FOUR TEAMS SWEEP AS WE HEAD INTO THE WEEKEND
Florence vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things (28-14) defeated the Florence Y'alls (17-23) 7-6 for the series sweep. The win, Washington's 28th, came courtesy of constant runs by Washington, an impressive performance from Sandro Cabrera on the mound and a save by Christian James.
Cole Brannen scored first for the Wild Things in the first thanks to a sacrifice fly and RBI by Scotty Dubrule. Brannen and Chris Eusay both scored in the third due to an errant throw by Florence's catcher to first base that went into the outfield to make it 3-0.
After Cabrera gave up a two-run home run in the fourth to Anthony Brocato, Andrew Czech got back one of the lost runs on an RBI double by Hector Roa. Ramon Osuna hit a two-run homer of his own in the fifth to get back the second lost run and add another. Eusay scored another run on a groundout from Wagner Lagrange that made it 7-2.
Jake Pilarski relieved Cabrera in the eighth with runners on first and third, and the Y'alls put on the pressure. After Alberti Chavez scored on a fielder's choice, Axel Johnson hit a three-run home run to make it a one-run game at 7-6.
Washington failed to score insurance runs in the eighth, and Christian James came in to close. It was three up, three down for James, as he allowed no hits or walks and struck out one. He even made the final out of the game throwing out the batter at first, giving him the save.
Cabrera pitched for 7.1 innings. He allowed four runs, nine hits, walked two and struck out seven in the win.
Pilarski pitched 0.2 innings, allowed two runs, including the three-run home run by Johnson, walked one and struck out one.
Empire State vs New York
New York starter Alex Mack and two relievers teamed up to blank the visiting Empire State Greys (2-38) on just three hits in the New York Boulders (21-21), 8-0 win on Thursday at Clover Stadium in Pomona.
Mack was nearly flawless over his seven innings of work. The righty surrendered only two hits - a second inning single by Khalyd Cox and a double in the seventh by Cox. Mack walked three and struck out four as he raised his season mark to a perfect 4-0.
Dylan Smith followed Mack to the mound and tossed a hitless eighth inning before Ryan Munoz closed out the shutout win by allowing only an infield single by Miguel Molina.
The game was scoreless until the home half of the six when the Boulders touched up Greys' reliever Nicholas Luc for three runs. Francisco Del Valle led off with a walk before Giovanni Garbella was hit by a pitch. Chris Kwitzer followed by bunting into a force play at third for the first out of the inning.
A balk moved the runners up to second and third for Gabriel Garcia, who singled tp right to score Garbella. A groundout to second by Max Smith then scored Kwitzer and sent Garcia to second.
Alphonso Reda's single to right plated Garcia with the frame's third run.
New York added five insurance runs in the eighth, one on an RBI double from Gabriel Garcia, his second hit of the evening and second RBI of the night, another on a groundout by Reda, also his second RBI of the evening, and when Cox dropped a fly ball off the bat of David Vinsky that allowed Max Smith to score to make it 6-0.
Jake MacKenzie then capped the inning with a two-run home run to right off Jordan Powell, the Greys' fourth pitcher of the night. The long ball was MacKenzie's sixth of the year.
Greys' starter Johsson Arias tossed five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits - both to Del Valle, singles in the second and fourth innings - before yielding to Luc to start the sixth. He walked four and struck out three and did not factor in the decision.
Luc was saddled with the loss for the Greys, falling to 0-4 on the year.
Ottawa vs New Jersey
The Ottawa Titans (27-12) used a pair of six-run innings to defeat the New Jersey Jackals (17-22) by a 14-11 final on Thursday, winning the rubber match of the series.
Justin Wylie got the scoring started with a solo homer off Titans starter Jose Taveras (win, 3-0) to kickstart the second inning.
The Titans would send eleven batters to plate in the third against Jackals right-hander Nicholas DeSalvo (loss, 0-2) apart of a six-run frame.
Jacob Talamante tied the game, scoring a Tyrus Greene lead-off triple, then Taylor Wright scored one on an RBI single. Jake Sanford hit the first of two homers of the night with a three-run big fly, blowing it open in the early going.
Up 6-1 entering the last of the third, The Titans surrendered four to the Jackals, where Wylie belted a three-run shot to make it a one-run game.
The Jackals' big inning didn't seem to phase the Titans, as they bounced back by putting up another six spot in the fourth.
Greene and Talamante had RBI knocks before Sanford blasted another three-run shot against righty Austin Smith.
On the mound of the Titans, Tavares finished the night going five complete, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking two, and striking out three for the victory.
In the sixth, Josh Rehwaldt hit his third homer in as many games, taking righty Kaleb Schmidt over the wall, making it 12-7.
Matt Feinstein blasted his first home run as an Ottawa Titan with one on in the seventh, extending the lead to 14-7. Feinstein had seven home runs with the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League prior to being dealt to the Nation's Capital earlier this week.
The Jackals batted around in their own right in the last of the seventh, scoring four runs on just two hits against Schmidt. The Titans brought in Kevin Escorcia for the final out, where the lefty fanned Todd Isaacs.
After a clean eighth, the Titans went for the lefty Grant Larson (save, 1) to record the final three outs as he rolled a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Quebec vs Sussex County
The Quebec Capitales (29-12) avoided the sweep by defeating the Sussex County Miners (25-18) 6-1 at Skylands Stadium on Thursday night.
The Capitales unloaded in the fifth inning by scoring three runs and were the first ones on the scoreboard due to the help from a T.J White and Kyle Crowl singles and an error by the Miners.
Sussex County's only run would come in the bottom of the sixth with a home run from Jawaun Harris.
