the team needed "to make an announcement" with its bats at the onset of the next contest to get back into the best-of-five series.

The Blue Crabs emphatically obliged their captain's advice, doing their early announcing with the long ball in Friday's Game 2 to the tune of three homers and five runs in the third inning.

The Blue Crabs also had enough offensive fireworks remaining to punctuate their bounce-back performance with four more runs in the eighth, holding off Somerset's attempted rally en route to running away with a pivotal 10-4 road victory.

After appearing down and out following the opener in the championship matchup, the Blue Crabs have suddenly shifted the momentum to their favor with the 1-1 series heading to Southern Maryland in Waldorf's Regency Furniture Stadium for the final three games – the last one if necessary.

Saturday's Game 3 is set for a 6:35 first pitch with Sunday and Monday beginning at 2:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., respectively.

The Blue Crabs are looking to win it all in just their second year of existence.

"It was a real big win," Blue Crabs manager Butch Hobson said. "Anytime you can head home, 1-1 [in the series], it takes the pressure off. It's a sign of things to come, hopefully."

Right fielder John Ramistella, first baseman Cesar Nicolas and left fielder James Shanks starred in the win, each clearing the fence during the Blue Crabs monumental third that answered Somerset's first-inning run. Ramistella and Nicolas connected for the two-run variety, bookending Shanks' solo shot, and that padded the Blue Crabs' first lead in the series at 5-1.

Somerset lefty starter Joel Kirsten was chased from the mound after only four innings of work.

"The at-bat I had in my first AB most of the time dictates how the rest of the lineup is going to hit," Ramistella said about his leadoff role. He lined out hard to left field, followed by a Shanks liner and a Travis Garcia deep fly. "We all hit the ball hard [in the first even though we didn't score]. We jumped on their starter early and had him on the ropes. Everyone was having good [at-bats]. Hitting is contagious."

Hobson added, "It was a good night. I'm glad to see us swing the bats like that. We've just got to take that into tomorrow. Somerset is a good team."

Somerset refused to go away, cutting the Blue Crabs' advantage to 5-4 by the sixth.

But the Blue Crabs did not buckle, answering back the next two innings. Ramistella plated Mike Just, who had tripled earlier in the seventh, to up the lead to 6-4. Then Michael Tucker ignited the Blue Crabs' four-run eighth with a ground-rule double that was scored on a Nicolas RBI single. Ramistella later made his presence again known with a two-run double followed by a Shanks run-scoring single.

The extra-bagger capped a prolific night for Ramistella, who went 3 for 5 with five RBIs and was just a triple away from hitting for the cycle. Nicolas also went 3 for 5, driving in three runs. Both scored twice.

Shanks was also impressive in helping to square the series, going 2 for 4 with his home run, two RBIs and a run scored.

Just's triple highlighted his 2-for-4 display, coming around to score on two occasions.

A night after the Blue Crabs could muster just five hits with only one batter having multiple base knocks, their sticks stormed back with 12 hits in Game 2. Six batters in their lineup produced hits in the win with four doing so multiple times.

The Blue Crabs also cleaned up their defense, committing one error in Game 2 after having three in Game 1.

"Just because we lost Game 1 doesn't mean they had all the momentum," Ramistella said. "Putting up a big inning [in the third] like that was important. It was great for us to get to their bullpen [in the eighth]."

The rainy, methodical Game 2 took nearly four hours to complete, but the win was well worth its marathon nature for the Blue Crabs.

Ryan Bicondoa will take the mound for the Blue Crabs in Game 3 against Somerset slated starter Brian Adams.

Hobson said that Blue Crabs southpaw ace John Halama would have been given the starting nod on short rest for Game 3 had the team come home in a 2-0 series hole. Halama pitched the Blue Crabs into the championship series, tossing wins in Game 1 and 5 of the divisional round against Long Island.

The significant ramifications of the Blue Crabs' Game 2 victory is that Halama will now pitch Game 4 on full rest, and his near-automatic winning status provides great hope that Southern Maryland will at worst be involved in a deciding Game 5 at home.

"In order to be a good ballclub during the season, we had to play .500 on the road and have a winning record at home," said Ramistella, whose club went 42-28 in its confines with a 37-33 away mark. "That's what we want to do in this series. We've split in Somerset, and we're hoping to win two of the next three at home if it's a five-game series."

Blue Crabs starting pitcher Keith Ramsey exited Game 2 just 2 1/3 innings into the action. Hobson said Ramsey has been dealing with some rib cage problems and didn't have his usual fastball nor was he able to keep the pitch down.

dcogle@somdnews.com