SEVERAL WALK-OFF WINS AS OTTERS SWEEP
New York vs New Jersey
The New York Boulders (13-14) defeated the New Jersey Jackals (10-14) by a score of 12-8 on Sunday afternoon.
The Boulders struck quickly in this one, pushing across four runs in the top of the first inning. Kwitzer and Gian Martellini had RBI singles in the frame and Gabriel Garcia knocked in another run with a groundout. A fourth run scored when, on a double steal, Jake MacKenzie raced home from third when Jackals' catcher Jason Agresti threw wildly to second base.
New Jersey got two back in their half of the first when Alfredo Marte hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the year; but the Boulders answered that two-spot with two runs of their own in the third via a two-run single from Giovanni Garbella.
The Jackals closed to 6-3 in the fourth when Marte scored on a Dan Wirchansky wild pitch; but, again, the Boulders responded, this time with two runs in the fifth on a Figueroa run-scoring double and a sacrifice fly from David Vinsky, the runs giving New York an 8-3 lead.
New Jersey picked up solo home runs from George Bell, Jr., his fourth of the season, in the fifth inning and Josh Rehwaldt, number six on the year for the left handed batter, in the sixth frame that sandwiched an RBI single from the Boulders' Alphonso Reda in the top of the sixth, the scoring exchange leaving New York with a 9-5 lead.
The Boulders added a solo run in the eighth on an RBI single by Chris Kwitzer to increase their advantage to 10-5.
Leo Pineda came on with two outs for the Boulders and Jackals on first and second and struck out Santiago Chirino to end the threat, leaving New Jersey trailing by a pair of runs at 10-8.
That insurance run proved important as the Jackals mounted a threat in the eighth inning, pushing across three runs – one on a bases-loaded walk to Bell, Jr. and two via a Todd Isaacs single – off New York reliever Luke Burton.
In the top of the ninth, Steven Figueroa's two-run home run pushed the New York lead back to four runs at 12-8.
Dan Wirchansky got the win for New York. He went seven innings and allowed five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out three as he earned his season record at 1-1.
Pineda tacked on a scoreless ninth to record his second save of the season.
Hayden Shenefield started and was tagged with the loss for the Jackals after allowing eight runs – seven earned – on a dozen hits. He walked one and struck out seven as he dropped to 0-4 on the year.
Sussex County vs Trois-Rivières
The Sussex County Miners (14-14) defeated the Trois-Rivières Aigles (10-14) by a score of 7-4 on Sunday afternoon.
The Aigles scored first in the first inning with a double off of Juan Kelly.
The Miners would get on the board in the second with David Maberry scoring on a wild pitch.
Sussex County would get ahead in the fifth with a single from Errol Robinson to make it 2-1.
The Miners would score six more runs between the fifth, sixth and ninth inning with the help from Kevin Rolon, Nilo Rijo, Robinson, and Martin Figueroa.
The only other runs from the Aigles would come in the sixth when Carlos Martinez hit a homerun followed by Steve Brown also hitting a homerun.
James Mulry got the win for the Miners while James Boyce got the save. Austin Henrich got charged with the loss for the Aigles.
Quebec vs Tri-City
The Tri-City ValleyCats (14-12) defeated the Quebec Capitales (21-5) in a walk-off win by a score of 8-7 Sunday night.
Los Puentes sent Joey Gonzalez out for his sixth start of the season, coming into the start with a 2-2 record. Capitales third baseman Kyle Crowl would get the better of Gonzalez, launching a 1-2 fastball over the left field fence to give Quebec the 1-0 lead. The first-place Capitales would strike for two more runs in the second inning, the first on a sacrifice fly from Webb Little, and the second was a single from Reece Yeargain.
Los Puentes de Tri-Cities' bats were held silent by Capitales starter Codie Paiva, only surrendering one hit through the first three innings. However, in the fourth inning, the ValleyCats bats came alive.
Brantley Bell led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single. Following a Denis Phipps strike out and a fielder's choice from Juan Silverio, the next six Gatos would reach base, plating five of them. An RBI single from Pavin Parks plated Bell. Carson McCusker would then drive the Los Puentes shortstop home with a double. The newest ValleyCat, catcher Ciaran Devenney would launch a two-run home run to bring Tri-City within one run.
The tie would turn into the Los Puentes first lead of the game real quickly as designated hitter Danny Angulo followed Devenney with his first career long ball.
Garret Takamatsu would end up on second base with two outs after singling and advancing to second on a throwing error from Parks. Jonathan Lacroix would regain the lead for Quebec, singling and plating Takamatsu. Los Puentes's offense would go silent in the fifth and sixth innings, as would Quebec's.
After they loaded the bases in the top half of the seventh inning, Quebec would take the lead on a two-out single into right field off the bat of Webb Little, putting the Capitales up 7-5.
The two-run lead for Quebec would be squandered quickly after Los Puentes shortstop Pavin Parks drove in Brantley Bell and Denis Phipps to tie the game at seven.
Both teams would fail to score in the eighth and ninth, sending the game to the tenth inning. Quebec would pinch run speedster Marc-Antoine Lebreaux for first baseman Webb Little. After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt from Reece Yeargain, Los Puentes Manager Pete Incaviglia would intentionally walk David Glaude. Trey Cochran-Gill would get Crowl and White to fly out, leaving the go-ahead run stranded at third base.
Carson McCusker started the bottom of the tenth inning as the designated runner on second. Devenney would execute a sacrifice bunt, moving the big outfielder to third. Following a Danny Angulo strike out, it all came down to Jesus Lujano.
