EMPIRE STATE GREYS DEFEAT JACKALS AS WILD CARD RACES GET CLOSER
Empire State vs New Jersey
The New Jersey Jackals (41-41) entered Saturday's tilt with the Empire State Greys (6-77), with their playoff hopes still very much alive, but needing to take care of business at home in order to make the necessary push.
Unfortunately for the red and black, the climb to the top got a bit steeper as the Jackals fell to the Greys by a score of 10-5 on the team's final fireworks night at Yogi Berra Stadium.
The game started off well enough for the Jackals, with a leadoff home run by Edward Salcedo on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning. The solo blast was his first with the team, extended his now six-game hitting streak, and gave the home side a 1-0 lead.
New Jersey's second run came the very next frame with another moonshot to left field, this time off the bat of catcher Jason Agresti. The equalizing shot brought the score to 2-2, and would end up being the closest thing the Jackals would have to a lead for the rest of the contest.
From the top of the third inning to the middle of the eighth, Empire State outscored New Jersey eight to one, thanks to contributions from multiple sources. Four Greys had at least three hits in the game, including an incredible three-for-six day from third baseman John Benevolent, adding a double, triple, home run, two runs scored, and three RBI. Trey Woosley added a homer as well within his trio of hits, to go with a pair of runs scored and RBI.
Taking on a starring role was former Jackal Mizuki Atkatsuka, who put together his best outing since coming over from Japan. The switch-pitcher operated exclusively with his right arm, tossing seven innings of three run baseball, on just six hits, one walk and six strikeouts, earning his first victory in the Frontier League.
New York vs Sussex County
The Sussex County Miners saw an early four-run lead disappear but rebounded to down the visiting New York Boulders, 8-7, in 10 innings at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, NJ, on Saturday night.
Edwin Mateo's sacrifice fly to left field scored Yanio Perez with the winning run.
Sussex County began the 10th inning with Isaias Quiroz on second base. Matt Leon, the fourth New York pitcher of the night, walked Perez before Jawuan Harris bunted for a single to load the bases. Juan Silverio's single to left plated Quiroz with the tying run and set the stage for Mateo.
The Boulders had taken a 7-6 lead in the top of the 10th on Chris Kwitzer's two-out single that scored pinch-runner Giovanni Garbella.
The 10th started with Austin Dennis at second base. After Tucker Nathans struck out, Gabriel Garcia hit a sharp groundball to shortstop. Dennis slipped as he attempted to return to second and was tagged out in a rundown as Garcia advanced to second. Kwitzer then followed with his single off Miners' reliever Tyler Thornton, Sussex County's third pitcher of the night.
The Miners scored early and often as they moved out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. In the first frame, Sussex County touched up New York starter Danny Nunan for three runs, getting RBI singles from Harris and Silverio, as well as a run-scoring double from Mateo.
The Miners made it 4-0 on a second inning sacrifice fly by Perez.
The Boulders got on the scoreboard in the third with a Dennis RBI double, but the Miners answered that run with one of their own in the fourth on a Martin Figueroa run-scoring groundout.
New York threatened in the fifth when they loaded the bases with no outs against Miners' starter Vin Mazzaro. However, David Vinsky bounced into a double play that saw one run score. Dennis, though, followed with an RBI double that cut the Boulders' deficit to 5-3.
In the home half of the fifth, a run-scoring single from Silverio increased the Miners' advantage back to three runs at 6-3.
New York inched back to within two runs in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Vinsky off Sussex County reliever Robert Klinchock.
The Boulders threatened once again in the eighth inning, putting runners on the corners with none out. Tyler Thornton came on to relieve for Sussex County and induced a double play grounder from the Boulders' Jake MacKenzie with Gabriel Garcia scoring from third to make it a 6-5 game.
Francisco Del Valle, however, followed with a solo home run, his fourth hit of the game – he had doubled in each of his first three trips to the plate on the night, and sixth home run of the year that knotted the game at 6-6.
Kyle Mott, the third pitcher of the night for New York, pitched perfect sixth through eighth innings, giving the Boulders the chance they needed to complete their comeback and tie the game at 6-6. He was relieved after surrendering a walk and single with one out in the ninth by Leon, who retired Figueroa and Oraj Anu to preserve the tie and send the game into extra innings.
Thornton picked up the win for the Miners as he improved to 1-1 on the year, while the loss was Leon's first of the season after winning his first five decisions.
