CARY, N.C. - Team Gray’s Ethan Petry launched a three-run home run in a six-run fourth inning to help the squad clinch a spot in the 2021 PDP League championship game with an 8-1 defeat of Team Navy on Friday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Team Gray will take on Team Light Blue for the PDP League title on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET on Coleman Field.

Team Navy scored the first run of the game in the first and Team Gray answered to tie it at 1-1 in the second before breaking the game wide open in the fourth, scoring six runs thanks to an RBI triple from Jackson Holliday (1-for-4), a Korbyn Dickerson (2-for-4) RBI single, an RBI double off the bat of Ross Highfill (1-for-3), and Petry’s homer to take a commanding 7-1 lead..

Petry (2-for-3) led the Team Gray offense in the contest with four RBIs, one run scored, and two hits, including his three-run dinger. Dickerson had the team’s other multi-hit game on Friday for Team Gray, scoring two runs of his own and tallying one RBI. Team Navy’s Sal Stewart (1-for-2) was responsible for the team’s lone RBI in the loss. Malcolm Moore (1-for-2), Paxton Kling (1-for-2), and Druw Jones (1-for-2) also recorded hits for Team Navy.

Team Red’s Gavin Kilen (2-for-3) led both teams in hits, tallying the contest’s only multi-hit performance while also scoring one of Team Red’s runs. Jason Torres (1-for-3) and Tucker Toman (1-for-2) also had hits in the loss, while Toman earned the team’s lone RBI.

Key Moments

• Team Navy broke onto the scoreboard first when Termarr Johnson drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Riley Stanford to make it 1-0.
• Team Gray answered immediately in the top of the second with a Dickerson single and a Petry RBI double that tied the game, 1-1.
• Chris Stanfield got Team Gray’s six-run fourth inning started with a leadoff walk before scoring on a Holliday RBI triple to break the tie and make it a 2-1 game.
• Dickerson then gave Team Gray a 3-1 lead with his second single of the game that plated Holliday.
• A walk to JeanPierre Ortiz put runners on first and second for Petry, who launched a three-run home run over the left field wall to give Team Gray a 6-1 advantage.
• One batter later, Highfill doubled and scored on an Eli Serrano single that made it 7-1 and capped the six-run inning for Team Gray.
• Team Gray added another run in the sixth to increase its lead to 8-1 when Emaarion Boyd drove in Ortiz with a two-out single to left.
• Team Navy tried to rally with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh but Brennan Phillips shut down the threat with two flyouts and a strikeout to secure the 8-1 victory.

Notable Information

• Team Gray improves to 2-2-1 with the victory and advances to play Team Light Blue in the 2021 PDP League championship game on Saturday.
• The loss drops Team Navy to 2-3 for the week and the squad will play for third place in the event against Team Red on Saturday.

On Deck

• Saturday, July 31: Team Navy vs. Team Red (1:00 p.m. ET; Cary, N.C.; National Training Complex)
• Saturday, July 31: Team Gray vs. Team Light Blue (5:00 p.m. ET; Cary, N.C.; National Training Complex)

Social

• Stay tuned to @BaseballPDP on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 2021 PDP League.