TWO TEAMS WIN IN WALK-OFF
Gateway vs Ottawa
The Gateway Grizzlies (9-6) defeated the Ottawa Titans (9-6) by score of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Rookie right-hander J.P. Williams ran into trouble in the first inning, but got some help from his defense, as Clint Freeman threw out a runner at the plate to help him toss a scoreless frame, and in the second inning, Gateway got to work on Ottawa starter Evan Grills. They rapped out three straight singles against the southpaw in the frame, with Cam Touchette scoring Jay Prather with the game's first run on his base hit to make it 1-0 Grizzlies.
Gateway would expand their lead in the top of the fourth, as Abdiel Diaz and Touchette led off with back-to-back singles and were sacrificed to third and second base, respectively. Josh Goulet brought home a run with a ground ball to shortstop for a 2-0 lead, and Breland Almadova followed with a two-out RBI single to make it a 3-0 Gateway advantage.
Ottawa got two runs back on Clay Fisher's second two-run homer in as many games off Williams in the fifth inning, but Williams would then retire the final eight batters he faced in completing seven innings of work on the mound for the second time this week, leaving in line for his first professional win. He would earn that victory thanks to the Gateway bullpen, as John Murphy struck out two in a scoreless eighth to hold the lead, and after the Grizzlies scored the game's final run in the ninth on Trevor Achenbach's RBI double, Carson Cupo slammed the door shut with a double play ball off the bat of Will Zimmerman.
Evansville vs Trois-Rivières
The Trois-Rivières Aigles (7-8) defeated the Evansville Otters (7-8) by a score of 7-4 on Sunday afternoon.
The Otters' offense struck first Sunday, but it ended up being the Aigles' who put together a comeback rally in Sunday's series finale rubber match, scoring seven unanswered past the halfway point of the game.
The Otters kicked off the top of the third with back-to-back hits from first baseman Ronnie Allen Jr. and second baseman Julius Puryear.
Three batters later, a double from designated hitter J.R. Davis brought in the game's first two runs.
Catcher Justin Felix backed up the double with a two-run home run, his second on the road trip, and giving the Otters a 4-0 advantage.
The Aigles answered right back, putting up a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on back-to-back RBI singles.
One inning later, Trois-Rivieres tied the game on a two-run home run from designated hitter Canice Ejoh.
The 4-4 score held steady for just two innings, as catcher Carlos Martinez gave the Aigles their first lead of the game on a two-run single to right field in the sixth.
Ejoh wasn't finished at the plate on the day, hitting a second home run in the seventh inning to extend the Trois-Rivieres lead to 7-4.
The lead would hold to the end, as Evansville could not manage another run. The Otters had other opportunities in the game but left four on in scoring position.
Austin Gossmann received the loss for Evansville, giving up six runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings. Despite giving up the four runs to the Otters in the third, the Aigles' Sam Belisle-Springer got the win, keeping the Otters scoreless after the third.
New York vs Windy City
The New York Boulders (7-9) defeated the Windy City ThunderBolts (8-7) Sunday night by a score of 16-6.
Tucker Nathans, Chris Kwitzer, Gabriel Garcia and Jake MacKenzie each homered for the Boulders, who got four hits from Kwitzer, three hits by Garcia and two apiece from Nathans, Max Smith, Steven Figueroa and MacKenzie. For Nathans, it was his seventh home run of the season, which tied him with Washington's Nick Ward for the league lead. Kwitzer's shot was his third of the year, while it was the first of the campaign for both Garcia and MacKenzie.
Nathans ended the afternoon with four RBI, giving him a league-high 21. Kwitzer also drove in four runs, while MacKenzie knocked in three runs.
The win gave New York a split of their six-game that road trip that began with a three-game set at Lake Erie.
The game was tied at 1-1 after two innings, the teams trading a MacKenzie RBI single and a run-scoring triple by Windy City's Payton Robertson.
