NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk Tides got their title defense off to a rousing start Friday night with a 12-8 victory over Durham, the team they defeated in last season’s International League championship series.
Each team managed a seven-run inning before a packed crowd of 10,265 on a windy, 67-degree night, and Norfolk had 17 hits in its first game since winning the 2023 Triple-A national championship.
Jackson Holliday, 20, widely considered baseball’s top prospect, slugged a home run to right-center in Norfolk’s first at-bat of the season and finished 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs.
HAPPY OPENING DAY JACKSON HOLLIDAY!!!@J_Holliday7 absolutely crushes this pitch for first at bat of the 2024 season for the Tides!!!!
This is #Birdland #RisingTide pic.twitter.com/eSbSFQvmaU
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) March 29, 2024
Connor Norby, batting second for a Tides lineup stacked with top Orioles prospects, was 4-for-6 with a run and two RBIs. Heston Kjerstad was 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs, Billy Cook was 2-for-5 with two runs, Coby Mayo was 2-for-5, and Maverick Handley scored three runs, drew two walks and was 1-for-2.
Already leading 1-0 thanks to Holliday’s homer, the Tides erupted for seven runs in the second inning, which Bulls starter Mason Montgomery didn’t escape. It included Holliday’s sacrifice fly, Kjerstad’s two-run double, Kyle Stowers’ RBI single, Peyton Burdick’s two-run homer and Errol Robinson’s RBI single.
Cook and Handley scored on a Holliday single in the fourth, and the Tides led 10-0.
.@J_Holliday7 is a triple shy of the cycle
3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/EUphtyQxI3
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) March 30, 2024
Tides starter Chayce McDermott struck out six, walked five and held the Bulls to a run and a hit in 4 1/3 innings.
But the Bulls worked their way back into the game with a seven-run sixth, mostly off reliever Tucker Davidson. Jake Mangum’s three-run homer, a throwing error by third baseman Mayo and Ronny Simon’s two-run single contributed. Norby’s two-run double to left in the sixth provided the game’s final runs.
Luis Gonzalez (1-0), Wandisson Charles and Bryan Baker combined for 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief for Norfolk.
The teams will continue the three-game series at 6:35 Saturday night.
