The Deltaville Deltas advanced to the Richmond NABA championship series with a pair of wins in the opening rounds of the playoff tournament. The Deltas defeated the Richmond Brewers on Saturday night by the score of 6-2, and on Tuesday night knocked out the defending champion Richmond El Heaters, 6-0.
This weekend, the second-seeded Deltas will play in a best-of-three championship series against either the top seed Tappahannock Tides or fifth seed Richmond Avalanche.
Game one of the series is scheduled for Saturday at Deltaville Ballpark, with a 7:30 p.m. first pitch. Game 2 would be played on the road on Sunday, with an if-needed game 3 on Monday. The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby may impact this schedule—updates will be posted on the Deltas’ Facebook page.
Deltas 6, Brewers 2
Timely hitting and solid defense propelled the Deltaville Deltas to a 6-2 victory over the Richmond Brewers in the opening round of the NABA playoffs on Saturday night.
Hosting the 2022 league champion Brewers, Deltaville got on the board first with a three-run second inning. Colton Smith singled to lead off the inning and scored three batters later on a Benny Walker base hit. After a Creston Saunders two-out single put a pair of runners on base, Travis Crump blasted a line drive to right field. The Brewers outfielder misplayed the ball, allowing Walker and Saunders to score.
The Brewers immediately fired back, blasting a two-run home run over the right field wall in the top of the third to cut the lead to 3-2. However, in the bottom of the inning the Deltas got the two runs back on back-to-back RBIs from Smith and Scott Crump.
The Deltas were at their best on defense. Starting pitcher Bryan Bierlein tossed seven innings on the hill, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out seven. He was backed up by error-free defense and a number of great defensive plays that saved runs. Smith, the catcher, threw stealing runners out in the first and third innings, preventing what would have likely been runs both times. In the fourth, Alexander Crittenden and Saunders stymied a Brewers rally with an inning-ending double play. In the fifth, left fielder Tucker Bratton tracked down a double in the gap, and threw a laser home from the outfield via shortstop Saunders who relayed it to Smith to cut down a scoring runner at the plate.
Cole Stamm and Matt Kleinfelter pitched a combined two scoreless innings of relief to seal the game. Offensively, Smith led the charge for Deltaville with two runs batted in on a 1-for-3 night, and six other Deltas each collected hits.
Deltas 6, El Heaters 0
In front of a packed house at Deltaville Ballpark on Tuesday night, another gem of a pitching performance, coupled with a five-run fifth inning, propelled the Deltas into the NABA Championship Series in a 6-0 win over the El Heaters on Tuesday.
The game was scoreless up until Deltas’ shortstop Creston Saunders sparked the offense in the bottom the third inning. With one out, Saunders swung at the first pitch he saw and hit a towering fly ball off the right field wall for a double. After advancing to third on a single from Travis Crump, Saunders stole home on a wild pitch to give Deltaville a 1-0 lead.
Both teams held defensively over the next two innings, but in the sixth, the Deltas’ offense broke through. Keegan Megaro led the inning with a line drive single, and Scott Crump followed with a perfectly placed bunt that went for a hit. The Deltas took advantage of a defensive error to score Megaro, and then back-to-back hits from Jacob Houston and Brandt Brophy gave the Deltas a 3-0 lead. As the inning continued, Colton Smith beat out a play at the plate on an infield single from Benny Walker to make the score 4-0. Saunders and T. Crump followed with RBIs, and by the time the inning had finally ended the Deltas held a 6-0 lead.
Meanwhile, starting pitcher Matt Kleinfelter held the Heaters offense at bay into the seventh inning. The former Lancaster High School ace scattered three hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out nine while issuing just one walk. Former Middlesex standout Cole Stamm went the rest of the way, earning the save with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three.
The Deltas collected nine hits in the game, with Saunders and T. Crump leading all hitters offensively with two hits apiece.
