EVANSVILLE WINS IN SUDDEN DEATH AGAINST SLAMMERS AS JACKAL'S SANTIAGO CHIRINO BREAKS ALL-TIME CAREER RUNS RECORD
Joliet vs Evansville
It took 10 plus innings to decide a winner Wednesday night, as the Evansville Otters won their first Frontier League sudden death game over the Joliet Slammers, 2-2.
Starters Ryan O'Reilly and Cam Aufderheide impressed in the contest, each starting the game with four scoreless innings.
Finally, the Slammers broke the ice in the fifth, using an earlier error to their advantage. After getting a couple men on, Matt McGarry delivered with a two-out, two-run single to left center to put Joliet up 2-0.
The Otters answered in the bottom half, using a leadoff Elijah MacNamee double to kickstart the offense. After a stolen base, a wild pitch from Aufderheide allowed MacNamee to grab home as well, bringing the Otters to within one.
Evansville evened the game in the sixth when the Otters' RBI leader J.R. Davis brought in George Callil with an RBI single, good for his 50th RBI of 2022.
The 2-2 score held through the full nine innings and through the tenth as well. Each side attempted to bunt the ghost runner over in the tenth inning but a bunt pop-out ended both attempts.
In the eleventh, the Otters elected to field and bring out Logan Sawyer once again. Despite advancing the runner to their, Sawyer held the Slammers scoreless, delivering Evansville a win in their first Frontier League sudden death game.
With the win, Evansville has won three straight series and maintains second position in the West Division.
Washington vs Schaumburg
The Schaumburg Boomers rallied from down 4-0 to upend the Washington Wild Things by a 6-5 score in the middle game of the series on Wednesday night at Wintrust Field.
Washington scored three unearned runs in the first and added another in the third. Rob Whalen had retired the first 10 Schaumburg hitters before a single from Braxton Davidson extended his on-base streak to 43 games in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Hart followed with a single and Chase Dawson put the Boomers on the board with an RBI double. Hart tripled with the bases loaded in the fifth to tie the game before a homer from Cam Balego in the sixth.
The eighth inning heroics started when Hart was hit by a pitch and Dawson followed with a single. Following a fielder's choice Clint Hardy tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Wyatt Stapp floated a single to left to score Dawson with the winning run.
Jumpei Akanuma worked six innings and allowed just two earned runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Kristian Scott tossed the seventh, Tanner Shears worked the eighth and Darrell Thompson worked a perfect ninth to tally his 13th save. Shears earned his first professional win, striking out the side in the eighth. Hart, Dawson and Stapp all posted two hits. Hart drove home three in the win.
Windy City vs Lake Erie
The Lake Erie Crushers scored six of their nine runs in the first three innings of Wednesday night's game at Mercy Health Stadium while Matt Mulhearn turned in another strong pitching performance as the Crushers rolled the Windy City Thunderbolts, 9-1.
The Crushers (44-42) have won five in a row at home, and are two games over .500 for the first time this season while the loss for Windy City (31-54) was their sixth in eight games against the Crushers this season.
While the Lake Erie offense hammered out nine runs on nine hits, Matt Mulhearn (6-3) turned in another outstanding performance. He allowed just a run on four hits over seven innings of work and struck out six batters to pick up his third straight victory. Over his last three starts, the Crushers are 3-0. During that stretch, he's pitching 21 and a third innings, allowed just three earned runs on 14 hits while striking out 22 batters.
Connor Owings began the bottom of the first with a six pitch walk, made his way to third on Kemuel Thomas-Rivera's single to right and he scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from Jackson Valera. Kenen Irizarry followed Valera with a RBI single to center to give Lake Erie a 2-0 lead.
Two more came across for the Crushers in the bottom of the second. Najee Gakins drew a lead off walk, Kokko Figueiredo reached on a one out free pass and they both scored on Owing's two run single to right.
Windy City was able to get on the board in the top of the third. After Mulhearn retired the first six batters he faced, Kole Kaler started the third inning with a walk before Jonathan Nieves singled to right to put Kaler on third. Jalen Greer responded with a sacrifice fly to score Kaler.
