WILD THINGS AND JACKALS EXTEND WINNING STREAK TO 4
Washington vs Windy City
The Washington Wild Things (25-12) defeated the Windy City ThunderBolts (16-19) by a score of 16-2 Friday night.
In the first meeting between the Washington Wild Things and Windy City ThunderBolts since 2019, it was the Wild Things that provided the fireworks before the post-game fireworks in Crestwood. The Wild Things moved their division lead to 2.5 games with a 16-2 white-washing of the Bolts at Ozinga Field Friday night.
The visitors, back on the road after a three-game sweep of Lake Erie at home, scored 11 runs between the second and fifth innings. Washington got on the board and started the scoring in the second when Alex Alvarez lifted a three-run homer, his fifth of the year, to left. Scotty Dubrule picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice and Hector Roa singled home two in the third before Wagner Lagrange singled home a run and two scored (with one RBI) on an Andrew Czech base hit. An error was made for the ninth Washington run to come across.
Windy City got on the board on Dan Robinson's second homer of the season in the fourth. It was the only run charged to starter Sandro Cabrera, who returned from a suspension to make his seventh start. He went to 3-2 after matching a game-best nine strikeouts for the team in the victory. Hayden Pearce, Saturday's starter, and Rob Whalen have also done that this season.
Lagrange knocked home two more in the fifth with a single before Windy City scored on a Dan Kubiuk wild pitch in the seventh. An error allowed Roa to reach in the eighth, which brought a run home and that got followed by run-scoring hits from Nick Ward and Jared Mang. Ramon Osuna hit his second homer in as many nights off Jairus Richards, the original right fielder, in the ninth. It was a two-run shot to bring the game to its final of 16-2.
New Jersey vs Quebec
The New Jersey Jackals (16-18) defeated the Quebec Capitales (26-10) by a score of 4-3 on Friday night.
The Jackals got on the board first when Alfredo Marte scored the first run.
New Jersey continued to score in the fourth inning when Josh Rehwaldt and Dalton Combs both hit home runs to make the score 3-0.
The Capitales would start to score in the bottom of the fourth when Johnathan Lacroix singled to score two runs.
T. J. White would hit a home run to tie the game in the sixth inning.
The Jackals would get ahead in the ninth when Rehwaldt would hit his second home run of the game and would ultimately lead the Jackals to their 4-3 win.
Angelo Baez got the win for New Jersey while Samuel Adams got charged with the loss for the Capitales.
New York vs Ottawa
The Ottawa Titans (24-10) defeated the New York Boulders (18-19) by a score of 8-5 on Friday night.
Jake Sanford had three hits, including his 10th home run of the season, and Taylor Wright and Brendon Dadson also went yard as the host Ottawa Titans defeated the New York Boulders, 8-5, on Friday at Ottawa Stadium in Canada's capitol.
The loss was New York's fourth in a row, while the win snapped a three-game losing streak for Ottawa.
Sanford's home run, a solo blast, gave the Titans an 8-3 lead in the sixth inning. Meanwhile, Wright, who drove in three runs, connected for his long ball, his first of the year, leading off the second frame, giving Ottawa a 2-0 edge.
Ottawa broke in front with a single run in the home half of the first on a Sanford RBI single.
The Boulders knotted the game with a pair of runs in the third. David Vinsky doubled and scored when Jake MacKenzie followed with a single. MacKenzie swiped second and then, on his successful steal of third, scored when Ottawa catcher Mitsuki Fukuda's throw sailed down the left field line.
The Titans regained the lead with a four-run third inning. Taylor Wright's sacrifice fly gave Ottawa a 3-2 advantage. Dadson followed with a three-run homer, his fifth of the season, to push the Titans lead to 6-2.
In the fourth, Taylor Wright's RBI single gave Ottawa a 7-2 lead.
Austin Dennis' run-scoring groundout in the fifth cut the New York deficit to 7-3.
Trailing 8-3 in the seventh, the Boulders chipped away with a single run in the seventh on an RBI double by Giovanni Garbella; then inched to within three at 8-5 on a Francisco Del Valle home run, his second of the season, in the eighth.
Jose Taveras picked up the win for Ottawa. He went five innings and allowed three runs on four hits, while walking five and striking out two. Taveras improved to 2-0 on the year with the victory.
Nelson Gonzalez pitched a scoreless ninth to record his second save of the season for the Titans.