Tri-City vs Trois-Rivières
The ValleyCats returned to Stade Quillorama on Saturday following Friday's blowout win, looking to take a series win from the Aigles in the second game of a ten-game road trip.
The Aigles would strike first in game two, with back-to-back home runs off of Tri-City RHP Joey Gonzalez in the first inning. Gonzalez would surrender 5 runs (4 earned) in 5.1 innings of work. The Aigles would tally 3 more unearned runs against RHP Jake Dexter late in Saturday's contest.
Tri-City bats would struggle in Saturday's contest, with the lone run coming courtesy of a Jace Mercer solo shot. Brantley Bell's record hitting streak would end at 29 games. Bell went 0-for-4 in the middle game of the three-game set.
Ottawa vs Quebec
The Ottawa Titans (46-36) were held scoreless for the second time in as many days, dropping another 6-0 decision to the Quebec Capitales on Saturday night.
The Titans seemed to be in the driver's seat against righty Henry Omana (win, 2-1) in the first, putting two on with one away. After a strikeout for the second out, a wild pitch advanced both Brendon Dadson and Jason Dicochea into scoring position. Making a hard turn around the bag at third, Dadson slipped on the turf, allowing Jeffry Parra to cut down Dadson to end the inning.
Evan Grills (loss, 4-6) took to the hill in the middle game of the series, allowing the first three to reach. Following back-to-back strikeouts had Grills an out away, Jonathan Lacroix smacked a double to left, scoring a pair.
The Capitales' offence didn't let up in the third, sending eight to the plate. Lacroix knocked in a third run, before Ruben Castro knocked in two, putting the Capitales ahead 5-0.
Omana was yanked after five shutout innings, which saw the righty walk five in the victory. The Titans had the lead-off man on six different occasions, failing to score.
Trailing 5-0, Grills was given the hook after five innings, allowing five runs, on 10 hits, walking a season-high tying three, and striking out five in the loss. The Canadian lefty has now allowed 44 hits in his last 27 innings of work.
Nelson Gonzalez and Kyle Serrano tossed shutout innings out of the bullpen before Kevin Escorcia surrendered a solo homer to Josh Sears in the eighth, making it 6-0.
The Capitales used four relievers out of the bullpen to take the second game of the series, setting up a chance to sweep tomorrow evening.
In the loss, Jason Dicochea finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Tyrus Greene went 1-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks. The Titans have not scored a run in a season-high 18 and a third innings.
Schaumburg vs Florence
The Schaumburg Boomers scored in six different innings, rallying from a four-run deficit to outlast the Florence Y'Alls 15-12 in a game that started nearly two hours late due to pregame rain.
Alec Craig got the offense started by leading off the game with his seventh homer. Craig has led off games with a homer three times this year. The homer marked the first of three homers to start an inning in the game as Mike Hart opened the third and ninth with homers in his third multi-homer game of the year. Hart owns 15 homers in 37 games and is tied for the team lead.
Trailing 7-3 after three, the Boomers scored four runs in the sixth to wipe away an 8-6 deficit and take the lead for good. Four more runs crossed in the seventh as the Boomers plated eight unanswered runs. Florence did not go quietly, bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh and ninth but the Boomers closed out the win.
Both teams finished with 16 hits. Chase Dawson and Craig both logged four hits for the Boomers. Dawson drove home three along with Hart. Eight of the nine members of the lineup posted a hit and everyone reached base as the Boomers also drew eight walks. Braxton Davidson extended his league best on-base streak to 40 games, becoming the second player in team history to own a streak of 40 or more games. Luis Perez earned the win in relief, tossing 3.2 innings after being pressed into early action.
The Boomers (45-37) remain tied with Evansville for second in the West Division. The club completes a 10-game roadtrip with an afternoon game tomorrow at 12:07pm Central. RHP Shumpei Yoshikawa (5-9, 5.83) is scheduled to make his 18 start of the year. The team returns home on Tuesday, August 23. The 2022 season is winding down.
Evansville vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things lost to the Evansville Otters 5-3 in the second game of the series, ending their series win streak at nine series. Washington's rally in the seventh was not enough as Evansville scored two runs in the eighth to take the game and series.
Washington went down by two in the first when Evansville's Elijah MacNamee hit a two-run triple to right field. Evansville added another run in the sixth when Miles Gordon made it home on an error by Ian Walters to make it 3-0.