Lake Erie responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Irizarry doubled to left center to start the inning and scored on DJ Stewart's RBI single to right. Stewart came home later in the third on a Najee Gaskins RBI double to right field.
The Crushers removed any doubt by scoring three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Figueiredo reached on a one out walk and Owings followed with a double. An errant relay throw from Brian Klein at second allowed Figueiredo to score on the play. Later in the inning with runners on second and third and one out, Valera reached on a throwing error from shortstop Kaler, which allowed the final two runs of the inning to score.
In addition to Mulhearn's terrific performance, Kyle Seebach and Trevor Kuncl both tossed scoreless innings in relief. Windy City's Jack Alkire (0-3) took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits over five innings of work.
All but three Crushers reached safely on the night. Owings led the way with his second three hit performance of the series, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and two RBI as well. Irizarry and DJ Stewart both hit safely twice on the night as well. Figueiredo walked two times to extend his on base streak to 16 games.
Florence vs Gateway
The Florence Y'alls scored 11 runs in the second inning against the Gateway Grizzlies to open up a huge lead, eventually taking the first game of the series by a blowout score of 17-4 Wednesday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
In now seven games against Gateway this season, the Y'alls have won five of those contests. Out of those seven games, Florence has scored ten or more runs in four of them. The Y'alls have outscored the Grizzlies 69-35 this season.
Every player in the Y'alls' starting lineup recorded at least one hit. Ray Zuberer, Brennan Price, Craig Massey, Luke Harper, Bryant Flete, and Rodney Tennie all had two hits apiece. Zuberer and Price had four RBI each, while Flete and Ethan Stern each drove in three runs.
The Y'alls connected on four home runs, including a pair for Brennan Price. His first of the night gave the Y'alls a 1-0 advantage in the first inning before the Grizzlies responded with the tying run in the home half of the first. Gateway would not score again until the sixth inning and then two more runs in the ninth. Zuberer, Stern, and Flete hit the other long balls for Florence.
The Y'alls batted around twice in the game, the first time coming in the big second inning. The second time came in the seventh when the Y'alls scored an additional five runs. Gateway used five pitchers to get through the game with most of the damage charged to Taylor Sugg (11 earned runs) and Nick Kennedy (five earned runs).
The Y'alls, meanwhile, got a gem of a start from lefty Griffin Baker to support the offensive onslaught. Baker tossed eight strong innings with 13 strikeouts. He walked just one, scattered three hits, and gave up two runs to earn his fourth win of the year.
Empire State vs Sussex County
The Sussex County Miners defeated the Empire State Greys by a score of 6-3 on Wednesday night. After defeating the Greys on Tuesday 13-4, the Greys got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second with reaching on an error by the Miners and a single from Jose Mercado.
However, the Miners would quickly retaliate in the bottom of the fourth with the Miners scoring three runs in the inning to have them lead 3-2.
The Greys would tie the game in the top of the fifth to make it 3-3.
The Miners would not give up though with Alex Toral hitting a three run homer in the bottom of the eighth to help lead them to their 3-6 win.
Jesus Rosario would get charged with the loss for Empire State while James Mulry got the win and Tyler Thornton got the save for the Sussex County Miners.
Quebec Capitales vs Trois-Rivières
The Quebec Capitales defeated the Trois-Rivières Aigles by a score of 8-7 on Wednesday night after defeating the Aigles 4-2 on Tuesday night.
The Capitales got off to a quick start with Quebec scoring six runs between the first three innings to make it 6-0.
However, the Aigles would slowly start to climb back in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly from Juan Kelly and then a Steve Brown single and Quebec allowing two to score with an error.
The Capitales would get some insurance runs between the fifth and eighth inning by adding two to the scoreboard to make it 8-3.
The Aigles attempted the comeback between the eighth and ninth by scoring three runs but it would not be enough and lead them to their 8-7 loss.
Carlos Sano would get the win for Quebec, while Kevin Perez would get the loss for Trois-Rivières.
