BOOMERS SWEEP Y'ALLS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS PLAYOFF RACES GET CLOSER
Schaumburg vs Florence
Shumpei Yoshikawa retired 17 in a row from the third into the eighth and the Schaumburg Boomers completed the longest road trip of the year with a 9-2 win to sweep the Florence Y'Alls and finish the trip 6-4.
Florence opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the first after the Boomers left the bases loaded in the top of the inning. Yoshikawa settled in and the Boomers were able to seize control in the fourth. Blake Grant-Parkstied the game by lining a homer over the wall in left. With two outs, Mike Hart smacked a three-run shot to right, his team leading 16th of the year to put the Boomers ahead.
Grant-Parks doubled home a run in the fifth and Blake Berry contributed a two-run homer as the lead grew to 7-1 in the fifth. Single runs scored in the sixth and ninth on sacrifice flies to account for the final.
Yoshikawa won his sixth of the year, sitting down 17 in a row after allowing a leadoff single to Brennan Price in the third until Price doubled in the eighth. Yoshikawa matched a season high with eight innings, striking out seven. Kristian Scott fanned two in a perfect ninth to close out the win, posting strikeouts 800 and 801 of the season by the pitching staff, marking the third time the team has eclipsed 800 strikeouts in a season.
The offense banged out 14 hits and finished with 29 runs, 42 hits and 21 walks in the three games. Berry notched four hits while Alec Craig logged three from the leadoff slot. Craig amassed 10 hits in the series.
The Boomers (46-37) gained a little distance from fourth place Joliet, who saw a win streak end. Schaumburg is a half game ahead of Evansville, who plays tonight, in the West Division wild card race. The final homestand of the season begins on Tuesday when the West Division leading Washington Wild Things visit Wintrust Field in the first of 10 straight at home.
New York vs Sussex County
Yanio Perez and Jawuan Harris hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to help propel the Sussex County Miners to a 7-5 win over the visiting New York Boulders on Sunday at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, NJ in the rubber game of the three-game series between Eastern Division playoff contenders.
Perez hit a two-run shot, his third of the year, to give the Miners a 5-1 lead, then Harris followed with his 11th of the season that increased the Sussex County advantage to five runs.
The Miners had jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings. Juan Silverio knocked in two first inning runs with a double; then, in the second, a misplay by New York second baseman Gabriel Garcia on a ground ball by Nilo Rijo allowed the Miners' third run of the afternoon to score.
A Garcia RBI single brought the Boulders to within 3-1 in the fourth, but Perez and Harris pushed the lead back to 6-1 with their home runs in the fifth.
New York inched closer in the seventh thanks to an RBI single by David Vinsky and a sacrifice fly from Austin Dennis, the two runs cutting their deficit to 6-3.
However, Harris lashed a run-scoring double in the seventh to make it a 7-3 game.
Jake MacKenzie's two-run double in the eighth got the Boulders to within 7-5, but they would get no closer as Sussex County's Mike Mediavilla closed the door over the final 1 1/3 innings to record his first save of the season.
Alex Mack took the loss for New York, allowing six runs (four earned) on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five as he fell to 7-4 on the season.
Dwayne Marshall started and got the win for the Miners, his 10th of the year against three losses. Over six innings, he surrendered five hits and one unearned run, while walking two and striking out eighth.
Empire State vs New Jersey
On a bright Sunday afternoon, the New Jersey Jackals were looking to shake off their loss against Empire State the night prior by winning Sunday's game and take the series
The Jackals scored early with Austin Markman hitting a homerun in the second inning. Alfredo Marte would follow up in the third inning with a two run homer scoring himself and Santiago Chirino making it 0-3. New Jersey would add two more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
However, the Greys didn't give up and proceeded to score six runs in the fifth inning to get ahead 6-5.
Despite being down by a run, the Jackals didn't give up either with Chirino hitting a double in the bottom of the sixth to score Edward Salcedo. Justin Wylie would tie the game with a single to score Chirino. With Chirino's run scored, it ties the overall runs record in all of the Frontier League.
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the eighth when Jason Agresti hit a single to right field to score Dalton Combs and lead New Jersey to their 7-8 win.
Johsson Arias would get charged with the loss for Empire State while Jeffry Valdez got the win for the Jackals, his first win of the year.
Tri-City vs Trois-Rivières
Following a tough loss last night, the Tri-City ValleyCats returned to Stade Quillorama for the rubber match of this weekend's three game set against the Aigles. Jose Cruz got the ball in the series finale for the 'Cats, searching for both his first win of the season, and the series win in a divisional matchup.
The 'Cats once again struck first. After a 1-2-3 first featuring 3 deep flyouts, the 'Cats tallied six runs combined in the second and third innings. Jace Mercer would get things started with an RBI single, before scoring on an Austin Bernard RBI double. The longball would once again play a huge role in the 'Cats win on Sunday, with Brad Zunica, Cito Culver, and Denis Phipps all leaving the yard in the contest.
Jose Cruz turned in his best outing of 2022 to date, tossing 5 innings of shutout baseball, surrendering 4 hits, and striking out 4 before making way for the ValleyCats bullpen. Neil Abbatiello would surrender the lone Aigles run in Sunday's contest, with relievers Adam Hofacket and Trey Cochran-Gill securing the Tri-City win in the late innings.
