Lowell Spinners Lose to the Worcester Bravehearts 13-4 on Johnny Damon Night

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Saturday night at Edward A. LeLacheur Park, an energetic crowd of 3,128 fans gathered for “Johnny Damon Bobblehead Night” as the Lowell Spinners hosted the Worcester Bravehearts. Making his highly anticipated summer debut on the mound for the Spinners was right-hander Luis Ortiz (Salve Regina). He was opposed by Worcester’s David Kahn, who was making his second appearance of the season.

Ortiz ran into trouble immediately in the top of the first inning. After issuing a leadoff walk to Gill Dolan (Post), he surrendered a sharp gap-shot double to left-central field by Dante Ruby (Keystone), giving Worcester an early 1-0 lead. The Bravehearts tacked on another run shortly after when Tate Bannish (Tufts) laced an RBI single to left-center to drive in Ruby, jumping out to a quick 2-0 advantage before Lowell even had a chance to bat.

The Spinners wasted no time returning the favor in the bottom half of the frame. Lowell’s bats came alive with three consecutive doubles from Cal Chance (UMass Lowell), Esteban Dessureault (Stetson), and Lorenzo Camilleri (NJIT), quickly plating two runs to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of the first inning.

Worcester reclaimed the lead in the top of the second. With two outs, the Bravehearts’ number-eight hitter, Justin Orridge, singled and promptly stole second base. He crossed home plate on a base hit to left by Andrew Schmit to make it 3-2. After a bunt single by Dolan put runners on the corners, Schmit caught the defense sleeping to steal third, then advanced home on an errant throw by Spinners catcher Brett Gallo. By the middle of the second, the Bravehearts held a 4-2 lead.

Lowell pulled back within one in the bottom of the second when Dessureault launched a solo bomb deep over the right-field wall off Kahn. The home run was the Spinners’ fourth as a team this summer and cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Spinners turned to their bullpen in the fifth inning, ending the night for Ortiz. He finished his debut with a line of 4.0 innings pitched, 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. Hayden Schimoler (Maine) took over in relief but endured a rocky outing. Schimoler walked the bases loaded before allowing a run on a routine groundout, followed by another run scoring on a wild pitch. Andrew Schmit then poked a clutch single through the 3-4 hole to drive in a third run in the frame. Schimoler’s night was cut short after just two-thirds of an inning, having allowed three runs on one hit and four walks. Chris Klueber (UMass Lowell) came on to record the final out of the frame, but Worcester had successfully blown the game open at 7-3.

Lowell clawed a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Quincy Kerr (Northeastern) hammered a solo home run off the left-field scoreboard, trimming the score to 7-4. However, the Bravehearts answered right back in the sixth. A high, pop-up infield single to the right side of the mound by Ruby put Klueber in a jam. By the time the inning concluded, three more runs crossed the plate to extend Worcester’s lead to 10-4.

Kahn’s evening on the mound for Worcester wrapped up after five solid innings. He allowed 6 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking none. He was replaced by fellow Crimson pitcher Luke Waldeck, who threw a scoreless sixth inning. On the other side, Lowell handed the ball to Josh Bryant (Saint Anselm) for the seventh. While his first frame went smoothly, things unraveled in his second inning of work as he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, pushing the Bravehearts’ commanding lead to 12-4 heading into the eighth.

Cole Taylor (Elon) came on in relief for Worcester to lock down the final stretch. Though Lowell managed to push a couple of runs across in the bottom of the ninth, it wasn’t enough to spark a full comeback.

The final score stood at 13-6 in favor of Worcester. With the victory, the Bravehearts improve to 6-4 on the summer, while the Spinners fall to 2-6. The Spinners will look to bounce back on Sunday as they return to LeLacheur Park to host the Vermont Lake Monsters, with the first pitch scheduled for 5:00 PM.