Somerset Patriots Series Recap @ Binghamton Rumble Ponies: 4/7 - 4/12

Apr 13

4 min read

Credit: 📸 Somerset Patriots

Sunday’s win did not erase the week Somerset had gone through, but it did change the ride

home.

After a six-game set that had a little of everything, from ugly losses to an offensive eruption to a crushing extra-inning letdown, the Patriots salvaged the finale in Binghamton with a 7-5 win and finally gave themselves something positive to take out of Mirabito Stadium.

The Rumble Ponies still claimed four of the six games, but Somerset’s finish felt less like a team dragging itself to the end of a rough road trip and more like one beginning to steady itself before heading home.

That was this series in a nutshell. The Pats were nowhere near consistent enough during their trip to Binghampton. But they were never completely flat. There were pockets where the lineup looked capable of doing real damage, innings where the pitching staff piled up swings and misses, and flashes from some of the organization’s most intriguing talent that served as a reminder of why there is still plenty of buzz around this club.

Twin Bill to Open the Series

Somerset fell behind in the series right out of the gate Wednesday, dropping both ends of a

doubleheader to put itself in an early hole. The opener unraveled quickly in an 11-3 loss. The

nightcap was tougher to swallow, as the Patriots were in position to steal it before Jose Ramos ended it with a walk-off solo homer in the seventh.

There were still a few developments worth tracking. Garrett Martin went deep in Game 1, and

Chase Chaney impressed in his Yankees organizational debut in Game 2, allowing one run on

two hits over 5.2 innings while striking out five and walking none. On a day when Somerset had little to show for itself in the standings, Chaney at least gave the club a legitimate encouraging sign.

Somerset Bounces Back

After getting swept in Wednesday’s doubleheader, the Patriots responded with their most

complete game of the series, routing Binghamton 12-2 behind 17 hits, 12 runs and a dominant effort on the mound. Cade Smith, making his Double-A debut on his birthday, worked aggressively in the strike zone and retired 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced.

Eric Reyzelman delivered one of the game’s biggest outs, escaping a bases-loaded jam before striking out the side in the next inning, and Will Brian piled on with five strikeouts of his own. At their best in this series, Somerset’s pitchers did more than pitch around trouble.

They missed bats and controlled the game. The lineup matched them. George Lombard Jr. went 3-for-6 with a double, a home run and three runs scored. Owen Cobb supplied the biggest blow, launching his first Double-A homer as part of a grand slam and a five-RBI afternoon. Nick Torres collected four hits, DJ Gladney added

three, and Kenedy Corona chipped in two more as Somerset, at least for one night, looked like the deeper and more dynamic club.

A Blowout and A Heartbreaker

Friday brought a 13-1 loss that served as a reminder of how little margin this team had in the

series. Left-hander Xavier Rivas was tagged for five runs in the first inning in his first Double-A start, and the Patriots spent the rest of the night chasing a game that was effectively over before it had settled in.

Saturday delivered the toughest loss of the week.

Somerset fell 7-6 in 10 innings, and for a while it looked as if the Patriots might steal one

through sheer stubbornness. Nick Torres led off the second with his first homer in the Yankees system. Lombard kept doing Lombard things, reaching four times, driving in two, stealing a base and later ripping a 109.7 mph double in the ninth before scoring the tying run.

Morales followed with a game-tying two-run single later in that inning. For a club that had spent much of the week fighting uphill, that comeback should have been the moment that flipped the series mood. Instead, it became another lesson in how difficult late-game baseball has been for Somerset so far.

Getaway Carr

Kyle Carr opened with four perfect innings and finished with six strikeouts over 5.2 innings.

Reyzelman followed and missed bats again, striking out four. The offense erupted for five runs in the fourth inning, with all nine hitters reaching base safely and eight recording hits. Luciano had three hits and two doubles. Tyler Hardman scored twice and even stole home. DJ Gladney tripled in two. It was pressure baseball, the kind that forced Binghamton into mistakes and gave Somerset a lead substantial enough to survive a nervy ninth.

Series Takeaways

If there was one player who most consistently looked like the best athlete on the field in this

series, it was Lombard. Through seven games, he was already slashing .464/.531/.857 with 13 hits, five doubles, two homers. He was not just compiling numbers. He was working counts, driving the ball with authority, and forcing action every night he was in the lineup.

Torres deserves mention right alongside him. He pieced together three straight multi-hit games during the series and was a stabilizing presence in the middle of the order when things around him got messy. Morales was productive all week, too, driving in runs and extending his early-season hit streak. Luciano quietly kept showing gap power, and Gladney gave Somerset useful at-bats and extra-base life when the lineup needed a jolt.So the final read on this series is not especially complicated. Somerset lost it because the first

two days dug too deep a hole, and because the club still has not proven it can consistently close tight games. But there was also enough here to suggest the week was not a wash.

The Patriots got high-end production from Lombard. They saw Torres and Morales continue

strong starts. They watched Carr, Chaney, Smith and Reyzelman give them meaningful innings. And they finished by looking, for at least one afternoon, like the sharper and more complete club.

That does not make a 2-4 series feel good.

It does, however, make it feel like progress.

And in April, for a team still trying to figure out exactly what it is, that matters.