THUNDERBOLTS DEFEAT BOOMERS IN WALK-OFF WIN

Schaumburg vs Windy City

Dan Robinson's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the tenth inning sent the ThunderBolts to a 5-4 win over the Schaumburg Boomers in front of 2,651 fans at Ozinga Field Saturday night.

The Boomers (41-34) took a quick lead thanks to three singles and a Blake Berry sacrifice fly in the top of the first but it didn't last. In the bottom of the inning, Brynn Martinez hit a leadoff single and Jake Boone followed with a two-run homer to give the ThunderBolts (29-46) a 2-1 lead.

Boone helped add to that lead the next inning. After Nikola Vasic walked and Martinez singled, Boone singled them both home, increasing the lead to 4-1.

A two-run homer for Clint Hardy in the fourth cut it to 4-3 and that's where the score stayed into the ninth. Layne Schnitz-Paxton retired the first two batters in the ninth inning but issued a walk to keep the game alive. The next batter, Alex Steinbach, hit a groundball to third base. A throwing error on Boone allowed Steinbach to reach base and when Peyton Isaacson mishandled the ball at first base, the second error on the play allowed the tying run to score. 

In the tenth inning, The Boomers loaded the bases but Dazon Cole came up with a big strikeout to keep the score tied into the bottom of the inning. That's when Robinson came through with the RBI single that evened the series at one win each.

Cole (1-2) pitched a scoreless tenth for the win and Kristian Scott (3-2) gave up the winning run for the loss.

Quebec vs Ottawa

Brendon Dadson's 3-for-4 performance was sealed by a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, as the Ottawa Titans (45-32) defeated the Quebec Capitales 6-4 on Saturday night.

Jose Taveras (ND, 6-1) rolled a scoreless first after being activated from the 7-day IL, giving the Titans the momentum in the early going. In his first game as an Ottawa Titan, Liam McArthur grounded a one-out single through the right side. Next, Jackie Urbaez doubled to right off Henry Omana (ND, 1-1), putting runners at second and third.

Clay Fisher put the Titans in front with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring McArthur. Tyrus Greene followed up with a single to right, scoring Urbaez to double the lead.

The Capitales bounced back in the top of the second, sending eight to the dish against Taveras. Kyle Crowl cashed in a pair with a two-run double down the left-field line, tying the game at two. As the following two batters reached, Marc Antoine-Lebreux plated the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice.

Down 3-2, Jake Sanford led off the second with a single up the middle. Two batters later, Dadson belted his seventh homer of the year to right-center to put the Titans ahead 4-3.

Taveras would settle in, retiring eight of the final 10 he faced. The righty got the hook after four and a third, allowing three runs, on five hits, walking one, and striking out one in the no decision.

A one-out triple from Jonathan Lacroix was brought home by a Josh Sears double in the sixth against left-hander Matt Valin. The southpaw worked an inning and a third, allowing just one run on two hits.

After leaving the bases loaded against left-hander Joel Huertas (loss, 1-2) in the seventh, Rodrigo Orozco legged out an infield single with two down in the eighth. In a 1-1 count, Dadson grooved a fastball from Huertas over the wall in right, giving the Titans a 6-4 lead. The Bowmanville native's first multi-homer game of the season proved to be the difference maker.

Chris Burica (win, 7-4) was summoned out of the bullpen for the second time this season and sat down 10 of the 12 he faced, holding the late lead.

Trois-Rivières vs New York

The Trois-Rivieres Aigles evened the three-game weekend series with host New York, downing the Boulders 8-2 on Saturday at Clover Stadium in Pomona. 

The Aigles broke on top in the first inning. L.P. Pelletier led off against New York starter Robby Rowland with a single. Pelletier then stole second and advanced to third on  a fly out to right by Juan Santana.

A Juan Kelly groundout scored Pelletier with the night's first run.

Trois-Rivieres made it 3-0 with a pair of third inning runs - one coming on an RBI single by Connor Panas, the other when Kelly scored on a successful double steal.

The Boulders loaded the bases with  no one out in the fifth against Aigles' starter Kevin Perez, but managed just one run, that coming on a sacrifice fly by Ray Hernandez.

Leading 3-1 in the seventh, Trois-Rivieres padded their lead with a run-scoring single by Kelly.

The Boulders, though, got that one back when Max Smith led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run, his 13th of the season, to make it a 4-2 game.

Trois-Rivieres broke the game open in the eighth, however, when Pelletier, with two outs and the bases loaded, lined a three-run double to left that pushed the visitor's lead to 7-2.

Rowland, who started on just two days' rest for the Boulders, allowed three runs, two earned, on two hits, while walking one and striking out four as he fell to 4-5 on the season.

