Steamers Take Down River Bandits in Extra Inning Thriller
Tarboro, NC – The Cardiac Clams did it again, this time on the road against a division rival. The Edenton Steamers defeated the Tarboro River Bandits, 8-6, in 11 innings on Wednesday at Tarboro Municipal Stadium. The Clams’ won the back-and-forth battle with clutch hitting in extras and a dominant performance out of the bullpen.
The bullpen performance and late-inning heroics were spearheaded by 2023 PCL All-Star Ben Bausas. With the game tied up at 6-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning Bausas came in trying to give his team a chance.
In the eighth inning, the Clams’ bats left two runners on base after a lead-off single. In the ninth inning, River Bandits reliever Ryan Neilson retired the Steamers 1-2-3 at the plate.
On the other side, Bausas was in the zone. The right-handed swingman dodged a two-out hit in the eighth inning and worked around a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run on base.
In extra innings, just like in Major League Baseball, each team had a runner on second to begin the inning. This is used to shorten extra-inning games from going too long.
Both teams squandered the extra runner opportunity in the 10th inning but in the 11th the Clams capitalized. Tyler Overaitis lined a one-out RBI double to left field to bring in the ghost runner Geomar Santana to put the Steamers on top 7-6.
Two batters later, Bausas came up to the dish after entering the lineup in the open spot for the pitcher left by reliever Khris Morris. With Overaitis at third, Bausas reached on an infield RBI single to bring in the Steamers’ eighth run of the game, 8-6 Steamers.
In the bottom half of the 11th inning, Bausas retired the side to close out the win. The Chowan product tossed 4 scoreless out of the pen, allowed just three hits and one walk, and struck out four.
After the game, Bausas described the Clams’ mentality when the team is trailing in close games.
“As a team, I think we have meshed really well together,” Bausas said. “We trust each other to get up there and do the job no matter how much we are down by. I think we are always in the game.”
The Steamers trailed tonight’s matchup with Tarboro 5-2 through two innings before a long home run from a Clams outfielder who has flipped a switch away from home.
Clams outfielder Davis Halstead delivered another big road performance in the win over the River Bandist. Halstead finished 1/3 with a 3-run home run to tie the game at 5 in the third inning. Halstead has now gotten a hit in eight straight road games dating back to June 15th against Taboro.
Over that span, the right-handed hitter is batting .302 with 19 hits and seven doubles, and 19 RBIs.
Before Bausas closed the game out, William Stewart started his second game of the season. Stewart tossed a clean first inning before allowing five runs on three walks and three hits in the second.
Stewart lasted just two innings before John Horton and Chandler Padgett came in to hold the 5-2 Tarboro lead in the middle innings. Horton and Padgett who followed each tossed 2 scoreless innings, one hit, one walk, and one strikeout a piece.
Khris Morris was swapped out from the designated hitter spot in the lineup to pitch the seventh inning. Morris allowed a run on an RBI single by River Bandits Max Bernal to tie up the game at 6.
With the win, the Clams have won eight games against the River Bandits during the regular season. Aside from a potential postseason rematch the Steamers finished 8-3 against Tarboro which is the most wins against the River Bandits since the teams joined the Premier Collegiate League in 2020.
The Clams will look to continue to conquer the road Wednesday night when the Steamers travel to Manteo to battle the Outer Banks Scallywags. The matchup starts two straight games between Outer Banks and Edenton.
After an off day on Thursday, the Steamers’ next home game will be on Friday when the Scallywags return the favor and travel to Historic Hicks Field. First pitch for both games is at 7:00
If you cannot make it to the game you can tune into the Steamers YouTube page, your home for every Steamers home game, and a select few road games.