Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.

Cayden Brumbaugh at bat for the Otterbots Thursday against the Sock Puppets. 

Cayden Brumbaugh at bat for the Otterbots Thursday against the Sock Puppets. 

The weather might have been hot and steamy, the games between rivals Danville Otterbots and Burlington Sock Puppets might have been hot and close, but all of it was for the season series deciding game Thursday night at American Legion Post 325 Field.

The season series was tied up five to five and thanks to some sudden death heroics, the Otterbots not only sweep the series but also clinch the overall season series.

The game was back and forth for the majority of the contest with Burlington scoring first in the first with a Ryan McCrystal RBI double, scoring Trey Law.

Danville got their first run in the third when Haden Madagan homered to left to pull even.

Burlington would score again a half inning later when Brogan Napier doubled to score DeAngelo Giles.

Next half inning would involve Danville tying the score again when AJ Zaccareo reached on a fielder’s choice, having Henry Garcia score.

Next couple innings were scoreless until the seventh when Tianzhou Zhu singled to center for another run. Danville would respond a half inning later with Zaccareo doubled scoring Cayden Brumbaugh. Patrick Keighran looked to score as well to take the lead but was tagged out at home.

The Sock Puppets looked to put the game away in the top of the eighth. Giles got an RBI on a sacrifice fly and Napier scored two on a double to right, scoring Cooper Whitt and Carlos Pena. Score was 6-3 Burlington with only an inning and a half left.

Aided by a Burlington pitching implosion a half inning later, Danville would not go away quietly as all three of their runs came off of non hits. First, Madagan was walked home along with Jake Kelleher. Corbin Lanowitz would tie it 6-6, scoring on a wild pitch.

After escaping the top of the ninth with no damage, Danville looked to win it in the bottom half. Zaccareo was plunked to put him on first. Jevin Relaford would pinch run. Dante Leach looked to advance Relaford to second with a sacrifice bunt but would pop it up and foulout. Madagan would strike out swinging to bring up two outs. Relaford stole second for his 25th stolen base on the season. Kelleher and Brecken Fair would both walk to load the bases for Lanowitz to be the hero. He would hit it to center, but it would hang up for too long and was caught to send the game into sudden death.

Danville chose to be on offense, but faced a tough challenge as Appalachian League strikeouts leader Peter Gallo would stay in the game. It would prove to not matter as Relaford was able to bring Lanowitz around for the game and series clinching victory.

Mason Ruh started for the Sock Puppets and went five innings on four hits, two runs (one earned), two walks and four strikeouts. He also gave up the lone home run of the game. Ryan Foltz went two innings on three hits, one run, two walks and two strikeouts. Zimo Quin earned a hold despite the bad outing with two thirds an inning pitched on one hit, three runs and four walks with one strikeout. Gallo pitched one and a third inning and gave up two hits and two strikeouts, but since he gave up the tying run on the wild pitch, he was charged with a blown save.

Colbey Klepper started for the ‘Bots and went five and a third innings with four hits, two runs and two walks allowed. He also struck out five. Mario Fernandez went one and a third on one hit and one run with one strikeout. Dylan Wanat only went two thirds of an inning before being pulled with three runs and one walk allowed. Tanner Smith also pitched two thirds of an inning, but would fare better with only a hit allowed. Jeffrey Polledo pitched an inning with two hits and two walks allowed.

Zach McKnight joined the Star-Tribune from Wadsworth, Ohio, as a staff writer. Zach earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University. Zach was also awarded 3rd place in Public Safety writing by the Virginia Press Association for 2021.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Danville Police looking for suspect in fatal shooting; Pittsylvania County’s Fire and Rescue Commission ratifies new service agreement; Danville leaders ready to blow dust off of old facility; Business born right here in Danville is expanding.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen!

Receive our newspaper electronically with the e-Edition email.

Would you like to receive our daily news?  Signup today!