OLD ORCHARD BEACH — When a team gets thrown out of their routine, it usually affects their gameplay. The Aguada Explorers were expecting a normal routine when they were shipping up to play the Old Orchard Beach Surge. Their travel was the opposite of normal.
The weather delayed flights and destroyed any chance the Explorers had to fly as a team. Aguada’s options were less than ideal having to drive six hours on game day. This made for a 30-minute delay thanks to a commute for some of the roster.
The Surge capitalized on the Explorers’ stressful day of travel and grabbed the 8-1 win at The Ballpark in OOB on Wednesday evening.

The Explorers did open up the game with a run off a Samuel Carter sacrifice fly that brought in Marc Culmer, but after that it was all Surge.
In the bottom of the first, John Tierney was able to lead off with a single. Then, a Daniel Dominguez hit would advance Tierney allowing him to score off a Ryan Chesney single, tying the game at 1-1.
It was not until the third inning when the tie broke off a Nick McHugh home run over the left field fence, making the score 2-1. The blast from McHugh ignited the Surge offense. It also got McHugh excited.
“That was my first pro home run. It was fun. It felt good,” said McHugh.
After McHugh got the Surge going, the home team would go on to score four runs in the fourth inning. After DeJohn Suber was walked, Tierney drove Suber in making the score 3-1. McHugh got on base again on the very next at bat. Then, Dominguez drove in Tierney to make it 4-1. Collin Carroll brought in McHugh to push the lead to 5-1 in favor of the Surge. To finish the inning, Quinn Tiernan brought Carroll home giving the Surge a 6-1 lead.
“We are a good hitting ball club. Everyone felt a little more relaxed coming home,” said McHugh, who finished 2-for-4 on the day.
The Surge put together a complete game both offensively and defensively to secure the victory. With the five run cushion, Ricky Schafer was able to keep the Explorer batters at bay.
“Just had to keep going after guys and let the defense do their job like they have been all season,” said Schafer.
Schafer had six strikeouts through seven innings pitched until Dylan Hatch came in.
In the eighth inning, Ryan Chesney was able bat in two more runs for the Surge pushing the lead to 8-1. From there, the OOB club cruised to a home victory.
These Surge players were thankful to pick up the win and more importantly do it at home after a rough road trip.
“It felt good to be home. We went out to Puerto Rico and didn’t have the greatest experience playing-wise. The crowd and the energy got everything going for us,” said McHugh.
Schafer was really proud of the run support he got from his teammates.
“Offense showed up today early. We were hitting the ball well and took a lead,” said Schafer.
With Wednesday’s win, the Surge improved to 10-13 on the season and will continue this series against the Aguada Explorers today at 2 p.m at The Ballpark.