JULY 4TH WEEKEND OFF TO A HOT START

Empire State vs Tri-City

Saturday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium featured the second game of the weekend series between the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Empire State Greys.

Leo Crawford took the mound for Tri-City. The left hander was looking for his second consecutive victory, after beating the Greys last Saturday as well. The ValleyCats starter shined in the first inning. Liam McArthur was retired on a line out to Brantley Bell in left field. The next two batters would be taken care of by Crawford, striking out both Robbie Carling and Paul Mondesi. 

Greys starter Derek Hassan would struggle in the bottom half of the first inning, walking Pavin Parks to lead off the inning. Brantley Bell would be hit by the first pitch thrown to him, and Jesus Lujano would work a walk to load the basis. Hassan would surrender his third walk of the inning, giving up a bases loaded walk to Denis Phipps, bringing Parks in from third. First baseman Brad Zunica would bloop a single into shallow center field, bringing Bell in from third base.  

Jordan Powell would come in to replace Hassan following the Zunica single. Juan Silverio would greet the Greys reliever with a base hit of his own, plating the third run of the inning. Powell would settle down, striking Jace Mercer out for the first out of the inning. The right hander would limit the 'Cats damage to just three runs following an inning-ending double play off the bat of Carson McCusker. 

Crawford would allow the first two Greys batters to reach base in the top of the second inning, Khalyd Cox singled and Christian Naccari worked a walk, putting runners on base with nobody out. Crawford would work out of the self-induced jam, getting a double play ball out of Trey Woosley and striking out Willie Estrada to retire the side. 

The Tri-City offense would pick up right where it left off in the bottom half of the second. Following a Pavin Parks single, Brantley Bell would launch his fifth home run of the season to left center field. Brad Zunica would record his second hit in as many innings with a two out double, bringing Juan Silverio to the plate. The ValleyCats third baseman would plate Zunica with his second RBI single of the night, giving Tri-City a 7-0 lead. 

The Greys would get on the board in the top half of the third inning, on a double steal from Liam McArthur and John Benevolent. McArthur took off from first with two outs, inducing a rundown between first and second base, allowing Benevolent to score from third. 

The ValleyCats offense would be held silent by Powell through the next three innings of his outing. Alberto Rodriguez would enter in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Greys reliever would retire the first two batters he faced, but would run into trouble following back to back singles from Brantley Bell and Jesus Lujano, bringing Denis Phipps to the plate. Following a steal of second from Lujano, the designated hitter would rip a single into left field, bringing both Bell and Lujano in to score. 

Leo Crawford would go seven innings in his outing, surrendering just one run on three hits, while striking out five and just walking two Greys hitters. 

Marshall Winn would enter to make his professional debut in the eighth inning. The former Albany Great Dane would strike out Jose Mercado to start the inning, and would retire the remaining two Greys hitters in order, ending the eighth with a strike out of Robbie Carling. 

Winn would run into a bit of trouble in the ninth, surrendering three consecutive singles, walking and hitting a batter. Adam Hofacket would replace Winn, and would take care of the Greys to secure the series victory. 

Trois Rivières vs Quebec 

The Trois-Rivières Aigles (20-21) defeated the Quebec Capitales (29-14) by a final score of 9-2. 

The Aigles started scoring early in the top of the second, third, and fourth innings. Connor Panas started with a sac fly RBI in the second. Raphael Gladu hit an RBI single in the third. Elliot Curtis hit an RBI single followed by a run scored on a fielder's choice to give the Aigles a 4-0 lead.

Quebec scored two runs to cut into the 4-0 lead on a Jonathan Lacroix RBI fly out and a run scored on a fielder's choice. 

Trois-Rivières added some insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Steve Brown hit an RBI double in the seventh. L.P. Pelletier hit an RBI sac fly followed by a three run homer by Carlos Martinez to end the scoring at 9-2.

Quebec's starter, John Witkowski, took the loss in his three and one thirds inning of work. He allowed seven hits, four runs, three earned, one walk and strikeout. Ian Codina, Nick Horvath, Marshall Shill and Samuel Adames came in relief.

Trois-Rivières' starter, Osman Gutierrez, earned the win for his five innings of work. He allowed seven hits, two earned runs, four walks and strikeouts. Tyler Luneke came in for the save in the last four innings and allowed five hits and three strikeouts. 

Windy City vs Joliet

The Windy City ThunderBolts had chances to snap its losing streak but stranded 12 runners on base in a 6-5 setback to Joliet on Saturday night. It was the fifth straight defeat for the Bolts (18-24).

The first two innings were home run heavy.

Scott Holzwasser opened the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning for Joliet (23-22).

The Bolts responded with a three-run inning, blasting two homers of their own. Brian Fuentes tied it with a solo shot and Brynn Martinez pushed the Bolts ahead, 3-1, with a two-run deep ball.

Joliet regained the advantage on Matt McGarry's three-run round tripper in a four-run second for the Slammers.