Kevin Perez started and lasted six innings. He surrendered one run on six hits. Perez walked two and struck out five as he remained perfect on the year at 4-0.

Empire State vs Tri-City ValleyCats

The Empire State Greys and Tri-City ValleyCats faced off for the second time in the three game weekend series Saturday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.

Kyle Arjona took the mound for the 'Cats, with Mitsuki Akatsuka taking the ball for the Greys.

Arjona would work around a lead off double from Khalyd Cox and retire the next three batters he faced, stranding Cox at third base, pitching a scoreless frame. In the home half of the first inning, Brantley Bell would get the ValleyCats on the board first with a two-run home blast into the ValleyCats bullpen off of Akatsuka, giving Tri-City the early 2-0 cushion.

Arjona would cruise through the second and third innings, only allowing one base runner, a Jordan Holloman-Scott single in the second inning. Akatsuka would mirror Arjona's efforts, only allowing one ValleyCats batsmen to reach base in the bottom half of the same innings.

Arjona and the ValleyCats would run into trouble in the fourth, with six Greys coming around to score. The right hander was pulled after three and a third innings pitched, making way for Jake Dexter. John Benevolent would rip a bases clearing triple into deep right field, plating two runners. Hiroki Itakura would record an RBI with a sacrifice fly of his own, plating the fourth run of the inning. Khalyd Cox would double, plating the fifth and sixth runs of the inning, giving Empire State a four run lead.

Tri-City would get right to work at chipping away at the lead. Joey Campagna would single the first run home, and a sacrifice fly from Jace Mercer cut the Empire State lead in half. Following quiet fifth and sixth innings, the 'Cats offense would attack in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

Brantley Bell would record hit number two of the night with a single to get the inning started. Paving Parks would follow him with a walk, putting two runners on for Denis Phipps. While Phipps was at the plate, a wild pitch thrown past catcher Paul Mondesi would plate Bell, who was standing on third following a successful double steal attempt. Following back to back intentional walks to both Phipps and Brad Zunica, Carson McCusker would come to the plate with the bases loaded. The right fielder would fly out to deep right field, bringing Parks in to score to tie the game. Jesus Lujano and Joey Campagna would both single in runs, giving Tri-City an 8-6 lead. 

The top of the eighth saw Empire State battle back. Hiroki Itakura, Magglio Ordonez Jr, and Jose Mercado would work consecutive walks, loading the bases for Khalyd Cox. The center fielder would hit an opposite field single into left field, bringing two runs home, knotting things up at eight runs per side. 

Trey Cochran-Gill worked a scoreless top half of the ninth inning, setting the table for the 'Cats to win it in the ninth inning. With one out in the inning, Carson McCusker would record his third hit of the game, a triple into right field, placing the winning run just 90 feet away. Jesus Lujano would be issued an intentional walk, bringing Austin Elder to the plate, who entered the game in the top of the eighth as a defensive replacement. The catcher would sky a fly ball deep into center field, allowing McCusker to tag up and secure the series victory.  

New Jersey vs Sussex County

On the heels of a dramatic 3-2 win in the opener of the three game weekend series, the New Jersey Jackals traveled up Routes 46, 80 and 15 to Sussex County to face the Miners at Skylands Stadium on Saturday.

Sussex came into the contest attempting to reclaim their playoff positioning, which was ripped from their grasp courtesy of the loss on Friday and a New York Boulders victory. Those results flip-flopped the two former Can-Am League clubs in the race for third place in the Eastern Conference.

The night quickly turned sour for the Jackals. Sussex sent 18 men to the plate in the first inning, scoring 13 times on nine runs with just one error committed in the field by the Jackals. The Miners were the beneficiaries of four multi-RBI hits: RF Mikey Reynolds and 3B Juan Silverio had back-to-back two run doubles to give the home side a 4-0 lead. LF Martin Figueroa later clubbed a two run triple to make it 8-0 and C Nick Garland added the final blow with a two run single. 

Starting Pitcher Ari Kaufman and reliever Anthony Quattrocchi combined to throw 67 pitches in the frame alone. According to Deputy Commissioner Steve Tahsler, the 13 runs is a Frontier League first inning record.

Feeling as though the lead wasn't secure enough, Sussex drove in two more in the third, courtesy of RBI singles from Figueroa and SS Willie Escala to extend the advantage to 15-0. A single addition to the score was made in the sixth, thanks to a Jawuan Harris RBI groundout. The Miners held a 16-0 lead after two thirds of the contest.

The Jackals finally scratched two runs across in the eighth inning, with Alfredo Marte skying a ball to the left field wall, scoring Trevor Abrams and Austin Markman to pull the Jackals to within striking distance in bizarro world, 16-2.

Vin Mazzaro picks up the win, Kaufman suffers the loss.

