QUEBEC PUSHES WINNING STREAK TO FIVE

New York vs Quebec

The Quebec Capitales(35-15) pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh inning and held on for a 5-4 win over the New York Boulders (26-26) on Sunday at Stade Canac in Quebec City to complete the sweep of the three-game weekend series.

Tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Garrett Takamatsu tripled off of Boulders' starter Josh Loeschorn with one out. David Glaude followed with a groundout to second base that sent Takamatsu across the plate with the lead run.

Now with two out, Loeschorn walked Tristan Pompey and Jeffry Parra and was relieved by Matt Leon, who was greeted with a double by T.J. White that scored Pompey and gave the Capitales a 5-3 lead.

The Boulders did get one run back in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly off Franklin Parra, Quebec's third pitcher of the evening, by Gabriel Garcia, his third RBI of the night, that brought New York within 5-4.

However, Nick Horvath came on in the ninth for Quebec and shut the door, picking up his first save of the year.

The teams had settled into that 3-3 tie after 3 ½ innings – Parra responsible for all three Capitales' runs. In the bottom of the first, Parra drove in a run with a groundout to give Quebec a 1-0 advantage, then, in the third, he blasted a two-run home run, his 15th of the year, to stake the home team to a 3-1 lead.

The Boulders answered each time. In the top of the third, David Vinsky's RBI single evened the contest at 1-1; then, in the top of the fourth, Gabriel Garcia's two-run home run, his fourth of the season, tied the game at 3-3.

Loeschorn was tagged with the loss for New York, his second in as many decisions this season. He lasted 6 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on five hits, while walking four and striking out three.

Joel Huertas started for Quebec and gave the Capitales a quality start by going six innings and surrendering three runs, two earned, on six hits, while walking a pair and striking out six.

Ian Condins relieved Huertas and tossed a scoreless and hitless seventh inning, picking up the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.

Trois-Rivières vs New Jersey

The Jackals(23-27) wrapped up a five game series on Sunday against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles(25-25) with a double-header, the second double-header of the weekend. After taking the first three games of the set, the Jackals turned to Nick DeSalvo to start Game One, making his seventh appearance and fifth start of the season.

DeSalvo pitched a scoreless frame in the first, but ran into a little trouble in the

second as Juan Santana grounded a single up the middle into center field to score former Jackal Edward Salcedo and Raphael Gladu as the Aigles kicked off the scoring.

The Trois-Rivieres lead was short lived as Jackals right fielder Josh Rehwaldt

slapped a two-run shot to the opposite field to knot the contest at two runs a piece. This was Rehwaldt's 17th home run of the season as he currently stands alone as the leader in the category for the entire Frontier League.

Raphael Gladu broke the tie with a solo shot to right field in the fourth. This was Gladu's 6th long ball of the year as the Aigles retook the lead at 3-2.

This was truly a back-and-forth ball game as the scorching hot Dalton Combs hit a sacrifice fly to score New Jersey's backstop Zak Whalin and the game was once again tied, this time at three all.

The Aigles pulled ahead for good in the seventh third baseman Juan Kelly singled to right field, scoring Ricardo Sanchez. Trois-Rivieres didn't stop there as Carlos Martinez laced a double into left field to score L.P. Pelletier and Juan Kelly.

Trailing 6-3 with three outs to go, the Jackals were able to get one run to cross courtesy of a Carlos Martinez passed ball as Zak Whalin touched home to score the Jackals' fourth and final run of the game. Trois-Rivieres won Game One by a score of 6-4.

Game Two followed exactly 30 minutes upon the conclusion of Game One and the Jackals gave Angelo Baez the ball for his 19th appearance and fourth start of the year.

Baez was sensational, throwing six complete innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits, walking no one and striking out three. After this start, Baez has now lowered his season ERA to 3.13.

Game Two was a true pitcher's duel with only three runs scoring all game between both teams.

The Aigles stuck first in the second inning when L.P. Pelletier singled to score Ricardo Sanchez. Later in the third, Connor Panas reached on a Justin Wylie error that scored Juan Santana to give Trois-Rivieres a two run cushion.

The lone Jackals run came in the 5th when Josh Rehwaldt drew a bases loaded walk, but that was all for New Jersey in Game Two.

Aigles starter Kevin Perez matched the masterful performance from Baez going four and a third innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking two and striking out five.

Despite the losses this afternoon, Dalton Combs is on a remarkable tear. The New Jersey first baseman extended his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games,

recording one hit in Game One and three hits in Game Two. Combs also raised his Frontier League leading batting average to .407.

Empire State vs Ottawa 

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Canada's Capital, the Ottawa Titans (33-18) squeaked out a 2-1 walk-off victory in extras over the Empire State Greys (3-47).

The series finale saw a pitchers duel with Titans' lefty Evan Grills (ND, 3-2) and Greys righty Andres Rodriguez (ND, 0-3) through six.

Grills retired 13 of the first 15 he faced through four innings of play, surrendering two hits while fanning seven.

