Donnie Webb hit a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Akron Aeros a 10-9 walk-off win over Bowie Baysox in game one of a three-game series Monday at Canal Park.
Right-hander Cory Burns pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win for the Aeros. Left-handed pitcher Matt Packer made the start for Akron pitching 5.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and striking out seven while walking one.
The Baysox (37-37) scored first in the top of the second inning. Caleb Joseph led off with a double. With two outs, Pedro Florimon doubled Joseph home to give Bowie a 1-0 lead.
Xavier Avery homered to open the top of the third inning giving the Baysox a 2-0 lead.
The Baysox took a 3-0 lead on an LJ Hoes groundout in the top of the fifth inning.
Brandon Waring made it 5-0 Baysox as he hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning.
The Aeros (38-39) got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Nick Weglarz led off with a walk. Kyle Bellows followed with a single that was misplayed by Avery in center field allowing Weglarz to score and Bellows to move to third. Following a pitching change, Donnie Webb singled home Bellows to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Akron scored again in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Weglarz, Bellows and Webb worked walks. Juan Diaz came in to pinch hit for Juan Apodaca and singled home Weglarz to cut the Baysox lead to 5-3.
Bowie answered with four runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 9-3 lead.
The Aeros rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jordan Henry led off with an infield single. Karexon Sanchez and Beau Mills followed with back-to-back walks. The walks chased right-hander Brandon Cooney, who was replaced by righty Raul Rivero. Rivero was greeted by back-to-back two-RBI doubles from Matt McBride and Weglarz to make it 9-7. Diaz followed with an RBI sacrifice fly that was dropped to allow the tying run to score.
Akron won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning on the Webb bloop RBI single.
The Aeros and Baysox will continue their three-game series Tuesday. Akron will give the ball to right-handed pitcher Austin Adams, who is 5-7 with a 4.02 ERA in 2011. He will face left-handed pitcher Rick Zagone, who is 2-6 with a 4.95 ERA this season. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
The first Independence Day fireworks show of the season, presented by KeyBank, will light up the sky over Canal Park following Tuesday’s game. “The King & His Court” will also demonstrate their fast pitch softball dominance in an exhibition prior to the fireworks show.