New York vs New Jersey
The New York Boulders spotted host New Jersey a first inning three-run lead before bouncing back to post a 5-4 win over the Jackals on Wednesday at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, NJ.
Each starter struggled early in the game. New Jersey got to the Boulders' July Sosa in the first inning when Alfredo Marte blasted a three-run home run to left field, his 17th of the season, to give the Jackals a quick 3-0 lead.
However, that lead did not last through the top of the second as the Boulders' Gian Martellini knotted matters at 3-3 with a three-run home run of his own, this one against New Jersey's Yasel Santana. The homer was Martellini's ninth of the year and was followed by a solo shot off the bat of Max Smith, his 19th of the season, that gave the Boulders a 4-3 advantage.
The Boulders then added an insurance run in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Francisco Del Valle.
Meanwhile, Sosa settled down after the first inning and held the Jackals off the scoreboard through the seventh inning. In the eighth, Sosa allowed a lead-off double by Santiago Chirino, which brought the righthander's night to an end.
Danny Wirchansky relieved Sosa and surrendered an RBI single to Dalton Combs that made it a 5-4 game. Wirchansky then induced a double play grounder from Marte and struck out Justin Wylie to end the eighth inning and preserve the New York one-run lead.
Sosa exited with seven innings pitched and four runs (three earned) allowed on six hits. He walked two and struck out five as he improved to 6-2 on the year with the victory.
Wirchansky pitched a perfect ninth to close out the Boulders' win and pick up his second save of the season.
Santana was tagged with the loss, evening his season mark at 2-2. He went five innings and allowed five runs, all earned, on four hits. Santana walked five and struck out five.
Tri-City vs Ottawa
Tied at five in the eighth, Kai Moody's RBI single off Trey Cochran-Gill proved to be the difference maker, lifting the Ottawa Titans (48-38) to a 6-5 win over the Tri-City ValleyCats on Wednesday night.
Cito Culver reached on an E9 to kick things off in the first, setting up a two-run homer from Brantley Bell. Trailing 2-0 in a blink of an eye, Tyler Jandron (ND, 7-3) got through the inning only down by two.
The Titans opened up the bottom half with three straight singles. AJ Wright, Rodrigo Orozco, and Brendon Dadson all got aboard against righty Kyle Arjona (ND, 5-6). After a strikeout of Jake Sanford for the first out, Arjona plunked Tyrus Greene to bring home a run. Next, Jason Dicochea belted a bases-clearing double to centre, putting the Titans ahead 4-2.
After stranding two in the second, Carson McCusker belted his 11th homer of the season onto Coventry Road to put the ValleyCats back in front at 5-4 with a three-run shot. Following the homer, both benches emptied, resulting in warnings put in place for both squads.
Back-to-back singles off Arjona from Sanford and Greene put runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom half of the fifth. Arjona got Dicochea to ground into a double play, allowing Sanford to score the tying run.
Arjona's night would end after five and a third, allowing five runs, on nine hits, striking out five, and hitting three. Highlighting the three hit-by-pitches was in the fourth, seeing Orozco take a fastball from Arjona off the left ankle. Orozco was then removed from the contest for Kai Moody.
After a one-out double from Bell in the seventh off Jandron, Pavin Parks reached on an E3 to put a pair on for the heart of the order. Jandron gave way to Kyle Serrano who got a dangerous bat in Denis Phipps to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
Jandron took a no-decision on Wednesday, going six and a third, allowing four earned runs, on seven hits, walking two, and striking out five.
The ValleyCats loaded the bases with two away against Serrano in the eighth, as the lineup turned back to the top. Kevin Escorcia (win, 3-2) got Culver to strikeout out to end the threat.
In the bottom half, the Titans had a pair of hits aboard with two outs against Neil Abbatiello (loss, 3-3) for the top of the lineup. Cochran-Gill was brought into the game, seeing Moody bloop a single to right to plate the eventual winning run.
Escorcia would mow through the heart of the order in the ninth, putting the Titans back in the win column.