An up-and-down 2008 season has come to a close on a sour note, as the Frederick Keys lost to the Winston-Salem Warthogs this afternoon, 6-4.

Scheduled Keys starter Brandon Erbe was a late scratch, so Frederick was forced to use their bullpen to pitch all nine innings of this one. Jeff Moore started the game for Frederick, throwing two scoreless innings.

The Keys got on the scoreboard in the second inning. Brandon Tripp worked a leadoff walk, and then stole second base. He came around to score on a Billy Rowell RBI-single to give Frederick a 1-0 lead.

It was short-lived, however, as the Warthogs tied it up in the third. Three straight singles loaded the bases for Winston-Salem. John Shelby lifted a sacrafice fly to right, scoring Dale Mollenhauer from third, and tying the game at one.

Frederick re-took the lead in the fifth. With one man out, Brian Valichka doubled to rightfield. Miguel Abreu drove him in with a single. Abreu worked his way around to third and scored on a Brandon Snyder sac fly to give Frederick a two-run lead.

The Warthogs answered right back. In the top of the sixth, with two men on and two outs, Sergio Miranda hit a base-clearing triple to tie the ball game at three. Mollenhauer then drove in Miranda with a double to give the Warthogs a one-run lead.

Frederick came back, though, and tied the game in the seventh. Abreu reached on an infield hit. He was sacraficed to second, and got to third on a Chris Vinyard single. Abreu scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at four.

The Keys brought in Ryan Rodriguez to pitch the ninth. With one man down and one on, Bonvechio drilled a two-run homer to rightfield to give the Warthogs a 6-4 lead, and eventually the win.

Henry Mabee picked up the win, improving to 4-1. Rodriguez took the loss, dropping his record to 5-3. The Keys finish with an overall record of 63-76.