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Rain slows the Peanuts, Foxhounds

• Although South Georgia's game started late because of rain, the Peanuts led Aiken 5-1 through five innings Monday.

Kenton Makin
Special to The Harold

AIKEN, S.C. — Not even the rains at Roberto Hernandez Stadium could quench the fiery rivalry for first place in the South Coast League; in fact, it might have given the Foxhounds-Peanuts series a little extra sizzle.

The Aiken Foxhounds, who took two of three games from the South Georgia Peanuts last week, will try to exit this week’s three-game homestand with the outright lead in the SCL, and Foxhounds manager Chris Bando knows it’s going to be a thrilling series.

“You look at the standings, we’re tied for first, and both teams have players that love to compete,” Bando said. “It makes for an exciting series.”

Despite a roughly 2H-hour rain delay Monday, the only thing that may ultimately dampen the strength of the teams, both tied at 13-6 overall, will be each other.

Aiken lost a pair of games after the series with the Peanuts, and South Georgia was swept by the Macon Music following last week’s series, proving that both the Foxhounds and Peanuts left it all on the field in the previous battle of the SCL’s best.

“According to their manager, they had a tough time rebounding after the series as well,” Bando said. “Both teams were drained emotionally, but we have to get the intensity back up, and it’s going to be a battle every game.”

Aiken will try to overcome an injury to leadoff man Evandy DeLeon. The SCL Player of the Month in May suffered a broken bone in his right foot against the Bradenton Juice Friday evening and will be out 4-6 weeks.

“It’s tough, because he’s, in my opinion, the best player in the league,” Bando said. “He’s just going to have to persevere, and when he comes back, hopefully it won’t take long for him to pick up where he left off.”

The loss of DeLeon, who brought a lethal combination of power (league-leading nine home runs) and speed (second in the SCL with eight stolen bases) to the leadoff spot, will be tough to overcome, but Bando believes another member of the Foxhounds will step up.

“On our club, we really don’t have another leadoff hitter, so that’s really a big blow to us,” Bando said.

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