Bird Dawgs Battle Back but Fall Short to Miners
KINSTON, N.C. (August 9, 2025) – The Down East Bird Dawgs rallied late but couldn’t overcome an early deficit, falling 6-4 to the Sussex County Miners on Saturday at Grainger Stadium for their eighth straight loss.
Sussex County opened the scoring in the first inning when Mahki Backstrom hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Dom Johnson after his leadoff triple.
Down East answered in the second when Ali LaPread doubled to drive in a run to make it 1-1.
The Miners scored three runs in the third and added another in the seventh to take a 5-1 lead.
Cameron Masterman cut the deficit to one in the eighth with a three-run homer, but Johnson doubled in the ninth to add insurance and halt the Bird Dawgs momentum to give the Miners a 6-4 win.
Drew Henderson (3-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out five over five innings
Jackson Balzan (6-5) earned the win, giving up one run on four hits and seven walks across 5 1/3 innings. Tyler Luneke notched his seventh save with a perfect ninth.
With the loss, the Bird Dawgs are now 29-47 as they look to avoid the sweep against the Miners on Sunday, August 10, at 1:30 p.m.
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For more information and to stay updated on upcoming events, announcements and promotions, visit www.DownEastBirdDawgs.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.
About the Down East Bird Dawgs
The Down East Bird Dawgs are a professional baseball team in the Frontier League, an MLB Partner League. The team began their inaugural season in May 2025 at Historic Grainger Stadium, in Kinston, NC. The team is continuing baseball traditions in the Kinston community with competitive play, captivating promotions, and top-notch community involvement & events.
Media Contact: Spencer Pattison | Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations (office) 252.549.4388 (email) [email protected]