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By Noah Adcock-Howeth

Long balls reigned supreme in tonight’s 14-6 victory for the Blowfish, their 4th in a row and second over the Macon Bacon.

Lexington County Baseball Stadium has long been known as a hitter’s haven, especially to right field, and that fact played true tonight. First baseman Phillip Ard launched a two run blast to right center in the 5th, and another two RBI shot to the same vicinity in the 8th. All told, Ard had his best night of the season, going 5-5 with 6 RBI and 12 total bases.

Not to be outdone, Blowfish leadoff man Dariyan Pendergrass added to the action with two homers of his own, his first two of the summer. Pendergrass had just 1 in 44 games at Spartanburg  Methodist, but found the short corner in back to back at bats in innings 6 and 7. Each one was a solo shot that hugged the right field foul pole, clearing the wall and entering the tree line that flanks the right half of the ballpark. Pendergrass ended 2-4 with 2 walks and 4 runs scored.

Pitching wise, Kyle Percival battled through 4 difficult innings to keep the game close and give the offense a chance to work its magic. Percival scattered 5 hits and walked 2 batters, but struck out 6 and allowed just 2 runs in 4 frames. Beau Ross earned the win in relief, allowing 2 earned runs in 3 innings for his second win of the summer. Two-way sensation Landry Mead finished the ballgame with a pair of hitless innings, striking out 4 to finalize the victory.

Although the long ball was the story, the Blowfish earned contributions up and down the order from the red-hot offense. Cooper Blauser was 2-4 with 4 RBI, Ty Jackson reached base 5 times, and Ryan Ouzts had two more RBI to bring his total to a team-leading 26. The Blowfish have now scored double digit runs in 3 of the last 4 games, and have outscored opponents 47 to 14 over the same time period.

The Blowfish are now 12-6 in the second half, and 24-16 overall. Lexington County maintains a 1.5 game lead over the Asheboro Zookeepers for the final playoff spot with just over a week to go.

The Blowfish have a split squad tomorrow, with half of the team in Florence to take on the Flamingos for the first of four straight matchups between the two sides. The rest of the team, along with a host of newcomers, will face the Catawba Valley Stars at home tomorrow night.