Andy Hammond, who came on to start the third inning in relief of opener Luke Burton, was tagged with the loss for the Boulders. He pitched five innings and surrendered six runs on eight hits, while walking two and striking out a pair as he fell to 2-1 on the season.
Sussex County vs Trois-Rivières
The Trois-Rivières Aigles (16-18) defeated the Sussex County Miners (22-16) by a score of 8-5 on Friday night.
The Miners scored first in the top of the first inning with a single off of David Maberry.
The Miners would continue to score in the second with a home run off of Nick Garland and then a three-run homerun from Martin Figueroa to make it 5-0.
The Aigles would start making their comeback in the bottom of the second with a double off of Raphael Gladu.
The would continue in the sixth inning by scoring six runs with the help from Gladu, Vaibhav Desai, and L.P. Pelletier to make it 7-5.
The Aigles would score their final run in the seventh with a homerun off of Carlos Martinez to ultimately pull off the win.
Nathan Torres got the win while Kyle Thomas got the save for the Aigles. Darwin Matos was charged with the loss.
Empire State vs Tri-City
The Tri-City ValleyCats (18-18) defeated the Empire State Greys (0-35) by a score of 8-7 in a walk-off win on Friday night.
The Empire State Greys made their first trip to Joseph L. Bruno Stadium on Friday night, kicking off a weekend series between the two teams.
The ValleyCats would send Joey Gonzalez out to the hill for his eighth start of the season. He would set the Greys down in order in their first two trips to the plate.
Tri-City would get on the board in the bottom half of the first inning, on a two out double from right fielder Denis Phipps, which brought Jesus Lujano around to score from first base. The 'Cats would take on another run in the bottom of the second as well when third baseman Juan Silverio laced an RBI single down the left field line, bringing Juan Santana in from second base to score.
Following an error from first baseman Brad Zunica that allowed Liam McArthur to reach base, the Greys would record their first hit in the top of the third inning, an RBI double from Jose Mercado, cutting the ValleyCat lead in half to 2-1. Following a 1-2-3 bottom half of the third, the Greys would plate the only two earned runs off of Gonzalez in his outing on a Paul Mondesi single and an RBI double from Christian Naccari, giving the Greys the 3-2 lead.
The lead for the Greys would not last past the bottom of the fourth inning however, as a 2-RBI double from shortstop Pavin Parks gave the lead right back to Tri-City. Empire State would go quietly in the top of the fifth inning, Brad Zunica added one more to the 'Cats tally on a solo blast over the right field wall off of Greys starter Andres Rodriguez, giving the ValleyCats the 5-3 lead.
Empire State would be retired in order in the sixth and seventh innings by Garcia, who finished with nine strikeouts over those seven innings, while not allowing a walk. The offense would add another run to their total on a Jesus Lujano single that allowed Pavin Parks to score.
The Greys would come storming back in the top of the eighth inning, plating four runs. After ValleyCats reliever David Siehl loaded the bases, Trey Woosley would ground out to Parks at shortstop, bringing Liam McArthur in to score. Jordan Holloman-Smith would rip a single into left field off of Niel Abbatiello to plate two more runs to tie the game. After going first to third on a Paul Mondesi single, Holloman-Smith would score on a wild pitch out of the hand of Abbatiello to give the lead back to Empire State.
Tri-City would not score in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the lefty reliever went out for his second inning of work. After working himself into a jam, Tom Incaviglia would call upon Jake Dexter to try to limit any impending damage. The righty was able to set down the Greys top three hitters to send the game into the bottom of the ninth with the ValleyCats only trailing by one.
Juan Silverio would lead off the bottom half of the ninth inning with a single. Ciaran Devenney followed the ValleyCats third baseman with a pop out to Jose Mercado for the first out of the inning. Pavin Parks would work a walk against Holden Bernhardt, bringing Brantley Bell to the plate. The left fielder launched a line drive to deep left center field that bounced off the wall, plating the winning run all the way from first base. Tonight's walk-off victory is the ValleyCats sixth walk off win of the season. Five of the six coming at home, and the sixth coming in Washington as part of the new "Sudden Death Baseball" extra inning rule.
Gateway vs Florence
The Florence Y'alls (16-19) defeated the Gateway Grizzlies (18-19) by a score of 14-2 on Friday night.