The Boulders seized control of the contest with a seven-run third inning that saw Austin Dennis and Nathans have RBI singles and Smith drive in a run with a groundball to T-Bolts' first baseman Manny Garcia before Kwitzer hit a three-run shot to left-center. MacKenzie followed with a solo home run that gave New York an 8-1 advantage.
In the sixth, Nathans connected for a three-run shot to left field to increase the Boulders' lead to 11-1. Windy City got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double by Jake Boone; but the Boulders answered with four runs in the eighth – three coming on Garcia's home run and the other on a David Vinsky RBI single.
Windy City tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a run-scoring groundout by Peyton Isaacson and an error by Boulders' shortstop Austin Dennis; then capped the day's scoring with an RBI single in the ninth from Daryl Myers.
Robby Rowland started and went five innings for the Boulders, picking up the win that evened his season mark at 1-1. He allowed four hits, one run, walked five and struck out five.
Tyler Thornton took the loss for the T-Bolts. He went three innings and surrendered eight runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out one. The defeat left Thornton at 2-2 on the year.
Florence vs Quebec
The Quebec Capitales (12-3) defeated the Florence Y'alls (4-10) by a score of 2-1 in a Sudden Death win on Sunday night.
With the game tied at 1-1 after ten innings, the home team gets to elect whether to play offense or defense in a final half-inning. The batting team gets a runner on first and no outs. If the run scores, they win. If not, the pitching team wins. Quebec chose to defend, and the Y'alls advanced Billy Damon to third, but no further.
The Y'alls once again came out with an auspicious start. Joe Lytle, the former Quebec Capitale, hit a solo home run to right in the second inning. Quebec matched the run on a wild pitch in the fourth, and the game remained tied at 1-1 until the very end.
As the score would suggest, pitchers reigned supreme in this series finale. Jared Cheek's 6.2 innings and Miguel Cienfuegos' 8 set the tone. Florence's Cheek faced only 25 batters to get 20 outs, and did not allow an extra-base hit. Griffin Baker and Joe Dougherty came out of the bullpen, combining to allow no hits in 3.1 innings.
Lytle had three of the seven Y'alls hits in the contest, his best offensive performance of the season. He had not homered at Stade Canac in Quebec City, formerly his home park, until today as a visitor.
Tri-City vs Schaumburg
The Schaumburg Boomers (10-5) defeated the Tri-City Valley Cats (8-6) with a score of 7-3 Sunday night.
Braxton Davidson electrified the crowd with a two-run homer to center in the bottom of the first inning. Alec Craig coaxed a bases loaded walk in the second and Davidson knocked home a run with a groundout to push the lead to 4-1. Tri-City got on the board with a single run in the third but Brett Milazzo singled home a run in the bottom of the frame to take the score 5-1. The visitors scrapped within 5-2 in the fifth, but Erik Martinez entered to make his 2022 debut, recording a strikeout to end the threat. Martinez retired the first eight batters he faced in relief to log the win, working 3.1 hitless innings.
Aaron Singh tallied his first professional homer in the bottom of the sixth and William Salas singled home a run in the seventh as the Boomers led 7-2. Jake Joyce finished out the win in the ninth. Jumpei Akanuma allowed two runs in 4.2 innings, striking out four.
Schaumburg notched four extra-base hits among 11 total in the contest. Chase Dawson tripled in a fifth consecutive game, upping his league best total to six. Dawson also collected a pair of hits. Salas and Milazzo both finished with a pair of hits.
Joliet vs Sussex County
The Joliet Slammers (7-9) and Sussex County Miners (9-7) split a doubleheader Sunday afternoon with the Slammers taking Game 1 by a score of 9-1 and the Miners took Game 2 by a score of 5-4.
In game 1, the Miners got on the board first in the first but would quickly lose the lead soon after.
