The bats of the Deltaville Deltas lit up the night sky as if they themselves were Independence Day fireworks last weekend, as the Deltas scored a combined 41 runs across their two games.
Deltaville soundly defeated the Richmond Misfits by the score of 24-1 on Friday night, and used a 10-run inning to leap past the Chesapeake Sharks, 15-7, on Saturday. With the wins, the Deltas remain a perfect 8-0 on the season, and 7-0 in league play, leading the Richmond NABA standings.
The Deltas face a pair of tough matchups this week. On Thursday, Deltaville hits the road to face the defending league champions, the Richmond Brewers (5-2), in a 7 p.m. game at Highland Springs High School in Richmond. On Saturday, the Richmond Trash Pandas (4-2) come to town for a 7:30 p.m. game at Deltaville Ballpark.
Deltas 24, Misfits 1
It didn’t take long for the Deltas to get on the board against the overmatched Misfits on Friday night. In fact, it took just two pitches.
Leadoff hitter Brandt Brophy launched the second pitch he saw over the left field wall, and the Deltas were well on their way to a runaway game.
Jacob Houston and Benny Walker also hit home runs in the game, which saw five Deltas hitters achieve multi-hit games.
Justin Hale was the winning pitcher, allowing just an unearned run on a defensive error in the third inning. The veteran lefty struck out three while allowing just one hit. Zach Megaro pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish the game.
Deltas 15, Sharks 7
In a highly anticipated matchup, the Chesapeake Sharks, one of the top teams in the Hampton Roads NABA, visited Deltaville for their third consecutive July game.
The Sharks showed up as advertised in the first inning, stringing together a pair of hits to score the game’s opening run. When the bottom of the first came, a challenging pitcher took the mound for the visitors, but the Deltas were unintimidated.
Three of the first five Deltas managed hits to lead off the bottom of the first, with Scott Crump capping the initial rally with a two-run single to take the early lead. Jackson Herbert followed two batters later with a two-run double, and as the inning continued, Deltaville just kept finding ways to reach base. A second two-run single from Crump capped the opening inning, as Deltaville sent 14 batters to the plate and finished the first with a 10-1 lead.
Deltaville scored another run in the second, while the Sharks battled to score a pair of runs in the 3rd to make the score 12-3. In the eighth, with the Deltas leading 15-3, Chesapeake battled for four runs, cutting the deficit to 15-7. However, that would be all the damage the Sharks could muster.
Jay Moore was the winning pitcher for Deltaville, pitching six innings and striking out four. Ryan Cowell, Eli Pittman and Dawson Adams each pitched an inning of relief.
Darryl Husband led the offensive attack with a perfect 5-for-5 night at the plate. Travis Crump and Herbert each had three hits, with Walker and S. Crump contributing multi-hit games as well.