It took the Bowie Baysox until the eighth inning to grab their first lead on Friday night, but two runs in the penultimate frame saw them back another impressive performance from the pitching staff, as they took down the Altoona Curve 3-1 at Prince George’s Stadium.
Pitching paved the way for the late tie, as Baysox right-handed starter Brandon Young was dominant in his first outing with Bowie since April of 2022 due to injury. Young fired five shutout frames, yielding five hits and striking out three. The defense aided young on a few occasions, with shortstop Jackson Holliday starting a couple of dazzling double plays on the infield and John Rhodes gunning out a runner trying to score from third in left field to end the top of the fourth. Young was matched by Curve left-handed starter Jackson Wolf, who also fired five shutout frames, holding the Baysox to just two hits.
Altoona took the lead in the sixth, as right-hander Ignacio Feliz walked Chavez Young, allowing him to eventually score on a sacrifice fly hit by Tsung-Che Cheng. Bowie matched Altoona’s run in the bottom of the sixth against right-hander Grant Ford. Dylan Beavers walked to lead off the frame, advancing to third on a Jud Fabian single before Rhodes singled him home with two outs to tie the game.
The score would hold from there until the bottom of the eighth, with Feliz navigating a scoreless seventh, before left-hander Ryan Hennen opened his Double-A debut with a scoreless top of the eighth. In the bottom half of the frame, Max Wagner led off with a single against left-hander Nick Dombkowski (L, 4-4). The southpaw would be lifted, after generating a pop out from Fabian, in favor of right-hander Oliver Garcia. A walk to Rhodes set the stage for Silas Ardoin, who ripped a single into left field, plating Wagner and giving Bowie its first lead of the night at 2-1. Rhodes would eventually score on a sacrifice fly from Maxwell Costes to stretch the lead, before Hennen (W, 1-0) worked around a single in the ninth to close the contest out.
The win improves Bowie’s overall record to 54-58 on the season. The Baysox keep pace in the crowded second half standings in the Southwest division – still just one game out of a playoff spot. Bowie and Altoona have split the first four of the six-game series, with Saturday’s contest set for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch from Prince George’s Stadium.
