THREE HURLERS TWIRL FOUR-HITTER AS SURF DEFEAT PRIDE, 2-0
June 26 Recap

Atlantic City, N.J. – Brian Rodaway (above), Kyle George and Derek Duclos combined on a four-hit shutout as the Atlantic City Surf defeated the Nashua Pride, 2-0, in a Can-Am League game on Thursday evening at Bernie Robbins Stadium. The victory enabled the Surf to register three wins in the four-game series.

Starter Rodaway (4-2) threw six innings, allowing three hits and striking out six to earn the victory. George pitched the seventh and eighth, while Duclos threw a scoreless ninth for his fourth save of the season. Nashua did not get a runner past first base until the ninth inning, when SS Sandy Almonte, who led off the inning with a walk, moved to third on an error.

The Surf tallied their first run in the second inning; after C William Plaza reached base on a throwing error by Almonte, he moved to third on 1B Eddie Kim’s single, and came home when 3B Gil Zayas grounded into a double play.

Atlantic City’s other run came in the fifth, when 2B Brad Thoma hit a one-out double, and was brought home on RF Billy Kovatch’s RBI single.

Thoma and Kovatch were the only two players on either team with multiple hits. Thoma went 2-for-3, while Kovatch finished the evening 2-for-2.

For Nashua (15-17), Nick Suero (4-2) was the hard-luck loser, allowing one earned run on six hits in seven innings of work. Rodaway, who entered the game second in the league in earned-run average behind Brockton’s John Kelly, lowered his ERA to 1.36 with the six-inning performance.

The teams zipped through the game in two hours and twelve minutes, continuing a trend of quick contests in the series. The series’ previous three games took 2:29, 2:32 and 2:12.

Atlantic City (17-16), which remains 3.5 games back of first place in the crowded Can-Am League standings, travels to Sussex on Friday evening for a three-game series. J.C. Huguet (4-0) takes the mound for the Surf in the opener.