The Capitales would score two more runs between the seventh and eighth and make the score 6-1 and ultimately lead them to their win.
Miguel Cienfuegos would get the win for Quebec while Vin Mazzaro would get charged with the loss.
Tri-City vs Trois-Rivières
After a rain-filled Wednesday evening, the Tri-City ValleyCats (21-20) returned to Stade Quillorama for a doubleheader against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles (18-21). The twin bill commenced at 5 PM with Jose Cruz taking the mound for the 'Cats.
After a Juan Kelly 2-run home run in the bottom of the first, the 'Cats responded with a 3-run top of the second thanks to a Brad Zunica solo shot and Jonah Girand 2-RBI single. From there, the Aigles kept the 'Cats out of the scoring column until the top of the 7th, when Jonah Girand would tally his third RBI of the game on a fielder's choice. The 7th inning comeback push proved to be too little too late, as the Aigles took game one by a score of 6-4 to even the series.
The rubber game of the three-game set got underway approximately thirty-five minutes following the completion of game one, and the 'Cats would once again find themselves trailing after one inning before responding in the second. After trailing by a score of 3-2 entering the 4th frame, Tri-City would tally six unanswered runs, thanks largely in part to a dominant performance from Denis Phipps, who went 4-for-4 with 3 extra-base hits, one of which being a solo shot in the top of sixth.
Tri-City relievers Oddy Nunez, who would record his third win of the year, and Trey Cochran-Gill would hold Trois-Rivieres to just 1 hit and 0 runs in a combined 4-inning effort.
Schaumburg vs Lake Erie
The Schaumburg Boomers (19-21) scored four unanswered runs to rally for a 4-3 win over the Lake Erie Crushers (17-25) to complete the series sweep, the first of the year.
Lake Erie scored a run in the first inning to lead for the first time in the series and added two in the third on a Connor Owings homer. Brett Milazzo put the Boomers on the board with a sacrifice fly to score Clint Hardy in the fourth and Thomas DeBonville connected on a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, to tie the game.
The winning run came across with two outs in the seventh. William Salas coaxed a two-out walk and moved to third on a single from Chase Dawson. Hardy came through with the game-winning hit.
Juan Pichardo earned the win by facing the minimum in two scoreless innings of relief. Darrell Thompson tossed the final two frames, punctuating the sweep with a strikeout to end the game and earn his fourth save. Shumpei Yoshikawa started on the hill and retired the last seven batters, working five innings. Hardy finished with three hits to lead the offense while Nick Oddo added a pair. The sweep marked the first for the Boomers since last September when the team also took three at Lake Erie.
Joliet vs Evansville
The Evansville Otters (25-16) overcame an early three-run deficit Thursday to defeat the Joliet Slammers (21-22) 7-3 and complete a series sweep.
Joliet wasted no time scoring early, stealing a run in the second inning on a passed ball past Dakota Phillips on a pitch from Evansville starter Steve Pastora.
In the third, the Slammers grabbed another pair of runs, both scoring on a two-run double from Scott Holzwasser, extending the lead to 3-0.
Pastora's day ended after three innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Ryan O'Reilly entered for a long relief opportunity, making the most of it.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Otters finally retaliated. Dakota Phillips brought in a single run with a sacrifice fly to left.
Two batters later, Anthony Torreullas tied the game at three with a two-run single.
The Otters grabbed the lead in the fifth on an error from Joliet's second baseman Matt Burch, pulling ahead 4-3.
The 4-3 Otter advantage lasted into the eighth inning when Evansville cashed in on three insurance runs.
Two runs scored on a deep sacrifice fly to center field from Miles Gordon. The final insurance run scored on an error from Joliet's third baseman Tyler DePreta-Johnson.
The Otters took a 7-3 lead into the ninth inning and called upon bullpen arm Jake Polancic to close out the game. A two-out walk wasn't enough to challenge Polancic, as Evansville held firm to their four-run lead.
O'Reilly earned the win in relief, allowing no runs and just two hits in five complete innings. The loss fell to Cam Aufderheide, his third of 2022.
With the win, Evansville earned their fifth series sweep of the season, their fourth at home.
Gateway vs Windy City
The Gateway Grizzlies (22-20) closed out the month of June in style by putting up double-digit hits and runs for the second game in a row to record a 11-7 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts (18-22), sweeping the midweek series at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.
It was the Grizzlies who scored first in the contest, putting up four runs in the top of the third inning on a leadoff home run by Jose Rosario followed later in the frame by a sacrifice fly for Trevor Achenbach and back-to-back, two-out RBI hits by Clint Freeman and Cesar Trejo to take a 4-0 advantage. Windy City scored two of those runs back in the bottom half on solo homers by Brynn Martinez and Joshuan Sandoval, but Brendan Feldmann (3-4) kept the lead intact, and settled down to pitch into the eighth inning for Gateway on the night.
The Grizzlies added on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on an RBI single by Jay Prather and a home run by Freeman, who finished a triple away from the cycle in the game, to take a 6-2 lead. Rosario would then come through in the top of the eighth with an RBI double, followed by a two-out error by Justin Miller that led to three more runs in the frame and a 10-2 Grizzlies lead.
Windy City plated four runs of their own in the eighth as well as one in the ninth after a Rosario sacrifice fly, but would not get closer than four runs down the stretch as Gateway completed the sweep. Rosario and Freeman combined to lead the Grizzlies offense by collectively going 7-for-9 with three doubles, two home runs, and six RBIs.
Gateway now heads home for the start of a critical, four-game, holiday weekend series against the Evansville Otters beginning on Friday, July 1, at 6:45 at GCS Credit Union Ballpark. Steven Ridings is the projected starter for Gateway against Evansville's Parker Brahms in Sauget.
