THE FOURTH OF JULY SAW FIREWORKS IN THE SKY AND OFF THE BAT!
Baseball and Independence Day seemingly always go hand-in-hand as both synonymous with American traditions. Hotdogs on the grill, hotdogs at the ballpark, fireworks in the sky and fireworks coming off the swing of the bat. It seems only fitting that multiple baseballs were sent in the air across the league tonight (12 to be exact), the 246th birthday of the United States, with the fireworks that would follow.
Ottawa vs Tri-City
The Tri-City ValleyCats (24-20) defeated the Ottawa Titans (28-15) by a final score of 7-6.
Tri-City opened the game with a four run inning in the bottom of the first thanks to a Dennis Phipps three-run homer to left field and a Juan Silverio solo homer to give the 'Cats a 4-0 lead.
Ottawa would respond with just one run coming off the bat of Jason Dicochea on an RBI single to center field.
Tri-City would get back to what they started in the first in the second, scoring twice more on a Brantley Bell RBI double and a Jesus Lujano RBI groundout to put the 'Cats up 6-1.
Ottawa would score again in the top of the fifth inning on a Tyrus Green solo homer to right field. The ValleyCats would respond in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI coming on a fielder's choice to make it 7-2.
The Ottawa Titans scored again in the top of the sixth inning on a Rodrigo Orozco solo homer to right. The Titans would then make a run for a comeback in the top of the ninth inning. Starting with an A.J. Wright RBI double, followed by a RBI ground-rule double by Dicochea and a Matt Feinstien RBI groundout. Unfortunately, that is all the runners the Titans could manage to get around the bases as they fell short of the comeback, 6-7.
Ottawa's starter, Chris Burica, took the loss in his five innings of work. He allowed six hits, seven earned runs, walked six and struck out four batters. Matt Terrones and Kevin Escorcia came in relief.
Try-City's starter, Joey Gonzalez, earned the win in his six innings of work. He allowed five hits, three earned runs, walked one batter and struck out six. Adam Hofacket, Brac Warren and Trey Cochran-Gill came in relief. Cochran-Gill would earn the save for his one inning of work where he allowed one hit and struck out one batter.
Sussex County vs New York
The Sussex County Miners (27-20) defeated the New York Boulders (24-23) by a final score of 12-5.
The Miners scored heavily in the first half of the game, managing to score five runs through the third and fourth innings. Martin Figueroa started the scoring in the top of the third on an RBI single. In the top of the fourth Errol Robinson hit an RBI single. Nilo Rijo also hit a two RBI single to right field followed by a Figueroa RBI single to put the Miners up 5-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.
The Boulders would respond in the bottom of the fourth with a large scoring affair of their own. Francisco Del Valle started things off for New York with an RBI single to center field followed by a two-run homer by Gian Martenllini followed by a RBI single by Gabriel Garcia to cut the lead to 5-4.
Sussex County added some insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings on a Nilo Rijo RBI double, a Figueroa RBI single and a Kevin Rolon two RBI single in the sixth. Figueroa would bat again in the seventh inning and hit another RBI single to center followed by a run scoring on an error that would put the Miners ahead 11-4 in the seventh.
New York managed one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a fielder's choice. Del Valle would be credited with the RBI on the play to make it 11-5. New York would not be able to make a comeback.
Sussex County added one more run on a Figueroa solo homer in the top of the ninth to end the scoring at 12-5. That would be Figueroa's fifth RBI of the day and he would finish 5-6 at the plate.
New York's starter, Andrew Hammond, would take the loss in his four innings of work. He allowed eight hits, five earned runs, one walk and struck out four batters. Ryder Yakel, Zach Schneider, Ryan Munoz and Lucas Burton all came in relief.
Sussex County's starter, Michael Mediavilla, earned the win in his seven innings of work. He allowed seven hits, four earned runs, one walk and struck out 10 batters.
Florence vs Schaumburg
The Schuamburg Boomers (23-21) defeated the Florence Y'alls (17-27) by a final score of 6-3.
The Boomers scored first in the bottom of the second inning on a grand slam by Mike Hart to give Schaumburg an early 4-0 lead.
Florence had some work to do and they would get right to it in the top of the third inning by scoring a run on an RBI groundout by Alberti Chavez. They Y'alls would score again in the top of the fifth inning on another Chavez RBI to cut the score in half, 4-2. Florence scored one last time in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI single by Bryant Flete to just come short of a tie game.
The Boomers added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on RBI doubles by William Salas and Mike Hart. Hart would finish the game with five RBI's and go 2-4 at the plate.
Florence's starter, Jonaiker Villalobos, took the loss in his five innings of work. He allowed 10 hits, four earned runs, walked one batter and struck out six. Cameron Pferrer and Darwin Ramos came in relief.
Schaumburg's starter, Blake Stelzer, earned the win in his six innings of work on the mound. He allowed six hits, two earned runs, struck out seven batters while not giving up any free passes. Luis Perez and Darrell Thompson came in relief. Thompson earned the save in his two innings of work where he struck out five batters.
Windy City vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things (31-15) defeated the Windy City ThunderBolts (18-26) by a final score of 14-6.
The ThunderBolts and Wild Things had an explosive first inning scoring 11 runs between both teams. Windy City took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a Brianm Fuentes two RBI double, an error on a stolen base, and a Jake Boone RBI single.
The Wild Things would reclaim the game with a 7-4 lead thanks to Wagner Lagrange's RBI infield single, Andrew Czech's RBI single to left, Hector Roa's two RBI ground-rule double, an error on a play by the pitcher, and a solo homer by Alex Alvarez.
In the top of the second, Fuentes scored another run for the 'Bolts on an RBI double to narrow the lead to 7-5.
Czech would help the Wild Things with another RBI to right field to extend the lead 8-5.
Windy City's Joshua Sandoval would take matters into his own hands with a solo homer in the top of the third to narrow the lead again 8-6, unfortunately that would be the last run Windy City would get on the board.
The Wild Things took the game over from there scoring in the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth innings to take a 14-6 lead.
Windy City's starter, Sebastian Selway, took the loss and only pitched two-thirds of an inning. In that span he allowed six hits, seven earned runs, walked two batters and struck out one. Tyler Thornton, Justin Miller and Braydon Bonner all came in relief.
Washington's starter, Rob Wallern, earned his ninth win of the season and lasted five innings. He allowed six hits, six runs, five earned, walked two batters and struck out seven. Dan Kubiuk and Kaleb McCullogh came in relief.
Evansville vs Gateway
The Evansville Otters (29-16) defeated the Gateway Grizzlies (22-24) by a final score of 6-2.
The Grizzlies scored first in the bottom of the first on a fielder's choice; Trevor Achenbach would be credited with an RBI.
Evansville would be down by a run until the top of the sixth inning when Zach Biermann would tie the game on a solo homer 1-1. George Callil would give Gateway the lead on a three-run homer to take a 4-1 lead. Callil wasn't done yet, he came up to bat again in the top of the eighth and hit a two-run homer to give the Otters a 6-1 lead.
Gateway would manage just one last run in the bottom of the inning on a Trevor Achenback RBI single to end the scoring at 6-2.
Gateway's starter, JP Williams, would take the loss in his five and one-third innings of work. He allowed three hits, two earned runs, walked two batters and struckout six. Nick Kennedy, Jared Milch, Carson Cupo and John Murphy all came in relief.
Evansville's starter, Brett Adcock, earned the win for his six and one-third innings of work. He allowed seven hits, one earned run, two walks and struck out six batters. Jacob Bowles and Augie Gallardo came in relief.
