Ducks sweep doubleheader over FerryHawks behind 17-1 opener

The Long Island Ducks needed only one inning to turn the opener into a rout and then leaned on pitching and late execution to finish a 17-1, 3-2 doubleheader sweep of the Staten Island FerryHawks at SIUH Community Park.

Game one was over almost as soon as it began. Long Island scored five times in the first inning on Marcus Chiu’s two-run single, Aaron Takacs’ two-run double and Kole Kaler’s RBI single, forcing FerryHawks starter Eric Ezersky into a nightmarish start in front of the home crowd. The Ducks kept pouring it on in the second, with Chiu driving in another run, Alsander Womack drawing a bases-loaded walk and Kaler adding a two-run double. Chiu later doubled in another run in the third, Wilmer Difo launched a solo homer in the sixth and Long Island erupted for five more runs in the seventh. Staten Island’s only run in the opener came on Blake Rutherford’s solo homer in the sixth, while Harrison Francis kept the Ducks in full control with six innings of one-run ball and nine strikeouts. Ezersky took the loss after allowing seven runs in one inning.

Game two played nothing like the opener. Gavin Collins gave Long Island a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the third, but Gary Mattis answered with a solo shot for Staten Island to keep it close. The Ducks finally broke through again in the sixth, when Chiu singled in a run and Womack lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Ryan Cardona and Juan Fernandez handled the middle innings, Rafael Kelly worked a clean fifth to earn the win, and Ramon Santos finished the night with five strikeouts in a perfect frame to secure his league-leading ninth save.

The sweep came in a single-admission doubleheader during a six-game series in Staten Island, one that continued June 25 and wrapped June 28. Long Island, entering its 26th Atlantic League season and already the league’s all-time wins and attendance leader, kept adding to a season that had it at 36-25 by July 1, while Staten Island sat at 10-51. The FerryHawks later took the June 25 game 11-4 before the Ducks answered with a 17-3 win in the finale.