Bonifacio's two homers power Ducks past Blue Crabs 8-2

Jorge Bonifacio set the tone for Long Island’s home opener against Southern Maryland with a 425-foot shot to straightaway center in the third inning, then turned a one-sided night into a rout with a grand slam in the fourth as the Ducks won 8-2 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark on Tuesday. The opener of a three-game series followed Long Island’s 17-3 win over Staten Island on Sunday.

Bonifacio finished with five RBIs, his first five-RBI game of the 2026 season, and his second homer changed the game’s pace immediately. Long Island sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth inning before Bonifacio unloaded to left-center, pushing the lead to 6-0 and giving the Ducks their second grand slam in as many games. With Southern Maryland having taken two earlier June meetings, 9-7 on June 10 and 7-3 on June 14, the early burst flipped the tone of the series before the Blue Crabs could settle in.

Southern Maryland did not go quietly. Ryan McCarthy hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Ethan Wilson drove in the Blue Crabs’ second run in the sixth. Long Island answered in the seventh when Jacob Robson lifted a sacrifice fly, then added one more in the eighth on Ronaldo Hernandez’s 409-foot solo homer to left-center. Hernandez finished with three hits and two runs scored, while Kole Kaler and Marcus Chiu each added two hits and a run.

Julian Minaya earned the win, allowing two runs, one earned, over 5.1 innings, while Justin Sanchez took the loss after giving up six runs in 4.1 innings. Long Island was 36-25 and Southern Maryland was 39-21 after the game, with Thursday, July 2, set as the end of the league’s first half. Long Island’s next scheduled home game in the series was Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.