Charleston edges Southern Maryland 4-3 behind quick third-inning rally

Charleston answered Southern Maryland’s early power with a fast three-run burst in the third and hung on for a 4-3 win on July 14, 2026, in a game that became a test of relief pitching and late-inning poise.

Southern Maryland struck first in the bottom of the second when Phillip Sikes singled, stole second and scored on Ethan Wilson’s two-run homer to left field. The drive was Wilson’s sixth of the season and put the Blue Crabs ahead 2-0, setting up a game that quickly turned on the next half-inning.

Charleston needed only one pitch to start the reversal. Javier Crespo opened the top of the third with a home run off Ian Kahaloa, cutting the lead in half and jolting the Dirty Birds’ offense into gear. Narciso Crook followed with an RBI single, and Carlos De La Cruz added an RBI triple as Charleston scored three times in the inning to take a 3-2 lead before Southern Maryland could settle back in.

The visitors added another run in the fourth when Crespo scored on a Kahaloa wild pitch, pushing the margin to 4-2 and giving Charleston just enough breathing room for the bullpen to work with. That cushion mattered when Southern Maryland answered in the fifth. Stephen Paolini singled, moved up on an error and came home on Danny Bautista Jr.’s RBI single, trimming the deficit to 4-3 and keeping the Blue Crabs alive.

From there, Charleston’s pitching held the line. David Lebron worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth to protect the lead, then Armando Vasquez, Henry Omana and Carlos Meza finished the job. Meza threw a scoreless ninth to earn the save, closing out a one-run game in which every misstep carried weight.

Kahaloa took the loss after six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on nine hits and one walk while striking out four. He was not overwhelmed, but Charleston found the right swings at the right moments and made him pay for the damage that did break through. Southern Maryland finished just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and was shut out over the final four innings, a costly miss for a club that entered at 46-27 against Charleston’s 26-47 mark.