One run was all the Aberdeen IronBirds needed last night.

After an opening-night loss to the Williamsport Crosscutters, the IronBirds turned the tables with a 2-0 victory over Williamsport in front of 5,874 enthusiastic fans at the newly christened Ripken Stadium in a New York-Penn League game.

"It feels great. I wish we could have had it yesterday," said IronBirds manager Joe Almaraz, whose team lost, 8-3, on Tuesday.

"But we'll take the win because we still have a great crowd. We stayed within ourselves and what we are capable of doing. We played the short game, and we were aggressive on the bases. We talked about the fact that we had to throw strikes and put the ball in play, and that's what we focused on today. That's what we did today."

In the fourth inning, Gregg Davies sparked the IronBirds with a single over leaping second baseman Domingo Cuello. Two pitches later, Mike Huggins grounded a single into shallow left field, moving Davies to third. Huggins was then cut down by catcher Travis Chapman at second on a stolen-base attempt.

Crosscutters starting pitcher Alexander Lissir issued a walk to Tim Gilhooly. With one out and runners on the corners, center fielder Neil Stephenson hit a chopper to Cuello. Gilhooly was forced out at second, but Stephenson beat the throw to first, allowing Davies to sprint home and give the IronBirds a 1-0 lead.

In the eighth, Ironbirds shortstop Pete Shier's sacrifice fly to deep left scored Will Combs with their second run.

IronBirds starting pitcher Matt Tate quashed the Crosscutters' offense, giving up three hits in six innings.

"Every pitch I tried to keep the ball down," Tate said. "But my changeup was working. I had great defense. They made great plays."

The Crosscutters briefly threatened in the ninth when third baseman Chris Bass singled to right. Right fielder Humberto Aliendo then ripped a high line drive to Shier, who snagged the ball and doubled Bass off first base to end the game.

Sun staff writer Mary Beth Kozak contributed to this article.