On the flip side, the Titans' offence left a combined eight runners on through the first four. With a great chance in the first, Clay Fisher struck out on a breaking ball down and away to leave the bases juiced. Then in the third, Fisher came up with the bases loaded and one out, where John Benevolent started a double play by tagging third base on a groundball, then started a 5-2-5-1 putout to end the frame.

As the contest cruised on, Grills allowed a leadoff double off the bat of Jose Mercado in the eighth, then a single from Liam McCarthur. With runners on the corners with no one out, McCarthur took off for second and got himself into scoring position with a stolen base. Grills locked in and retired the next three in order with strikeouts to keep the game scoreless.

Jason Dicochea broke the goose egg in the bottom of the seventh, hammering an Alberto Rodriguez (loss, 0-1) offering onto Coventry Road to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

With the lead, Grills came on for the ninth looking for the complete game but hit the first batter he faced. Kevin Escorcia came out of the bullpen for the final three outs, when a fielder's choice and an E1 setup back to back strikeouts. Down to their final out, Escorcia plunked Mercado to load the bases. As the lineup turned over for McCarthur, the two went toe-to-toe for a nine-pitch at-bat, where on 3-2, Escorcia walked in the tying run.

The ninth-inning run brought the end of the line for Grills, who took the no-decision on Sunday. The lefty went eight innings, allowing one run, none earned, on five hits, walking one, and striking out twelve.

After the Titans failed to score in the ninth, it brought on extra innings for the second time in the series. Grant Larson (win, 4-2) allowed a pair of bunt singles as the bases loaded up with only one out. Larson got a pair of massive outs as Paul Mondesi lined out to second before Marcos Estevez went down looking to end the inning.

With the courtesy runner in Jason Dicochea at second to begin the bottom of the tenth, Jake Sanford put the potential winning run 90 feet away with a groundout to second. Taylor Wright ended the ballgame with a first-pitch base hit to right, cashing in Dicochea from third for the walk-off win.

The Titans struck out a season-high sixteen batters in the victory, to take three of four, and five of seven on the homestand.

Following an off-day on Monday, the Ottawa Titans are on the road to start a four-game series at Stade Quillorama in Trois-Rivières, with a double header on Tuesday night. Following the road trip, the club returns home for the final series of the first half hosting the Quebec Capitales.

Tri-City vs Sussex County

The Tri-City ValleyCats(27-24) and Sussex County Miners(29-23) squared off in a rubber match matinee at Skylands Stadium on Sunday afternoon following Tri-City's bounce back 7-3 win on Saturday night.

In his second start of the season, southpaw Ryan Williamson spun three solid innings with help from the Tri-City defense, including an inning-ending triple play in the 3rd spun by Juan Silverio, Jace Mercer, and Brad Zunica. The 4th inning would be a different story as the Sussex County bats came alive for a 5-run inning, chasing Williamson from the game. Tri-City relievers would hold the Miners at bay, with Oddy Nunez only allowing one run in one inning, and Eric Ezersky holding the Miners scoreless through three innings of work.

The Tri-City bats would struggle, with six Sussex County pitchers combining for a no-hit effort entering the ninth. Sussex County would turn to Robert Klinchock in an attempt at history. Pavin Parks would lead off the inning with a fly out. 

Just two outs away from being on the wrong side of history, Brantley Bell scorched a baseball up the middle. Miners second baseman Nilo Rijo would dive to field the ball but was unable to complete the throw in time. The play was ruled an error on Rijo. Once again with just two outs to go, Denis Phipps stepped into the box. Phipps would sky a ball high into right field, sailing over the fence, ending the no-hitter and shutout with a two-run home run. The next batter, first baseman Brad Zunica would hammer a double into the right-centerfield gap. The two hits would be the only offense for Tri-City in the series finale, as Juan Silverio and Jace Mercer would both ground out to end the game.

Florence vs Evansville

After falling behind in the first inning, the Florence Y'alls(19-31) used a big swing in each of the second and the fourth innings to score six runs and take a lead they would build into an 8-3 victory over the Evansville Otters(32-19) Sunday evening at Bosse Field. 

The win is the second in a row for the Florence Y'alls and comes just one game after they broke an 11-game losing streak. It marks the fourth win of the season against the Otters in six tries, already tying the total wins against Evansville last season and exceeding the number of wins recorded at Bosse Field a year ago. 

Down 1-0 after the first inning, the Y'alls recorded three consecutive hits to start the second inning off of Ryan O'Reilly, one of them being a three-run home run for Axel Johnson. It is the second game in a row with a home run for Johnson, who now has a four-game hitting streak. 

Steven Sensley plated a run for Evansville in the third inning on a fielder's choice ground out to make it a 3-2 game, but the Y'alls would immediately extend their lead in the fourth inning. The first three batters again reached, setting up a bases-clearing double for Bryant Flete leading to a 6-2 Y'alls advantage.  

