Long Island Ducks win 40, earn first-half title

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It was a memorable first half of the Atlantic League baseball season for the Long Island Ducks, who after a sluggish 1-6 start clinched the Liberty Division title for a guaranteed playoff spot and set a single-game attendance record on consecutive nights.

The Ducks, who sealed first place with a 6-1 victory over the Sugar Land Skeeters on July 2, attracted a record overflow crowd of 7,602 the following night at Bethpage Ballpark when they topped the Skeeters, 5-2, to close the first half in style with win No. 40.

“From Day One Long Island has embraced this team and has loved coming out to this ballpark,” Ducks President/GM Michael Pfaff said.

In 2015, the Ducks compiled the best half-season record in franchise history, going 46-23, but finished second behind the Somerset Patriots, who broke the league mark for most victories in a half (50) and went on to eliminate Long Island in the postseason on the way to the crown. Now, the Ducks are hoping to turn the table after finishing two games ahead of Somerset.

“The first half title is without a doubt a nice thing to have in the bank,” Ducks manager Kevin Baez said. “We’ve had a lot of contributors. That’s what it takes.”

Last year at the midway mark, Long Island boasted the league’s top four hitters including holdovers Lew Ford, Dan Lyons and Delta Cleary Jr.. In the first half of 2016, the arms led the way with a league-best 3.46 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 604 strikeouts.

“Our pitching has been really solid,” Baez said. “We had a bunch of injuries to overcome offensively, but guys picked up the slack.”

John Brownell, Mark Blackmar, Jack Snodgrass and Darin Downs combined for 52 first-half starts and 22 wins. Reliever Amalio Diaz also picked up where he left off last season with four wins, a 2.60 ERA and a strikeout/walk ratio of 36 to 4. Todd Coffey, who has 461 Major League appearances under his belt, saved 11 games with a 2.86 ERA.

Brownell, in his fifth year with the Ducks, is one of the premier pitchers in the Atlantic League. He started 12 games in the first half, completing two, and went 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA with 75 strikeouts. He has 30 wins since the beginning of 2014.

Blackmar, with a 2.72 ERA, ranked second in the league, just ahead of Brownell and behind leader Mike Antonini of Bridgeport. The 24-year-old Blackmar, who signed with the Washington Nationals organization July 3, won six of eight decisions for the Ducks with 51 strikeouts.

Another newcomer to the rotation, Snodgrass, who reached the AAA level in the San Francisco Giants’ organization last summer, was among the league leaders in ERA before a tough outing on the final day of June. The southpaw still posted five wins and a 3.98 ERA with 80 strikeouts.

Downs, in his second year with the club, went 6-4 and set the pace in strikeouts with 90 and innings pitched with 84.

Despite injuries to Ford, Lyons, Cleary Jr., Tyler Colvin and Sean Burroughs, the bats are providing strong run support. The Ducks compiled a team batting average of .279 through 70 games and amassed 341 runs, tied for second in the league only two runs behind the York Revolution, winners of the Freedom Division’s first-half title.

Fehlandt Lentini is thriving in his third year on Long Island. In addition to top-notch defensive skills, he engineered a .320 batting average in the first half to go along with a league-best 51 runs scored, four homers, 36 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. He swiped 42 bags in 2014, his only full season in the league.
Ford, who sat out 29 games, batted .323 with 24 RBIs in the first half. Lyons, who missed 20 games, hit .319. Cody Puckett drove in a team-high 39 and scored 40, Dan Johnson knocked in 34 in 53 games, and Anthony Vega had 30 RBIs.

There’s plenty of great regular-season action, and giveaways, remaining before the playoffs begin Sept. 21. Second-half promotions for the first 1,500 fans include baseball caps (Aug. 9 and 14), Grucci Fireworks (July 30 and Aug. 27) and “Bark in the Park” night (Sept. 7) for dogs and their human friends.