WASHINGTON SWEEPS QUEBEC WITH WIN IN SUDDEN DEATH

Quebec vs Washington

The Washington Wild Things downed the Québec Capitales in sudden death 5-4 on Halloween Night. The late-game heroics of Lukas Young helped Washington to achieve the sweep over the East-Division-leading Québec. 

The Capitales led 4-3 after the top of the eighth before Washington's Hector Roa tied the game by scoring on a wild pitch. Neither team scored in the ninth, taking the game to the 10th inning. Each team got a chance at bat, starting their chances with a runner on second. Both defenses held, forcing sudden death.

Washington, being the home team, decided to take defense, giving Québec offense. Québec had a runner on first to start, and if they or another Québec batter made it home, the Capitales would win. Washington, however, would be allotted a run and the win if they prevented the runners from reaching home. 

The first out came when Young picked up a bunted ball and threw out the Capitales' batter at first on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter popped a fly ball that Ian Walters caught to get the second out. Washington intentionally walked the next batter to add a second runner on base. Both advanced on a wild pitch, but Washington pulled out the win when Nick Ward caught a pop fly to end the game. 

Young, who got the win this game, pitched for three innings, entering in the ninth. He allowed no runs or hits, walked one, and struck out three. 

Daren Osby, who started for Washington, pitched six innings, allowed two runs, eight hits, walked two and struck out five. Dan Kubiuk relieved Osby in the seventh, pitched one inning, walked one and struck out two. 

Walters hit an RBI single in the fourth to get Washington's first run, tying the game at 1-1. Jared Mang hit a two-run home run in the fifth to get Washington a 3-1 lead before Christian James allowed two runs to give Quebec the 4-3 lead after a homer made it 3-2.

New Jersey vs Lake Erie

The Lake Erie Crushers saw their bid at a sweep of the New Jersey Jackals upended at Mercy Health Stadium on Sunday night, as the Jackals scored early and often to beat the Crushers, 14-3. 

The Crushers (32-34) saw a five game home winning streak come to an end with the loss while the win for the Jackals (31-34) was their third in six games against the Crushers this season. 

The scoring started right away for the Jackals, as they plated four runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Joe Simone started the game with a double and came around to score later in the inning when Justin Wylie reached on a fielder's choice. The next batter, Josh Rehwaldt belted a three run homer to left, his 24th of the season. 

Lake Erie responded with a pair in the bottom of the first inning. Jackson Valera was responsible for Lake Erie's first run, as he belted a solo homer to left, his eighth of the season. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera reached on a single before Kenen Irizarry reached on a walk. The Crushers called for a double steal, and an errant throw on the play from New Jersey catcher Zak Whalin allowed Thomas-Rivera to score. 

New Jersey responded with a two out rally that produced two more runs in the top of the second. Santiago Chirino started the two out rally with a single before Dalton Combs doubled and Wylie walked to load the bases. Rehwaldt struck again, as he belted a two run single to right. 

Lake Erie was able to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the second inning. Bryan DeLaRosa reached on a one out walk, made his way to second on Austin White's single and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Connor Owings brought DeLaRosa home a few moments later on a sacrifice fly to bring Lake Erie back within three (6-3). 

The Jackals then put the game out of reach in the top of the third, as they sent all nine batters to the plate and scored five times on three hits while capitalizing on a pair of errors as well. Simone reached on a fielder's choice to bring in the first run before Chirino and Combs belted back-to-back RBI singles. Later in the inning, Rehwaldt hit a ground ball to Owings at third, but his toss to first went out of play and the errant throw allowed two more runs to score. 

New Jersey would go on to add single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth to cushion their lead. 

Matt Mulhearn (3-3), who had done very well in July, going 3-1 with a 1.11 ERA in his previous four starts, had a tough day on the mound and took the loss. He allowed 11 runs, seven earned on eight hits over two and a third innings of work. Leonardo Rodriguez (3-4) picked up the win for New Jersey after allowing three runs, only one earned on five hits while fanning six over five innings.  