Windy City pulled within a run in the fourth inning on Josh Sandoval's RBI double. Joliet neutralized that run in the sixth, scoring on a passed ball to make it 6-4.

In the eighth, Bren Spillane's RBI infield single inched the Bolts back within one, 6-5.

In the ninth, the Bolts put runners at first and second with two outs, but Tyler Jay nailed down the save with a strikeout. It was the fifth different inning the Bolts stranded multiple runners on base.

Chandler Brierly (1-1) earned the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Bryan Ketchie (3-3) suffered the loss, yielding five runs in five innings. Jay (2) earned the save with a scoreless ninth.

Florence vs Schaumburg

The 2021 Frontier League Champion Schaumburg Boomers won a fifth straight game to reach the .500 mark on the year by recording an 8-7 decision over the Florence Y'Alls on Saturday afternoon at Wintrust Field, trapping the tying run at second in the ninth.

Florence jumped ahead early, scoring a pair of runs in the first. Bryant Flete led off the game with a homer. Schaumburg responded immediately to plate three runs in the bottom of the inning. Chase Dawson opened the scoring with an RBI single after Clint Hardy led off the game with a double. Jordan Wiley tallied a two-run single with two outs to give the Boomers the lead. Wiley owns six RBIs in four games with the team.

Two more runs came across in the fourth as the Boomers led 5-2. Brett Milazzo posted an RBI triple and scored on a single from Hardy. Florence struck for four runs in the sixth to lead 6-5 on a two-run homer from Axel Johnson. Hardy and Alec Craig tallied RBI singles in the bottom of the inning to put the Boomers ahead for good. Craig added insurance with an RBI double in the eighth. Florence scored a two out run in the ninth but Darrell Thompson stranded the tying run at second to earn his fifth save.

Kyle Arjona earned his second win, allowing just three earned runs in six innings of work, striking out four. Luis Perez made his debut with the team and tossed two scoreless, striking out a pair. Hardy finished with three hits, scored three runs, drove home two and tallied a stolen base. Craig, Wiley and Milazzo all tallied two hits as the Boomers finished with 13. Craig has now reached base in 18 straight while Thomas DeBonville extended his streak to nine.

Washington vs Lake Erie (Double Header) 

GAME 1

Washington took game one of the doubleheader after Friday's rain postponement by a final of 9-1 behind late offense to pull away and strong pitching throughout.

Washington scored the first two runs of the game on a double by Wagner Lagrange that was hit with the bases full in the third inning of Game 1. Lagrange earned his 14th double of the year with the line drive down the right field line and drove in his 33rd and 34th runs of the year with the hit.

Lake Erie got a run in the fourth inning to open its end of the scoring against righty Eric Mock, who made the start for the Wild Things in game one. He left after Jake Gitter's RBI single, the third base hit of the frame, brought home Connor Owings from second. Kenny Pierson came on for the Wild Things and induced a double-play ball. Mock finished with 3.1 innings pitched and allowed one run on four hits with one strikeout in the spot start. He didn't factor into the decision.

The scoring then halted until the sixth inning when Washington plated three. Andrew Czech scored Lagrange, who had singled for his 20th multi-hit game of the year, to make it 3-1 Washington. Cole Brannen tripled home a run and scored himself on an error on the same play to push the lead to 5-1, which would be extended to the final score of 9-1 in the seventh by the Wild Things.

Jared Mang hit his sixth homer of the year and fifth as a Wild Thing with a two-run shot to open that four-run frame against his former club. Later in the inning, Ian Walters singled home a run and Brannen lifted a sac fly to cap the scoring. 

Kaleb McCullough worked a scoreless seventh in his pro debut from Oral Roberts University to finish the win for Washington (29-14). The win went to Pierson, who goes to 2-1, while Jay Alvarez suffered his third loss of the season for Lake Erie (17-26).

GAME 2

Washington continued its dominant pitching ways into the second game of the doubleheader, with four pitchers combining to earn Washington's fifth shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory.

The only run of the game came in the second inning after Wagner Lagrange singled to extend his hit streak to 10 games, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on an error and scored on Andrew Czech's RBI single.

Stephen Knapp made a spot start for his first as a Wild Thing and second appearance for the club. He pitched three innings, allowed three hits, fanned three, walked one and didn't allow a run. Hayden Pearce faced six batters and set them all down with a strikeout en route to moving to 4-1 with the win. Kenny Pierson pitched 0.1 innings before giving way to closer Lukas Young after a pair of hits.

Young got a line drive back to him and turned it into a sixth-inning-ending double play before seeing the tying run reach twice in the ninth but it didn't get past first. Young picked up his eighth save of the season with the five-out work. 

Washington became the first team to 30 wins in the Frontier League with the doubleheader sweep and dropped Lake Erie to 17-27 in the process.

