The Shadow
SALEM Va. – Despite both Stanley Tucker and Ty Hodge’s 2-for-3 days, the Salem RidgeYaks (1-1) dropped their first game of the 2026 season in an 11-10 loss to the Delmarva Shorebirds (1-1) on Friday evening at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
The scoring got started early on. Delmarva put up a six-spot in the top of the second off of Salem right-hander Madinson Frias, with the Shorebirds leading 6-0 less than two frames in.
It wasn’t long before the RidgeYaks struck back, though. D’Angelo Ortiz’s sacrifice fly quickly made it a 6-1 game in the home half of the second, before Tucker came up to the dish with two down and two on. In his first at-bat in nearly 20 months, the former Texas A&M Aggie drilled a no-doubt three-run bomb over the left field wall to pull the deficit down to two, and just two innings later, the ballgame evened up.
Heading into the home half of the fourth trailing 6-4, an Ortiz RBI groundout and a Tucker RBI infield single evened up the score, with the big blow coming later in the fifth.
In just his second start of his professional career, former Non-Drafted Free Agent signee Ty Hodge came through with an RBI single to give Salem a 7-6 lead, and just one hitter later, Anderson Fermin lifted his first homer of the year to put the Yaks up three.
After adding another run in the sixth to go up 10-6, Delmarva then struck back with a two-spot in the seventh.
A Maikol Hernandez RBI double and Junior Aybar RBI single all of a sudden made it a 10-8 game, and after holding the Shorebirds in-check in the eighth, the RidgeYaks were just like that three outs away.
With Delmarva down to its final out and Felix Amparo at the plate, the Shorebird left fielder laced an RBI single into left, making the score a one-run game. That’s when the swing of the game came.
Aybar then would come through with a two-run double that one-hopped the wall to give Delmarva an 11-10 lead, and though Salem would load the bases in the home half of the frame, right-hander Todd Kniebbe was able to slam the door and earn his first professional save.
The RidgeYaks will try to take the series when they return to action against the Shorebirds on Saturday evening for game three of this three-game set at Salem Memorial Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m ET with right-hander Christian Foutch set to get the ball.
GAME NOTES:
- Salem’s 10 runs marked the first time since April 18th, 2023 (Lost 15-12 to Lynchburg) that Salem scored double digits and lost
- Ty Hodge’s fourth-inning single was the first hit of his professional career
- Stanley Tucker played in his first minor league game in 598 days. (August 13, 2024, Salem at Fredericksburg)
- Tucker’s three-run home run was the fifth homer of his professional career and first since July 25, 2024
- Tucker’s four RBI also marked a new career high
- Madinson Frias’s 1.2 inning pitched marked the second shortest start of his pro career (went one inning on July 18 vs FCL-Twins)
- Anderson Fermin hit his first career home run in the fifth inning