Thomas-Rivera and White led the way for Lake Erie offensively, as they both hit safely twice and reached three times on the night. 

Sussex County vs Florence

Sussex County pinch-hitter Nick Garland singled in Martin Figueroa with two out in the top of the ninth to break a tie and give the Miners a 6-5 win over the Florence Y'alls at Thomas More Stadium on Sunday.

Figueroa, who reached base on a bang-bang play at first, came home to score after two consecutive singles. It was the Miners' first run since the third inning.

That run spoiled a comeback effort for the Y'alls (28-37), who trailed 4-0 at one point. Ray Zuberer hit a solo game-tying home run in the fifth inning, the last run Florence would end up scoring. Brennan Price came through with a two-RBI double. Ethan Stern and Cooper Edwards also drove in a run each.

The Y'alls came dangerously close to getting even in the bottom of the ninth, though. With two on and two out, Ray Zuberer hit a warning-track fly ball that forced Figueroa to collide with the wall. Unfortunately for Zuberer, Figueroa held on to record the final out.

Robert Clinchock, on the mound for that dramatic play, earns his 8th save of the season for Sussex County. Karl Craigie ends up with the loss.

Ottawa vs Schaumburg

The Schaumburg Boomers broke through in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit and finish the month of July with a 3-1 win over the visiting Ottawa Titans at Wintrust Field.  

Ottawa scored a single run against starter Aaron Glickstein in the top of the third. The run was more than enough for Chris Burica until the bottom of the eighth. Clint Hardy led off by smacking his fifth homer of the year over the wall in center to extend his on-base streak to 19 games. Following a pitching change Blake Berry and Mike Hart singled. Chase Dawson slapped a single through the right side of the infield to put the Boomers ahead and Blake Grant-Parksadded an RBI on a safety squeeze.

Glickstein worked 6.1 innings and struck out seven in a no-decision. Darrell Thompson struck out three in two innings of relief to earn his second win of the year. Kristian Scott stranded a runner at third in the seventh, retiring two batters. The Boomers struck out 11 in the contest and recorded 10 or more strikeouts in all three games of the series. The offense totaled 10 hits with Berry, Hart and Alec Craig all posting two. Braxton Davidson extended his on-base streak to 22 games, the second longest of the year.

Trois-Rivières vs Joliet

The Trois-Rivières Aigles defeated the Joliet Slammers 5-2 on Sunday afternoon. 

The Slammers only runs came in the bottom of the second when Lane Baremore homered to right field. 

The Aigles would go on to score five runs between the fifth, sixth and ninth inning with the help of homers from Juan Kelly and Juan Santana. 

It would ultimately help the Aigles win the game 5-2. 

Sam Belisle-Springere gets the win for Trois-Rivières while Tyler Luneke gets the save. Alec Thomas gets charged with the loss for Joliet. 

Empire State vs Windy City

Daryl Myers's two-run double capped a three-run ninth inning for the ThunderBolts as they came from behind for a 4-3 win over the Empire State Greys at Ozinga Field Sunday afternoon.

Dan Robinson scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third. After drawing a walk, he came home on a Peyton Isaacson single. That gave the ThunderBolts (25-40) their first lead of the series.

That lead held until the top of the fifth. Paul Mondesi reached on an error for Empire State (5-61) and Jose Mercado hit his first home run of the season to make it 2-1. 

The Greys tacked on a run in the eighth as Camden Williamson walked and Willie Estrada singled him home.

On the verge of the first sweep in franchise history, the Greys shut down the Bolts' bats after the third-inning run. It wasn't until the ninth that Windy City got rolling. Matt Morgan and Nikola Vasic led off with back-to-back doubles to make it a one-run game. After Jake Boone walked, Myers provided the big hit of the game, a line drive into the right-centerfield gap that brought home the final two runs, snapping the ThunderBolts' five-game losing streak.

