The Double-A Harrisburg Senators dropped Bowie 6-1 Saturday behind big hits from Rick Hague and Steven Souza, Jr., and a spectacular one-two punch on the mound by Paul Demny and Trevor Holder.
Destin Hood smacked his first double of the season and Souza crushed his first homer to get the scoring going. Demny went five innings for the win and Holder an amazing four innings for the save. Justin Bloxom had an RBI double and Hague a two-run single.
Demny struck out six and allowed just two hits and one unearned run. Holder went 12 outs allowing only one hit and striking out two.
Souza is 4-for-10 to begin the season and Hood is 4-for-11. Souza's OPS is 1.300, good for sixth in the league. He has a big bat and has gained valuable experience the last couple of seasons, becoming reinvigorated and showing off his immense baseball skills. He hit .319 in 27 games at the end of last year for high Single-A Potomac, and finished with a .297 average in 97 games.
Hood battled injuries and illness last season. It is nice to see him come out of the blocks quickly, another fast outfielder with football-like skills that have translated well to baseball.
Josh Johnson, Sandy Leon and Bloxom have all had big hits in the first series. It was good to see Hague come through with a run-scoring knock. Sean Nicol has three hits as well, and Anthony Rendon has three hits plus two walks in a small sample size.
It won't be long before Matt Skole and Brian Goodwin get going. This lineup has the makings of becoming the Double-A version of what the Nationals are looking to do at the top: power all over the lineup and on-base guys leading off.
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