Later in the game, Florence added on with two more runs in the eighth. Ethan Stern roped a double down the left field line to score Johnson from first, followed by a Cooper Edwards RBI single for his first professional RBI. Evansville's Jeffrey Baez hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to finalize the Otters' scoring tonight. 

Six of the eight runs were charged to O'Reilly, who takes the loss for Evansville. He struck out three and walked two over three 1/3 innings. Edgar Martinez made his first start for the Y'alls in a month and went the first four innings and allowed two runs. Kent Klyman earns the win tonight after one 2/3 innings of relief, giving up the only run allowed by a Y'alls relief pitcher tonight; they used four. 

Elijah MacNamee had two hits for the Otters in his return to the lineup, while Flete, Stern, and Craig Massey had two hits apiece for the Y'alls.  

Gateway vs Lake Erie 

The Gateway Grizzlies(27-25) got contributions from many different sources on Sunday in the rubber game against the Lake Erie Crushers(22-29), taking the lead early, and using a four-run third inning to pull away in what became an 8-2 win at Mercy Health Stadium, clinching the series and finishing 5-1 on their road trip.

Jay Prather launched his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall in the top of the second off Julio Vivas (1-7), putting the Grizzlies ahead 1-0. With two outs in the top of the third, Andrew Penner was hit by a pitch and Isaac Benard reached on a critical error by the second baseman Kemuel Thomas-Rivera. That opened the door for the Grizzlies to score four runs in the inning on RBI hits by Zach Racusin, Trevor Achenbach, and Clint Freeman as they took a 5-0 lead.  

Brendan Feldmann (4-4) took it from there, as the Grizzlies' ace tossed seven strong innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits to get the win on the mound.  

Gateway also pulled away with three late runs, including an RBI single by Benard that extended his hit streak to 13 games in a row and his on-base streak to 24 in a row, a sacrifice fly by Prather, and another error that allowed Cam Touchette to score. Overall, Gateway put up eight runs on 11 hits, the fourth time on the road trip that they had 10 or more base knocks. 

Windy City vs Schaumburg

Daryl Myers was reactivated at 9:30 AM Sunday morning & less than six hours later he was 3-for-5 with two home runs, leading the Windy City ThunderBolts(20-29) to a series-closing, 7-5 win over the Schaumburg Boomers(26-24).  

Two pitches into the game Myers re-introduced himself to the Frontier League. Leading off the top of the first, he belted a 0-1 pitch over the right field wall. 

In the second inning, the Bolts padded the lead. Jake Boone and Brynn Martinez walked, setting up Josh Sandoval for a two-run single. 

In the fifth, Myers went back to work, doubling home Sandoval to make it 4-0. 

Peyton Isaacson jumped in on the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth inning. 

In the eighth, Myers posted his grand finale, a two-run homer. 

Despite the 7-0 Bolts lead, Schaumburg didn't go quietly. Chase Dawson tripled home two runs. The next hitter, Braxton Davison, hit a two-run homer. The Boomers made it a two-run game on Will Salas' RBI single.

With the Bolts holding on to a two-run lead, Layne Schnitz-Paxton (8) came on in the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to earn the save.

Daniel Kight (3-1) earned the win with an inning of scoreless relief. Shumpei Yoshikawa (3-6) suffered the loss, allowing four runs in five innings.

Joliet vs Washington

The Washington Wild Things(33-18) found a lump of coal in their stocking in the form of a 10-3 loss to the Joliet Slammers (24-25) on Christmas in July. The Slammers took advantage of walks and put together a strong night offensively to take the series. Washington, despite the loss, is 33-18 and still in first in the West Division entering a big road trip before the All-Star break.

After two scoreless innings, Washington starter Daren Osby gave up an RBI single with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Joliet in the third. In the fourth, the Slammers scored two more thanks to a fielder's choice and a double steal to double the lead over the Wild Things. Osby gave up one more run in the fifth on an RBI single to make it 5-0. Osby was pulled after the fifth for Jake Pilarski.

Pilarski didn't fare any better, however. A three-run homer for Brylie Ware sent the lead to 8-0 for the Slammers. Pilarski stayed in for one more inning before Christian James relieved him in the eighth. James gave up a second Joliet home run, this time a two-run homer by Luke Mangieri, to make it 10-0. James finished the inning, but Kaleb McCullough came to the mound in the ninth. McCullough succeeded in allowing no runs in his lone inning on the mound. 

Joliet issued three straight walks to load the bases in Washington's half of the ninth. Cole Brannen hit a sacrifice RBI to avoid the shutout. Landen Barns hit an RBI double and Jared Mang grounded in a third run for Washington. Unfortunately, that was all the joy to be had, as Scotty Dubrule grounded to the first baseman to be the final out and end the game 10-3. 

Osby pitched for five innings in the loss. He allowed five runs, nine hits, five walks, and struck out two. Pilarski pitched two innings, allowed three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out one. James pitched one inning, allowed two runs, two hits and struck out two. McCullough pitched one inning, allowed one hit and struck out one.