Bryan Ketchie allowed just one earned run over 6.1 innings but didn't factor in the decision. Layne Schnitz-Paxton (3-3) took the win, striking out the side in his lone inning. Jeff Rotz (0-1) allowed the final run for the loss.

Tri-City vs Evansville

Following a tough loss in Evansville on Saturday night, the Tri-City ValleyCats were back in action against the Otters at historic Bosse Field looking to claim a series win to end the road trip.  

In a game that remained scoreless until the fourth, the 'Cats would send right-hander Olbis Parra to the mound. Parra would turn in one of his best outings to date in a ValleyCats uniform. The former San Francisco Giants farmhand spun 6.1 innings of two-run, four-hit baseball, striking out four.

After being held scoreless for nearly half of the game, both sides' bats would wake up in the second half of the contest. The 'Cats would strike first, tallying two on an RBI double by Jesus Lujano and sacrifice fly by Joey Campagna. After the Otters responded with a run in the fifth, The 7th would be a big inning for the 'Cats. The Frontier League leaders in home runs would once again get it done with the longball. Joey Campagna rocketed a two-run blast to left, before Carson McCusker would follow in his footsteps with a solo shot just two batters later. 

Evansville would add another on a fielder's choice, with the 'Cats responding with a deep sacrifice fly by Brad Zunica, scoring Pavin Parks. Entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Otters would trail by 4, however Evansville designated hitter Steven Sensley would leave the yard on Adam Hofacket's first pitch of the inning, cutting the Tri-City lead to 3. After an RBI single by Evansville shortstop Andy Armstrong, Trey Cochran-Gill entered the game with two outs and a runner on first, and escaped without any further damage.

The 'Cats would load the bases in the ninth with 1 out, making way for Brantley Bell, who despite having his home run streak snapped the night before, extended his hitting streak to 15 games in the first inning of Sunday's contest. Bell would drive in two runs with his second hit of the game, a single to center field, making it an 8-4 ballgame. Pavin Parks would follow Bell with an RBI double, plating 2 more, and making it a 10-4 ballgame heading to the bottom of the ninth. The big inning would seal it for the 'Cats, securing their third consecutive series win, and their seventh of nine to finish the six-game road trip.

New York vs Gateway

The Gateway Grizzlies got a dominant start from Brendan Feldmann (5-6) on Sunday night, as the ace right-hander tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout while setting a new career-high with 12 strikeouts in a 6-0 Gateway win over the New York Boulders at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, clinching a series win for the home team.  

After an efficient, six-pitch top of the first inning by Feldmann, the Grizzlies got themselves on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the frame when Isaac Benard doubled with one out and then scored after Zach Racusin reached on a throwing error to make it 1-0. Kevin Krause then brought in Racusin on an RBI single to give the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies then extended their lead in the bottom of the third on a bases-loaded, two-out RBI single by Clint Freeman to make it 3-0.   

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Jay Prather worked a 12-pitch walk and Abdiel Diaz singled, with Andrew Penner smacking an RBI double to extend his on-base streak to a season-high 21 games and make it 4-0. After a walk loaded the bases, Racusin lined a two-run single up the middle to extend the lead to 6-0. 

Feldmann did the rest, as the experienced right-hander kept the New York batters off-balance all night long to go the distance, allowing just four hits and six total baserunners in the gem on the mound. In the process, he recorded the first complete-game shutout for a Grizzlies pitcher of any length since Lucas Lanphere's nine-inning, near-no-hitter on June 8, 2019 at Windy City. The win also marked the second time this season that the Grizzlies shut out their opponent in any game, joining their 13-0 opening night win over the Empire State Greys.  

Now winners of three of their last four games overall, the Grizzlies will hit the road beginning on Tuesday, August 2 for the start of a three-game series against the first-place Washington Wild Things. First pitch will be at 6:05 CT on Tuesday night at Wild Things Park, with Jason Rackers making his first professional start for Gateway on the mound.