Ottawa vs Quebec
Zac Westcott (win, 9-3) put together seven innings of one-run ball, as the Ottawa Titans (47-36) took a rain-shortened 6-1 win over the Quebec Capitales on Sunday evening.
After the first two innings solved nothing, the Titans put a six spot on the board against right-hander Michael Austin (loss, 7-6), seeing 11 come to the plate. After back-to-back singles from Liam McArthur and Jackie Urbaez, Kai Moody put the Titans ahead with an RBI double to left. Scoring their first run in the series, the Titans put an end to 21 and a third innings of scoreless ball.
Next, Jason Dicochea ripped a two-run single up the middle to score a pair, making it 3-0. As two walks loaded the bases, Brendon Dadson drew a free pass, scoring Dicochea to make it 4-0. As the Capitales gave the ball to Ian Codina, Rodrigo Orozco smacked another two-run single up the middle to make it 6-0.
In the bottom half, a pair of hits put two on as Westcott plunked TJ White to load the bases. Looking for a breakthrough, Kyle Crowl popped out in foul ground to end the threat.
Codina, David Gauthier, and Frank Moscatiello combined to keep the Titans off the board through the late innings.
David Glaude's one-out solo homer put the Capitales on the board, spoiling the shutout bid in the bottom of the fifth.
In the sixth, the Capitales loaded the bases for the second time in the ballgame. With two away, Westcott blew a fastball past Josh Sears to retire the side.
As the rain began to fall, lightning later put a rest to the contest in the top of the eighth, seeing the Titans avoid the sweep.
Evansville vs Washington
The Washington Wild Things defeated the Evansville Otters 7-2 to avoid the sweep. The Wild Things' bats came alive in the first and kept them in the lead the rest of the way. This win now puts their playoff magic number at three and their West Division magic number at five.
Evansville had a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, but Washington immediately answered back strong. Wagner Lagrange hit a two-run RBI triple into the right-field corner to get Washington its first lead of the series. Andrew Czech followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to two runs. To top it all off, Ian Walters hit a two-run home run to make it 5-1 after the first.
Washington got two insurance runs off solo home runs by Tristan Peterson in the fourth and Czech in the fifth. Evansville's Miles Gordon scored a run on a sacrifice by Zach Biermann in the sixth to make it 7-2, which was the score heading into the ninth.
Lukas Young closed this game for the Wild Things. After the first batter popped out to short, the next hit a triple and reached home on a wild pitch to make it 7-3 soon after. The next two Evansville batters, however, both grounded out to short, ending the game, and giving Young the save.
Justin Showalter started for Washington. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs, three hits, walked two and struck out four. Dan Kubiuk pitched one three-up three-down inning in relief of Showalter. Kenny Pierson pitched one inning after Kubiuk and walked one while striking out another.
Lake Erie vs Joliet
The Crushers (42-42) came into the series not being able to afford a series loss with the ground they have to make up for to make the playoffs. On Sunday, Lake Erie's playoff odds could have gone from slim to none with being swept by the Slammers. The Slammers (44-39) entered the series final as one of the hottest teams in the league as well as a team fighting for that third final playoff spot.
All three games, including todays, included strong starting pitching from the winning team. That was the case once more with Lake Erie starter Joseph Sgambelluri having one of his best starts of the year. It was a close battle between both teams but the Crushers took the lead in the ninth to avoid the sweep with a 2-1 win.
It was a scoreless game until the bottom of the fifth. The Slammers were the first team on the board. Phillip Steering lined an RBI single to left field.
Lake Erie responded with a run to tie the game in the sixth inning. First baseman Jackson Valera provided a clutch RBI single to left field.
The pitching in the series has been a positive outlook for both teams. That theme continued in Sunday's contest. The Lake Erie starter Joseph Sgambelluri threw a gem in the win. He lasted eight innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked two and struck out four. For the Slammers, Alec Thomas received the start. Although Thomas was outdueled, he had a strong performance. Thomas threw seven innings, allowed one run on six hits, walked zero, and struck out seven.
The game was tied 1-1 going into the ninth inning. The Crushers strung two consecutive singles and Austin White followed with an RBI fielder's choice to give Lake Erie the lead. Alexis Rivero for Lake Erie was called out in the ninth to record the save. The closer threw a scoreless ninth inning for his 16th save which ranks in the top five of the Frontier League and helped Lake Erie avoid the sweep in the 2-1 win.
Windy City vs Gateway
After dropping the first two in the series against the Gateway Grizzlies, a strong outing from ThunderBolts (31-52) starter Garrett Christman and 5 home runs from the offense on Sunday sparked a 7-2 win heading into tomorrow's off day.
The Bolts' offense got going right out of the gate, as Jairus Richards and Jake Boone hit back to back home runs to start the game. An RBI single later in the frame made it 3-0 Windy City after half an inning. They never looked back from there.
After receiving three runs of support or less in half of his starts coming into tonight, Christman (3-6) took advantage of the early lead. Working quickly as always, he cruised through 6 innings, allowing 2 runs, walking one and striking out 5. His only two blemishes on the night came on two solo home runs. Austin Marozas worked 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to pick up his first save of the season.
As the game progressed, Windy City added home runs by Payton Robertson, Matt Morgan and another from Jairus Richards. In total, they clubbed 16 hits en route to the victory.
