Binghamton Rumble Ponies win Northeast Division, head to Eastern League Championship
Rumble #Rumble
SOMERSET, N.J. (WBNG) – Dom Hamel pitched a shutout, and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies scored early to win Game 2 of the Northeast Division playoff series against the Somerset Patriots 2-0.
Hamel went toe-to-toe with Somerset’s Richard Fitts and had one of the best starts of his professional career. He struck out eight batters over a career-high 7.2 scoreless innings. Hamel allowed just three hits and issued two walks. The 24-year-old faced the minimum in five separate innings.
The Ponies got on the board in the third inning. Hayden Senger ripped a single the opposite way and Rhylan Thomas followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Luisangel Acuña followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Senge to make it 1-0.
In the fifth inning, Senger smoked a line drive solo home run to left field to give Binghamton a 2-0 lead. He had an RBI single in the series opener Tuesday and an RBI and two runs on Thursday night. Senger hit five homers in the regular season and two at TD Bank Ballpark.
Somerset threatened in the eighth inning with a runner on third and two outs. Paul Gervase came in to relieve Hamel and got Trey Sweeney to ground out to Jett Williams on the eighth pitch of the at bat to close out the inning.
Gervase closed out the game and earned the save, setting down Somerset in order with two strikeouts in the ninth.
Copyright 2023 WBNG. All rights reserved.