The Y-D Red Sox secured the first-place overall seed for the postseason and the best record with an 8-5 win over the Chatham Anglers on Friday evening at Red Wilson Field. Y-D’s offense was propelled by Ethan Petry (3-3), who crushed back-to-back home runs, and Skylar King (2-3), who cranked out his first homer of the season and an RBI single. On the hill for Y-D, Will Jones picked up his first win and Marko Sipila notched his second save.

Will Jones made his debut on the mound for Y-D. The left-hander out of Northeastern pitched five innings and struck out four. He allowed five hits and three runs to Chatham, bringing his ERA to 5.40 after his first outing. In his time on the bump he also helped lead Y-D’s defense to three consecutive 1-2-3 innings at the start of the game, setting the team up to dominate offensively.

Y-D brought the heat in the bottom of the first inning with four runs scored and eight hitters on the roster seeing the batter’s box. It started with a couple of walks for the top of Y-D’s lineup, placing two on base with no outs. Anthony Martinez (UC Irvine) then hit an RBI single to put the Sox on the board first. Martinez, who had a three-hit night on Thursday, has now had ten consecutive games with one or more hits.

Ethan Petry (South Carolina) kept the inning going for Y-D with an RBI single to left field. Skylar King (West Virginia) knocked another run home with a single on a pop-up to the edge of the grass. Gavin Gallaher (UNC) then followed with an RBI ground-out to bring Y-D’s run count to four to finish the first. In the past two faceoffs with Chatham, Y-D has scored a combined 10 runs in the first inning.

Carson Johnson (Arizona) debuted on the mound for the Anglers. The starter threw for three innings and collected three strikeouts. He allowed six hits and six runs on the bump as the Sox’s offense picked up even more energy after the first inning.

The bottom of the third brought in two homers for Y-D. Petry sent a homer back 382 feet, completing back-to-back games with a home run. King then followed with a home run of his own, his first of the season since his debut with Y-D last week. In the next inning, Michael Ball (U of Nevada) kept the offensive energy going for the team with his second hit of the day to the outfield.

Chatham’s bats began to ignite in the fourth inning with back-to-back singles from Campbell Smithwick (Ole Miss) and Chayton Krauss (Dallas Baptist). To send them home, Ashton Larson (LSU) recorded an RBI single and Robin Villenueve (Texas Tech) hit an RBI ground-out to get the Anglers on the board. Y-D ended Chatham’s hit streak with a six-four-three double play.

Kyle Lodise (Georgia Tech) carried Chatham’s offensive energy into the fifth, hitting his third home run of the season and giving the Anglers their third run of the game. However, Home Run Derby Champion Ethan Petry struck again in the bottom of the inning for Y-D with his second homer of the evening. With 11 home runs this season, Petry is now tied for first in the league with Brewster’s Ryder Helfrick—a fellow Home Run Derby competitor.

Y-D was able to tack one more run onto their lead in the seventh inning starting with a fly-out in foul territory by Carter Garate (Oregon). A tag-up to third base by Martinez prompted a throwing error from Chatham, allowing Martinez to cross the plate and send Y-D’s run total to eight.

Noah Czajkowski (Pitt) and Gavin Jones (Kent State) came in to throw relief for the Sox. They combined for 2.1 innings and three strikeouts on the mound. While they only allowed three hits and no runs, the Anglers started to generate a comeback on offense with crucial extra-base hits late in the game.

With two walks and a double from Larson to power them, the Anglers quickly loaded the bases in the eighth inning with one out. Despite this, Y-D’s Marko Sipila (SDSU) shut it down fast as he came to the mound mid-inning and led the defense to their third double play of the evening. Sipilia closed the game on the mound with two strikeouts and picked up his second save of the season.

The Anglers did not go down without a fight as they continued to put the pressure on in the ninth inning. Daniel Jackson (Georgia) hit his first homer of the season and Smithwick recorded an RBI double shortly after. Y-D’s Jackson Chirello (Kennesaw State) came up with the last out of the game, making an impressive sliding catch in right field to lock in the win.

Y-D has officially clinched first place overall with Friday’s win, providing them with home-field advantage for the postseason. They have also sealed the best record in the league, now 24-10-4 heading into the last two regular season games. The Sox will take on the 12-23-2 Brewster Whitecaps on Saturday evening at Stony Brook Field.

Photo by Sophie Solarino