Early lead slips away as Grays lose to Braves

Another promising start turned into disappointment for the DC Grays on Saturday night. The Grays watched a 6-2 seventh inning lead turn a 7-6 defeat to the South Coubty Braves at the Washington Nationals Yourh Academy.
As has been the case several times this season, things started well for the Grays. Catholic University's Stevie Thomas kicked off the fun for DC, scoring early in the second inning on a wild pitch. Henry Zipay (Nebraska Omaha) and Michael Mallus (Lafayette) quickly followed suit, scoring off of a perfectly placed single from Layfayettes’ Justin Grech. 

The Braves had a response, and put two up during the top of the fourth, but their efforts were not enough to take the lead back from the Grays. DC held onto its lead through the seventh, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth and tacking on one more in the sixth. Zipay and Grech were in the middle of things in the fourth, scoring with the help of singles from Brown University's Miles Newsome and Delaware States’ Evan Bouldin. Connor Larson (Wofford) logged the last run for DC. 

The game turned when South County scored five runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead - an inning that featured three pitchers for the Grays. Caleb Causey (Mississippi Valley State) started the inning on the mound for the Grays, and was relieved by Kyle Tyler (Valparaiso) who had the front row seat to a majority of the Braves' damage. After the Braves put up three runs on Tyler, Bouldin took the mound, allowing two unearned runs to finish out the inning. 
Bouldin pitched the remainder of the contest, allowing no runs for the final two innings and no earned runs over the day. Tyler was eventually handed the pitching loss, with the win awarded to Braves pitcher Sean Harasin (Penn St Greater Allegheny). 

The loss bumped the Grays (4-7) to fourth place the South Division of the Ripken League where the Braves (5/6) sit in second. 
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The Grays won’t see the Braves again until June 28th. However, DC will host the Alexandria Aces at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 18th for a special Fayher's Day matinee