The Wild Things rallied in the seventh when runs by Andrew Czech and Cam Balego were scored on walks. The third run came by way of Hector Roa's ground out to second that allowed Ian Walters to scored, tying the game at 3-3.
Hopes were high for Washington going into the eighth, but they were crushed when MacNamee hit an RBI single to bring in one run and Walters made an errant throw to allow a second run that play, giving Evansville the lead back at 5-3.
The last chance for Washington to score came and went in the bottom of the ninth as Tyler Wilber flied to center, Jared Mang to left and Scotty Dubrule was called out at second on a fielder's choice.
Daren Osby started in the loss. He pitched 5.2 innings, gave up three runs, walked five and struck out five. Christian James pitched 1.1 innings after Osby and struck out three of the four batters faced. Zack Erwin pitched one inning, allowed two runs, three hits and struck out one. Isaac Mattson pitched the last inning and struck out two of three batters faced.
Lake Erie vs Joliet
After losing on Friday night, the Lake Erie Crushers (41-42) couldn't' afford to drop a second game in a row. For the Joliet Slammers (44-38) they're the hottest team in the Frontier League, owning the largest win streak currently. Both teams entered Saturday night's contest needing a win.
Lake Erie led first but that'd be their only lead and run as the offense was quiet for the second night in a row. Once more it was timely hitting and strong pitching for the Slammers that led them to the 4-1 win.
No runs were scored until the fourth inning. Lake Erie was the first on the board. Recently acquired D.J. Stewarted lined an RBI single to right field.
In terms of the pitching, both teams showcased strong performances. For Lake Erie, Gunnar Kines received the start. The lefty lasted five innings, allowed two runs on seven hits, walked three, and struck out 10 batters. Elliot Carney followed in the sixth inning, Carney threw a scoreless inning without allowing a hit. Gleyvin Pineda entered in the eighth. The flamethrower threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Sam Curtis called out in the eighth inning to try and keep the deficit at one, but couldn't do so. For the first time this season, Curtis struggled on the mound. The righty allowed two runs on one hit while walking three batters.
On the Slammers side, the team used another strong starting pitching performance in the win. This time it was Spencer Johnston on the mound. He threw six innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked one, and stuck out two. Jared Libelt appeared for the second straight game in the seventh inning. Liebelt threw a scoreless inning while allowing one hit. Tanner Kiest followed in the eighth inning. Kiest threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Tyler Jay appeared in the ninth inning to try and secure his seventh save of the season. Jay threw a scoreless ninth inning and secured a 4-1 win for the Slammers.
Windy City vs Gateway
The Gateway Grizzlies got a chance to stretch their legs offensively on Saturday against the Windy City ThunderBolts, pounding out 13 runs on 13 hits in a consistent effort that included three home runs and four straight multi-run innings en route to a 13-6 win at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
After a scoreless first inning, the ThunderBolts took the lead in the second inning thanks to an error by Steven Ridings (4-1), but would not the 1-0 advantage for long, as doubles by Isaac Benard and Clint Freeman tied the score in the bottom half. With two outs later in that inning, an error by Windy City shortstop Jalen Greer scored the go-ahead run and made it 2-1.
In the very next inning, Gateway sent nine men to the plate and exploded for four runs thanks to an RBI single by Benard and a three-run home run by Kevin Krause to expand the lead to 6-1. Windy City got a run back in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Matt Morgan, but again, the Grizzlies had an answer in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Peter Zimmermann drew a walk and Benard then smashed his team-leading 20th home run out of the ballpark to right field for an 8-2 lead. Abdiel Diaz would follow in the fifth by coming up with one out and two runners on and hitting a three-run home run to right field, making the score 11-2 Grizzlies.
The teams would trade runs for the next few innings, with Gateway plating additional runs on an RBI fielder's choice in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh, both off the bat of Trevor Achenbach, to continue to answer the ThunderBolts' charge against Ridings and the Gateway bullpen, eventually finishing with 13 runs on 13 total hits, including seven for extra bases, to claim the series victory.
Benard led the charge by finishing a triple away from the cycle in a 3-for-5 performance with three runs scored and three RBIs, one of four multi-hit games by Grizzlies batters. Every Gateway starter except one had at least one hit in the contest, and eight of the nine starters also scored at least one run. On the mound, Ridings allowed three earned runs in six innings for the "quality start" and his third victory in a row, striking out five batters and throwing 62 of his 80 pitches for strikes.
