Playing at home in front of another good-size crowd, the Surge got off to a great start scoring six runs in their first at-bat, then held on down the stretch to improve to 12-13.

The matchup was the third of a four-game homestand against the Islanders, and the win was the third in the last four starts for Saranac Lake. The Surge lost their first game against the Islanders 6-2 on Wednesday, but rebounded to win the next two by 7-4 and 4-2 scores. The final contest of the series is scheduled for Saturday with the opening pitch slated for 1 p.m.

Saranac Lake couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start Friday, and the scenario was the opposite for Puerto Rico. The Islanders went down in order against Surge starting pitcher Quentin Oexner in their first at-bat. Then in the bottom of the inning, Saranac Lake pounded the ball and took advantage of three errors to grab a 6-0 advantage.

The Surge sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, combining for four singles and two doubles. Lead-off batter Jose Negron finished the frame with two singles and an RBI. Negron kicked off the inning with a base hit, and Jesse Russo and Hiroki Itakura followed with consecutive doubles to put Saranac Lake on top 2-0. Batting in the clean-up spot, third baseman Daniel Dominguez reached base on an error and catcher Tyler Hill then batted in Itakura with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Alexander LaFayette of the Surge heads toward his bench after belting the first of his two home runs during Friday’s game against the Islanders. The 23-year-old has now hit three shots out of the park at Petrova Avenue this season. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The Surge’s next three runs in the first came with two outs after Jason Aponte lined out to second base on a hard hit. Dominguez scored Saranac Lake’s fourth run, and Will Ramos and Terrell Thompson also made it home after reaching base on back-to-back singles from the seventh and eighth spots in the order.

The Surge’s six hits in the first inning matched their game total from the day before during their 4-2 win.

Trailing by six runs, the Islanders cut their deficit in half in the second, loading up the bases for Gabriel Cotto, who cleared the deck with a three-run double. Puerto Rico ended up tying the contest, but Saranac Lake regained the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Alexander LaFayette was a big hero down the stretch in helping the Surge move into fourth place in the EPBL standings. The 23-year-old from Ludlow, Massachusetts belted the first home run at Petrova Avenue with a three-run shot in the team’s inaugural game at Petrova, and added two more to his total at the field on Friday. His first four-bagger of the day was a blast to left that landed about halfway up in the football stands for Saranac Lake’s seventh run, and his second was a shot that soared over the right field fence.

The top four out of six teams in the EPBL will advance to the playoff round, and the win lifted Saranac Lake a half-game ahead of the Road City Explorers, who were swept by the league-leading Plattsburgh Thunderbirds in a doubleheader, also on Friday.

The Surge have 10 more games on their regular-season schedule, which will all be home contests at Petrova Avenue. After Saturday’s series finale against the Islanders, the Surge will host the 2019 EPBL home run derby and all-star game. The action kicks off at 1 p.m. with the home run derby and the all-star game will follow.

After the all-star game, the Surge will be off Monday and then begin a big six-game homestand against the Thunderbirds starting on Tuesday. The teams will play a game a day with each matchup slated to start at 1 p.m.