The Y'alls stopped Gateway's four-game winning streak in the process. They did it by jumping all over starting pitcher Bendan Feldmann. Florence scored two runs in the first 2+ innings against him, by far the righty's worst start in his Frontier League career.
In all, Florence hit five home runs to tie a season-best. Anthony Brocato and Ian Bibiloni each launched a pair. Brennan Price, who finished a double shy of the cycle, had the other long ball. Every batter Florence brought to the plate reached base at least once in the contest.
The Y'alls pitching was lights-out, too. Rookie Jake McMahill, making his second career start and first at Thomas More Stadium, gave up two unearned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. He threw 112 pitches, but struck out ten and kept his innings short.
This game also marks the largest margin of victory for the Y'alls since its 21-9 win over Ottawa in May. It is their tenth time scoring at least nine runs in a game this season. The offense, while undergoing personnel changes throughout the campaign, has had its output remain fairly constant as one of the league's leaders.
McMahill earns the win, while Feldmann takes the loss. Karl Craigie, Bobby Brabrand, and Joe Dougherty combined for 2.1 innings from the bullpen, allowing no hits.
The Y'alls move to 9-2 in its last 11 games, a continuation of the team's best stretch of baseball all year. Florence and Gateway continue their weekend series tomorrow night at 6:36 p.m. Florence's Grant Hockin and Gateway's Steven Ridings are the probable starters.
Evansville vs Lake Erie
The Lake Erie Crushers (15-22) defeated the Evansville Otters (22-14) by a score of 8-7 Friday night.
Evansville fired the first shot in the top of the first inning as Zach Biermann hit a solo homer to left, his 13th of the season.
Lake Erie plated a trio of runs in the bottom of second to take the lead. Kokko Figueiredo started the inning with a double down the line in left and came around to score on Sean Cheely's RBI double to right. Austin White drove Devon Fisher home on a sacrifice fly before Kenen Irizarry brought in the final run of the inning on a RBI double to left center.
The Crushers added two more in the bottom of the fourth. Cheely belted his second double of the night to start the rally before Austin White walked. Jackson Valera brought them both home on a two out base hit to right field to give the Crushers a 5-1 lead.
Evansville was able to inch closer in the top of the fifth when Jeffrey Baez stroked a two out double to left center field to score Anthony Torreullas and Biermann.
Lake Erie answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Connor Owings reached on a one out double to left and came around to score on a wild pitch to put the Crushers in front, 6-3.
George Callil smashed a solo homer to start the top of the seventh inning and Elijah MacNamee scored on Baez's groundout to bring the Otters within a run (6-5).
Lake Erie responded with a run in the bottom of the inning as Jake Gitter smashed a solo homer over the scoreboard in right, his third of the year.
The Otters tied the game in the top of the eighth inning. Dakota Phillips belted solo homer to start the inning and Biermann drove in the tying run on a two out single to center to bring MacNamee home.
The Crushers took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth. Sean Cheely reached on an infield single with one out, and scored the eventual game winning run on Irizarry's RBI triple to left center.
Trevor Kuncl (1-0) pitched two-thirds of the eighth inning to pick up the win. Alexis Rivero (4) tossed a scoreless ninth inning to get the save. Jake Polancic (2-3) allowed a run on two hits in the eighth inning and suffered the loss.
Four Crushers hits safely multiple times on the night. Irizarry and Cheely paced the Crushers with three hits each, while Gitter and Owings both hit safely twice. Figueiredo doubled in the second inning and has now hit safely in six straight games, while Cheely has now reached safely in six straight.
Joliet vs Schaumburg
The Joliet Slammers (20-18) defeated Schaumburg Boomers (15-20) by a score of 8-2 on Friday night.
Joliet opened a 4-0 lead early, scoring a run in the first and three in the second. Schaumburg pulled within 4-2 by scoring twice in the third. Chase Dawson led off with a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly from Brett Milazzo. Blake Grant-Parks added an RBI single in the inning to score Cris Ruiz. Joliet tacked on an insurance run in the fifth and Brylie Ware put the game out of reach with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Alec Craig reached base five times, posting two hits and drawing three walks to add to his league best total. The Boomers drew seven walks in the game. Shumpei Yoshikawa suffered the loss on the mound, striking out eight in six innings. Juan Pichardo and Nate Thomas both struck out two while Michael Slaten added a strikeout. The Boomers have recorded double-digit strikeouts in 17 of the 35 games this year.
