Wehiwa Aloy had already been thrown out at the plate and stranded 90 feet away when Chesapeake loaded the bases in the seventh. In the eighth, he left no room for another close call.
With two outs and the Baysox still trailing, Aloy drove a hanging changeup over the wall in left-center field for a three-run homer, turning a quiet season finale into a 3-1 victory over the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Sunday at CarMax Park.
The ball carried beyond Lisbel Diaz’s retreat and outstretched glove, bringing Griff O’Ferrall and Frederick Bencosme home ahead of Aloy. It was Aloy’s 10th Double-A homer and accounted for every Chesapeake run.
The swing rewarded a pitching staff that had kept the game within reach from the first inning onward. Patrick Reilly allowed one earned run over 5⅔ innings, striking out seven without issuing a walk, before four Baysox relievers combined for 3⅓ scoreless innings.
Richmond’s lone run came quickly. Dayson Croes singled in the first and scored when Sabin Ceballos lined Reilly’s first pitch into left-center field. Vance Honeycutt cut the ball off before the track, but Croes was already headed home as the throw went to second.
Reilly gave up seven hits, including a Ceballos double and two hits by Diaz, but never allowed another run. Richard Guasch finished the sixth before Keagan Gillies worked through two seventh-inning singles, striking out Jancel Villarroel to preserve the one-run margin.
Chesapeake spent much of the afternoon getting close without getting even. Aloy walked in the second, moved to second on one of Dom Keegan’s three walks and tried to score when Thomas Sosa poked a single into left. Diaz’s throw came in high, but Villarroel completed the tag on a close play at the plate.
Another chance disappeared in the seventh. Aron Estrada opened the inning with his second hit, and Aloy bounced a single through the right side. Dakota Jordan overran the ball in right, allowing Estrada to reach third and Aloy to take second with nobody out. The Baysox loaded the bases with one out but came away empty after a lineout and a strikeout.
They did not waste the next opening against Dale Stanavich. O’Ferrall singled to left and Bencosme walked, although consecutive strikeouts pushed Richmond within one out of escaping again. Aloy’s homer erased all of that frustration with one swing. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.
For O’Ferrall, scoring the tying run offered an appropriate ending to a week he had anticipated for months. The Richmond native returned home to play in the city where he grew up watching professional baseball.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s been really cool. I mean, definitely, you know, one of those weeks that, you know, I’ve had circled on the calendars to come back and play in my own hometown and especially the new stadium.”
— Griff O’Ferrall, Baysox Shortstop
O’Ferrall had described the week as a chance to appreciate how far baseball had carried him.
“There’s a couple times this week where I’ve kind of taken a step back and been like, this is awesome.”
— Griff O’Ferrall, Baysox Shortstop
Alex Pham protected the new lead with a scoreless eighth, earning his ninth hold. Brock Moore allowed a one-out single in the ninth before O’Ferrall, Estrada and Victor Figueroa turned Diaz’s grounder into a game-ending double play. Moore collected his second save, while Gillies earned the win.
The Baysox closed the season by taking four of five in Richmond. Their final three runs came all at once, on the last swing they needed from Aloy.