The Slammers started their scoring spree in the third when Phillip Steering and Kyle Jacobsen hit back-to-back homeruns to make the score 2-1. The Slammers would score more runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to lead them to their 9-1 win.
Michael Mediavilla was on the mound for the Miners and got charged with the loss. Gage Feeney was on the mound for the Slammers and got the win.
In game 2, the Miners would retaliate. Similar to game one, the Miners scored first with a double off of Pauwels to score Figueroa. The game would go back and forth between the Slammers with Miners with the lead switching three times between the fifth and seventh inning. Ultimately, the Miners would come out on top when Figueroa doubled to have Reynolds score in the walk-off seven inning win.
Baker got the winning decision for the Miners, and Kaleb Honea got charged with the loss for the Slammers.
Empire State vs Lake Erie
The Lake Erie Crushers (8-7) defeated the Empire State Greys (0-15) by a score of 6-5 on Sunday night.
The sweep for the Crushers (8-7) was their first of the season and puts them back over .500 for the first time in two weeks. The loss for the Greys (0-15) was their third one run loss of the season.
Lake Erie was able to snap a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning, as Ermindo Escobar belted his first homer of the season, a solo shot to left, giving Lake Erie a 1-0 lead.
The Crushers added two more in the fifth. Bryant Flete began the inning with a single, and came around to score on Kokko Figueiredo's RBI triple to center. Figueiredo came home a few moments later on Connor Owings's sacrifice fly.
Empire State clawed back with their first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning, as Tyler Hill belted a solo homer to left, his second of the season. The homer ended Joseph Sgambelluri's (3-0) scoreless innings streak at 15.
Lake Erie was able to put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Flete began the inning with a single and moved to second after Jared Mang walked. Owings delivered again, brining them both home on a double to center field. The Crushers scored their last run in the seventh when Mang brought Danny Perez home on a sacrifice fly.
Zach West hit Empire State's second homer of the day to start the seventh inning, before the Greys put together a three run rally in the eighth. Jose Mercado and Liam McArthur hit back-to-back RBI singles for the Greys, and West struck again with a sacrifice fly to score Mercado to bring the Greys within a run (6-5), but that was as close as they would get.
Sgambelluri picked up the victory, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and struck out eight batters over seven innings of work. The eight strikeouts were a season high. Sam Curtis (3) struck out the side in the ninth inning to pick up his second save over the last three games. Johsson Arias (0-2) took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits over five and a third.
Flete and Perez led the Crushers with two hits apiece, while Owings drove in three runs on the afternoon. Figueiredo went 1-for-3 and extended his on base streak to 15 games in the process.
New Jersey vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things (9-6) defeated the New Jersey Jackals (6-8) 7-3 in the last game of a nine-game homestand thanks to early offense and a strong start from Rob Whalen that saw him take a no hitter to the sixth inning.
Washington scored six runs in the first four innings, four of which were unearned due to errors made by New Jersey's infield. Six total errors were made by the Jackals, three of them in the fourth. The fourth also saw four runs from the Wild Things and included a two-run single by Ian Walters.
Rob Whalen pitched a shutout and no hitter until the sixth inning when New Jersey's Edward Salcedo scored on a double by George Bell Jr. Whalen recovered to get the next six batters out before he was pulled. He finished his day having pitched seven innings, allowing one run, one hit, walked two, and struck out seven. Bryan Quillens relieved him in the eighth.
The Wild Things regained the run they lost in their lead when Hector Roa hit a solo home run in the sixth. He added on to his career total and franchise record, which he was awarded a plaque for in a pre-game celebration.
Dan Kubiuk came in for Quillens in the ninth to close, and the Jackals were able to score two runs before the first out. After a mound visit, Kubiuk struck out the next two, and the final batter was thrown out by Scotty Dubrule to end the game 7-3.
Quillens pitched one inning, allowed no runs, two hits, walked one, and struck out two. Kubiuk pitched one inning, allowed two runs, three hits, and struck out two.
