Izzy Wilson hit a two out, two-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday night giving the Portland Sea Dogs their eighth straight win with a 10-8 comeback victory over the Somerset Patriots in Eastern League Double A baseball action at Hadlock Field in Portland.
After a 2.5 hour rain delay, Somerset (NY Yankees) threatened to end the win streak in the opener of a six game series taking a 6-1 lead in the fourth inning. It was the Elijah Dunham show early on for the Patriots, as he hit a two-run homerun in the first and then a two-run double and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth. Portland though would rally back. Wilson hit his first two-run homer of the night to right field in the last of the fourth to cut it to 6-3 and then in the fifth after Elih Marrero hit a two-run homerun to slice it to 6-5, Wilson would drive in Tyreque Reed with a single to even the score. Marrero scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to give the Sea Dogs their first lead, and Wil Dalton made it 8-6 with a solo homer over the Maine Monster in left in the eighth. Somerset wasn’t done just yet, as Blake Perkins nailed a two-run double to center in the ninth off Oddanier Mosqueda to even it up 8-8. With two outs and noone on base in the last of the ninth, Christian Koss drew a walk and then on a 1-0 pitch Wilson finished off his big night and sent the home fans home happy with a towering two-run walkoff homer to right to end it.
Victor Santos started on the hill for Portland and struggled giving up six runs on 10 hits in 3.0 innings. Mosqueda (4-1) gave up the two runs in the ninth but was credited with the win thanks to the Wilson heroics. Garrett Whitlock pitched 2.0 innings and Josh Taylor 1.0 inning allowing no runs on one hit each in rehab work. Wilson had four hits and five RBI. Anthony Volpe had three hits, and Dunham two hits and four RBI for Somerset. Barrett Loseke (6-2) took the loss in relief. The Patriots, who already have claimed a spot in the Eastern League Northern Division Playoffs by winning the first half of the season, dropped to 6-7 in the second half. The Sea Dogs, who hope to be joining Somerset in those playoffs by the end of the second half, improve to 11-2 (30-39 in first half).
The Portland Sea Dogs also announced the passing of founding General Manager and President Charlie Eshbach on Tuesday morning at the age of 70 after a lengthy illness. Eshbach was the Sea Dogs’ first employee, hired by team Founder Dan Burke to lead his franchise and the return of professional baseball to the city of Portland for the first time since 1949. Eshbach was the primary visionary of the Sea Dogs brand and the builder of the franchise. He served as the teams President & General Manager through the 2010 season and remained as the team’s President through the end of the 2018 season when he stepped down from the team leadership position after 25 years. He remained with the club as a Senior Advisor. In 1995, he co-founded the Strike Out Cancer in Kids Program that has raised over 5 million dollars for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. For his efforts, Eshbach was honored as the Eastern League Executive of the Year in 1994 and 2002. In 2013, he was named the “King of Baseball”. The “King of Baseball” is a long-standing tradition in which Minor League Baseball salutes a veteran from the professional baseball world for long-time dedication and service. It is the highest individual honor in Minor League Baseball. In 2018, Eshbach was inducted into the Portland Sea Dogs Hall of Fame.
