Blue Crabs Cruise to 12–2 Victory in Season Opener

Complete team effort propels Blue Crabs to 12-2 win over Staten Island on Opening Night

Team tallies 13 hits, pitchers strike out 10 FerryHawks

W: Kyle Virbitsky (1-0)

L: Nicholas Padilla (0-1)

WALDORF, MD – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (1-0) cruised to a 12-2 win over the Staten Island FerryHawks (0-1) on Tuesday night at Regency Furniture Stadium. The offense racked up 13 hits and 10 walks while the pitching staff held Staten Island to just three hits with 10 strikeouts. Stephen Paolini and Danny Bautista Jr. both had three hits with a double, and Blue Crabs starting pitcher Kyle Virbitsky (W, 1-0) threw five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

After a scoreless first inning, the Blue Crabs' offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Ethan Wilson started the inning with a single, and Jamari Baylor followed with a walk. A wild pitch by FerryHawks starting pitcher Nicholas Padilla allowed Wilson to score to give the Blue Crabs an early lead. Quinn McDaniel drove in Baylor with an RBI groundout to double the lead. Paolini drove a two-run double to left field, and Bautista hit an RBI single to make the score 5-0 Southern Maryland after two innings.

Those runs would prove to be all Virbitsky needed in a dominant performance. His night finished after five innings of shutout baseball. He allowed two hits, two walks, and a hit batter with seven strikeouts.

After Blue Crabs relief pitcher Peyton Cariaco threw a scoreless top of the sixth inning, the Blue Crabs offense went back to work in the bottom of the inning. RBI singles by Bautista and Wilson gave the Blue Crabs a 7-0 lead after six innings.

Staten Island got on the board in the top of the seventh inning. After Lamar Briggs reached on a walk against Blue Crabs relief pitcher Dylan Beck, Brandon Wagner hit a two-run home run to left field to trim Southern Maryland’s lead to 7-2 heading into the seventh inning stretch.

The Blue Crabs mounted an immediate response in the bottom of the seventh inning. Sparked by a lead-off double by Ezequiel Pagan, the Crabs scored five runs on two hits, five walks, four wild pitches, a passed ball, and a Staten Island error. After seven innings, Southern Maryland led 12-2.

The Blue Crabs bullpen was able to hold the score at 12-2 to close the game. Relief pitchers Isaac Fix and Garrett Ouellette both had scoreless innings in their team debuts.

The Blue Crabs and FerryHawks continue their series at Regency Furniture Stadium on Wednesday, April 22. First pitch is at 6:35 pm.

It’ll be a Woof Wednesday, presented by Dees Mutts. Enjoy Blue Crabs baseball alongside your pup with a fun, pet-friendly atmosphere all night long. Tickets can be purchased here.

Season set memberships are also still available. Plans begin as short as 14 games and are designed to give you great seats, unbeatable value, and exclusive perks all season long. For more information or to purchase a plan, click here.