Florence vs Lake Erie

One night after shutting out the Florence Y'alls in their series opener on Friday night, the Lake Erie Crushers held Florence to just a run on five hits in a 5-1 victory on Saturday night at Mercy Health Stadium. 

Lake Erie (38-39) has now won four in a row, while the loss for Florence (31-45) was their sixth in a row. 

Crusher pitchers have only allowed a run on nine hits over the first 18 inning of the series, with Florence's lone run coming on a bases loaded walk. Jay Alvarez (5-4) stole the show for the Crushers, tossing six scoreless innings in a winning effort, while allowing only four hits and he struck out six. 

The Crushers fired the first shot for the second night in a row. London Green started the inning with a five pitch free pass before stealing second base and he scored the game's first run on Kokko Figueiredo's RBI single to right. 

Lake Erie capitalized on a couple of errors and scored three times on a pair of hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. Kemuel Thomas-Rivera started the inning with a base hit, and made his way to third after Austin White reached on Bryant Flete's fielding error at third. London Green followed with a two run single to left. Green came around to score the final run of the inning after Kenen Irizarry reached on a throwing error by the second baseman Ethan Stern. 

After keeping the Y'alls off the board for the first 15 innings of the series, the Crushers surrendered the first run of the series in the top of the seventh. Stern was hit by a pitch to start the inning and eventually came around to score when Alberti Chavez walked with the bases loaded. 

Lake Erie plated their final run in the bottom of the seventh. Casey Combs started the inning with an infield single. A balk put him on second and he scored on Connor Owings's RBI single to center. 

Sam Curtis and Gleyvin Pineda both tossed scoreless innings for the Crushers, while Trevor Kuncl worked the Crushers out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh. Jonaiker Villalobos (5-6) suffered the loss for the Y'alls after allowing four runs, two earned on four hits and struck out three over five innings. 

Owings and Valera paced the Crushers offensively, as they both went 2-for-4 on the night. Irizarry reached on a single in the eighth inning to extend his on base streak to 17 games, while Figueiredo's RBI single extended his on base streak to 13 games. 

Evansville vs Joliet

Steven Sensley's ninth-inning three-run home run was the only offense the Evansville Otters could find Saturday night, falling to the Joliet Slammers 6-3. 

The Slammers wasted no time getting after new Otter pitcher Ma'Khail Hilliard Saturday night, striking for three runs in the first inning on back-to-back home runs for Matt Feinstein and Jake Guenther. Feinstein's was his second of the series. 

Joliet added to their lead in the second inning, working the bases loaded with one out. A sacrifice fly RBI from Brylie Ware upped the lead to 4-0.

Things settled down in the middle innings as Hilliard found some consistency, striking out a few batters along the way.

But the Slammers struck once again in the fifth, using an RBI double from Feinstein to lift the lead once again. Within the next at-bat, Feinstein came around to score on a throwing error on Hilliard. 

Both sides were cold in the sixth, seventh and eighth - the teams combining for two base runners.

As the ninth began, Evansville had just one hit in the ballgame. The Otters began their charge from behind in the ninth, getting a pair of men on within the first two outs. A three-run home run from Sensley put the Otters on the board, but still three runs short.  

Joliet held on to their lead, winning 6-3. Alec Thomas got the win in relief, giving up no runs or hits in his four innings. Ma'Khail took the loss, giving up six runs on six hits in five innings. Zach Smith was impressive for Evansville, striking out five of the nine batters he faced in his three innings. 

Miles Gordon saw his team-high 20-game hit streak brought to a close on Saturday night.

Washington vs Gateway

The Washington Wild Things held on to a contest in the middle game in Sauget where the two teams combined to leave 24 runners on base. The final was 4-3 in favor of Washington to move to a season-best 27 games over .500 at 52-25. 

Washington started the scoring in the second inning on a cue shot single by Scotty Dubrule to make it 1-0 on the infield hit. Gateway tied things at one a side in the fourth inning against right hander Justin Showalter. Zach Racusin singled home the tying run.

The Wild Things re-gained the lead in the sixth inning with a three-run frame  highlighted by five-straight hits to start the frame, a run-scoring base knock by Cam Balego, a wild pitch to plate a run and an RBI single by Cole Brannen. Gateway wasted little time getting one back in the bottom of the sixth when Abdiel Diaz plated a run with a base hit. 

Showalter ended up picking up his second win in as many professional starts. He logged 5.2 innings of two-run ball (one earned) with three strikeouts. 

Gateway got one more despite several more opportunities in the eighth with an RBI single by Isaac Benard. In total Gateway left 13 runners on base, while Washington left nine. The Grizzlies got the tying run aboard and the winning run on in the ninth, but Lukas Young evaded damage and earned his 17th save of the season, which also clinched Washington's eighth-straight series victory.