Sussex County vs New Jersey 

The rain held up for this evening matchup between the Jackals and the Miners as 4th July weekend kicked off in Little Falls. Playing great baseball as of late, the Jackals took the first game of the series by a score of 12-3 in Sussex County and were poised to keep the winning ways rolling as the series shifted to Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday.

The Jackals turned to Charles Cywin, who made his first career professional baseball start, and he didn't disappoint. The rookie threw four complete innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while also tallying two strikeouts. The bullpen was spectacular as well, using three arms (Dylan Peiffer, Hansel Rodriguez, and Jefry Valdez). In five innings, they only surrendered two hits without giving up any runs and striking out six. Jefry Valdez came in and closed the door in the ninth to record his first save of the season.

The Jackals started the scoring in the contest when Justin Wylie hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Todd Isaacs in the first. The Jackals continued in the second when Trevor Abrams smashed his seventh home run of the year the opposite way just inside the right field foul pole to put the Jackals ahead 2-0.

Sussex responded when Martin Figueroa hit a sacrifice fly of his own to score Errol Robinson in the top half of the third. After an error committed by the Jackals' defense, Mikey Reynolds scored to knot the game at 2. 

The Miners picked right up where they left off in the third when Webb Little grooved a fastball that cleared the right field fence to give Sussez their first lead of the game at 3-2.

The back and forth play continued as New Jersey loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth for Alfredo Marte. Before Marte got a pitch to hit, Todd Isaacs scored on a wild pitch to once again tie the game. Marte capitalized on the momentum swing as he dunked a single into left field scoring both Dalton Combs and Santiago Chirino which gave the Jackals a 5-3 lead.

The reigning Frontier Player of the Week, Josh Rehwaldt, continued his torrid stretch, scorching his seventh long ball in nine games and that was all the Jackals needed to lock down the 6-3 victory. This hit from Rehwaldt solidified a nine game hitting streak for the South Dakota native. 

Another hitting streak to keep an eye on is from first baseman Dalton Combs. Combs is on a 16-game home hitting streak and a 14-game hitting streak overall.

Ottawa vs New York

The New York Boulders rallied from a four-run deficit to down the visiting Ottawa Titans, 6-5, on Saturday at Clover Stadium in Pomona. The win was New York's fifth in a row.

July Sosa got the win in relief in his Boulders' debut by tossing four innings of two-hit relief.

The Boulders grabbed the lead in the bottom of the seventh against Titans' reliever Grant Larson, Ottawa's third pitcher of the night. David Vinsky led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Austin Dennis then hit a hard one hopper up the middle that deflected off Larson's glove towards shortstop where Jackie Urbaez had no play as Vinsky scored to give New York a 6-5 advantage.

Urbaez had hit a pair of home runs - a solo shot leading off the game and a two-run blast in the third - to stake Ottawa to a 3-1 lead. The homers gave Urbaez seven on the year.

Meanwhile, Chris Kwitzer's run-scoring double knotted the game at 1-1 for New York in the second.

Jacob Sanford's 13th long ball of the season, a two-run shot, increased Ottawa's advantage to 5-1 in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, the Boulders evened the contest at 5-5 on a run-scoring single by Dennis and a three-run homer by Giovanni Garbella, his fourth of the year.

Grant Larson took the loss for Ottawa - his first defeat against three victories.

Evansville vs Gateway

Following strong pitching through the first eight innings Saturday, Logan Sawyer closed out a 3-1 win for the Evansville Otters against the Gateway Grizzlies after a brief rain delay going to the bottom of the ninth inning.

The game started in a scoreless tie through the first two innings, but the Otters crossed home plate first in the third inning.

Elijah MacNamee put the Otters ahead 1-0 on an RBI single that extended his on-base streak to 35 games.

In the bottom half of the third, Gateway evened things up at 1-1, capitalizing on a two-out error by George Callil. Two batters after the error, an RBI single from Cesar Trejo did the trick.

Evansville quickly retook the lead, as Jeffrey Baez hit a solo home run to dead center field in the fourth inning, lifting the Otters to a 2-1 lead.

After a scoreless fifth inning, Evansville grabbed a 3-1 lead on an RBI double off the top of the wall from Andy Armstrong.

Starting pitcher Austin Gossmann delivered five strong innings on the mound before handing the ball to Jacob Bowles for two scoreless innings and another scoreless frame by Augie Gallardo in the eighth.

Midway through the ninth, a 10-minute rain delay halted things on the field as Logan Sawyer took the mound.

Once the delay concluded, Sawyer returned to the mound, dispatching the Grizzlies in 1-2-3 fashion to earn his league-leading 13th save of the season and seal the Otters' fifth straight victory.

Austin Gossmann grabbed the win in his first start since coming off the injured list, allowing just one unearned run on seven hits in five complete innings. Justin Ferrell dropped to 1-1, allowing two runs on five Evansville hits in his five innings.

Armstrong recorded two hits for a second straight game, alongside Steven Sensley and MacNamee.