Ducks Complete Sweep Of Patriots

Central Islip, NY – The Long Island Ducks (7-2, 47-32) completed the three-game weekend sweep of the Somerset Patriots (5-5, 43-37) by winning 7-5 Sunday evening at Bethpage Ballpark. The Patriots, once down 6-0, put the tying run on first base in the ninth inning, but were unable to salvage the series.

“Obviously this weekend wasn’t how you want to draw it up,” said reliever Kyler Newby, who hurled 2.1 scoreless innings to give his offense a chance late. “We have a lot of new pieces and once we mend and fully come together we are going to be fine. We have great leadership. We can be unstoppable if we play to our potential.”

Long Island tagged Somerset starter Bryce Morrow for six runs early. The Ducks plated a pair in the first inning via a passed ball and an RBI sacrifice fly by Cody Puckett. Two innings later, Morrow committed a throwing error that led to a run. Three more runs scored on one swing of the bat by Puckett as he connected on his seventh home run of the year.

The Patriots received two-run home runs by David Vidal (7) in the fourth inning and Eric Farris (3) in the seventh inning to trim the deficit to 6-4.

Mark Minicozzi socked a solo home run (4) to give the Ducks insurance in the eighth inning.

Mycal Jones ripped an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning making the score 7-5 which would be the final.

Bruce Kern (4-1) picked up the win with five innings, allowing two runs on two hits. Morrow (2-2) took the loss, yielding six runs on six hits in only 2.2 innings of work. Todd Coffey notched his 15^th save in 16 tries tossing the final inning.

The Patriots bullpen threw 5.1 innings and only yielded one run. Newby was impressive considering he was pitching for the first time in seven days. Over the last 12 games the bullpen has logged 50.0 innings and surrendered just seven runs. That’s good for a 1.26 ERA.

“I credit a great throwing program and just always being able to stay loose,” Newby said of his performance. “Coach Cory Domel and I have developed a program where I can still practice by throwing off a mound but am able to conserve some energy so I’m fresh for my real appearances.”

The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford continues on Tuesday, July 19^th when team returns to TD Bank Ballpark for a 7:05 p.m. game against the Sugar Land Skeeters. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.