The Los Puentes outfielder would hit a broken bat ground ball to second baseman Garrett Takamatsu who rushed the throw, and new first baseman Josh McAdams could not handle the throw. Lujano was safe, plating McCusker to win.
Empire State vs Ottawa
The Empire State Greys (0-25) vs Ottawa Titans (18-6) game got postponed due to rain and will be made up as a doubleheader on July 8th.
Windy City vs Florence
The Florence Y'alls (9-17) defeated the Windy City Thunderbolts(13-13) by a score of 9-4 on Sunday evening.
Florence's bats jumped on the Bolts' starting pitching quickly. The Y'alls scored all nine of their runs in the first four innings.
Windy City's first run came home in the fifth inning, an RBI groundout for Jake VanderWal. In the seventh, Vander Wal hit a solo homer.
Florence hit two more home runs in the victory. Andres Sthormes' first home run as a Y'all came in the second inning, and Alberti Chavez legged out an inside-the-park homer in the fourth. The team now has 16 home runs in its last nine home games.
The final two runs for the Bolts crossed in the eighth inning. Dan Robinson scored on a double play ball. Peyton Isaacson collected an RBI double.
Jonaiker Villalobos threw six brilliant innings and earned his second win of the year. The Venezuelan left-hander allowed one run on four hits, while striking out eight batters. Billy Damon, David Stiehl, and Karl Craigie combined to finish the game on the mound.
Schaumburg vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things (17-10) defeated the Schaumburg Boomers (14-12) by a score of 6-5 in a walk-off win Sunday night.
Washington starting pitcher Daren Osby gave up three runs in the first on two home runs by Schaumburg. A run from Alex Alvarez in the third on a sac fly by Mang and a home run from Andrew Czech in the fourth brought the Wild Things to within a run, but the Boomers maintained the lead with a run in the sixth. Scotty Dubrule brought in Nick Ward for a run in the seventh to make it a one-run game again, but the Boomers responded in the eighth to send the lead to two runs again.
In the bottom of the ninth, after Ward walked to make it to first, Mang hit a two-run home run to tie the game. Dubrule made it to first on a single, and Wagner Lagrange sent him home on a walk-off RBI double to win the game.
Lukas Young got the win for the Wild Things. He pitched for 1.2 innings, allowed no hits, walked one and struck out three. He improves to 3-1 for the season.
Osby pitched the first six innings for Washington. He allowed five hits, four runs, hit three batters and struck out four. Christian James relieved Osby and pitched for 1.1 innings. He allowed three hits, one run and walked one.
Joliet vs Lake Erie
The Lake Erie Crushers (11-16) defeated the Joliet Slammers (15-13) by a score of 6-5 Sunday afternoon.
Both starting pitchers performed well, making runs very tough to come by early on. Gunnar Kines kept the Slammers off the board for the first four innings, until they scored three times in the fifth. Scott Holzwasser drove in the game's first run on an RBI double to right and Matt McGarry followed with a two run double to cap the inning.
Lake Erie got on the board in the top of the sixth, when they hit their first of three home runs in the afternoon. Kenen Irizarry belted a solo shot to right center, his third of the season to bring Lake Erie within two.
Joliet struck again in the seventh inning. Holzwasser started the inning with a double and came around to score on Brylie Ware's RBI single to right. The Slammers scored their final run in the top of the eighth. Tyler Depreta-Johnson singled with two outs and scored on Holzwasser's third hit of the game, a run-scoring single to right.
Down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Crushers sent eight batters to the plate and scored five times to take the lead. Danny Perez started the rally with a single and Sean Cheely followed with a walk. Alonzo Jones belted a one out single to right field to load the bases for Bryant Flete. Perez scored moments later on Flete's sacrifice fly. Kokko Figueiredo then tied the game with a towering three run blast over the wall in right field, his second of the season. Connor Owings followed with a solo homer to center, his fourth of the season which proved to be the eventual game winner.
Gleyvin Pineda allowed a run on three hits in the eighth inning and picked up the victory while Alexis Rivero scored the save after tossing a scoreless ninth inning. Cole Stanton took the loss after allowing a pair of runs on two hits over two-thirds of an inning.
Eight Crushers reached safely in the afternoon, despite being held to just seven hits. Danny Perez paced Lake Erie with a 2-for-2 performance and drew a walk as well. Rodney Tennie reached on a walk and a single. He's now reached in nine straight games and hit safely in his last six.
Gateway vs Evansville
The Evansville Otters (17-10) defeated the Gateway Grizzlies(13-14) by a score of 5-1 on Sunday night.
Evansville's Austin Gossmann took the hill Sunday for the Otters, starting the game with four scoreless innings despite working around four walks.
Evansville got the first run of the game as Miles Gordon singled home Justin Felix in the fourth inning.
Finally, Gateway made the most of an opportunity against Gossmann, scoring their only run on a bases-loaded walk to Peter Zimmermann in the top of the fifth, tying the game at 1-1.
Evansville regained their lead in the sixth, scoring the winning run on an RBI single from Steven Sensley. One at-bat later, Evansville doubled their lead as J.R. Davis scored on a wild pitch, giving the Otters a 3-1 advantage.
Evansville added insurance in the eighth, scoring two more runs on home run from Sensley.
Yet again, the Otters relied on the bullpen to carry them through the final innings - as Samson Abernathy, Jake Polancic and Joe Riley gave up just one hit in four innings of combined relief.
The Otters' pitching staff stranded the bases-loaded full of Grizzlies on a few occasions as well.
Abernathy earned his second win in as many days, advancing to 2-1 on the season. Carson Cupo received the loss, his second of the year.
