TRI-CITY SWEEPS MINERS IN DOUBLEHEADER WITH WALK-OFF IN GAME 2

Sussex County vs Tri-City

The Sussex County Miners and Tri-City ValleyCats faced off in a double header following Tuesday's postponement on Wednesday evening at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.

Tri-City would give Ryan Williamson the start in game one, opposing him was right hander Dwayne Marshall. Both pitchers were strong early on, neither starter gave up a run in the first two innings of play.

After Williamson retired the Miners in order in the top half of the third inning, it would be Tri-City who got on the board first. Designated hitter Denis Phipps launched a solo home run deep over the left field fence to give the 'Cats the early 1-0 lead.

In the top half of the fourth inning, the first two Miners batsmen would reach base safely, putting Williamson in a jam. He would strike out former ValleyCat Juan Silverio and Edwin Mateo, and subsequently walk David Maberry to load the bases with two outs. Miners catcher Isaias Quiroz would be the third strikeout victim of the inning, stranding the bases loaded.

Following a quiet home half of the fourth inning, Sussex County would come roaring back in the top of the fifth. Adam Hofacket would enter the game, walk Nilo Rijo to lead off the inning, but ValleyCats catcher Austin Elder would fire a strike to second to catch Rijo stealing. Hofacket would walk both Martin Figueroa and Willie Escala to put two runners on with nobody out. An infield single off the bat of Jawuan Harris would load the bases for Juan Silverio. The Miners third baseman would double down the left field line, emptying the bases and giving Sussex County the 3-2 lead.

Brac Warren would retire the Miners in order during the road half of the sixth inning, bringing Tri-City up to the plate in the bottom half of the inning down by a run.

Jesus Lujano would lead the inning off with a single and would advance to second on a wild pitch. Following a Joey Campagna strike out, Austin Elder would be hit by a pitch, bringing Cito Culver to the plate. The former Miner would double down the right field line off reliever James Mulry, plating Lujano and tying the game. Brantley Bell would then give Tri-City the lead with one swing of the bat, a towering three-run blast to break the game open. Pavin Parks would add to the lead, going back to back with Bell, hitting a towering solo home run to right field, giving Trey Cochran-Gill a four run cushion heading into the top of the seventh inning.

The 'Cats closer would surrender a leadoff single to Figueroa, but would strike out Willie Escala for the first out of the inning. First baseman Yanio Perez would be clipped by a Cochran-Gill slider, putting two runners on with one out. Jawuan Harris would line out for the second out of the inning. Juan Silverio would record his third hit of the game, a single to load the bases with two outs, bringing pinch hitter Alex Toral. Cochran-Gill would induce a flyout to end the game, stranding the bases loaded.

In front of a sold out crowd at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, the nightcap of the double header between the Sussex County Miners and Tri-City ValleyCats featured a battle between right handed starter Joey Gonzalez and lefty Michael Mediavilla.

Gonzalez would allow one hit over three innings, a single to Martin Figueroa to lead off game two. Mediavilla fired three perfect innings to start his outing, striking out seven of the first nine 'Cats he faced.

The Miners offense would come to life against the ValleyCats ace during the top half of the fourth inning, scoring six runs in the inning. An RBI single off the bat of Jawuan Harris would get the scoring started for the visiting Miners. A two-RBI ground rule double off the bat of Edwin Mateo added to the lead, and a three-run blast from first baseman Alex Toral capped the scoring off in the fourth for the Miners.

Tri-City would end Mediavilla's perfect game bid when Cito Culver would double to lead off the fourth inning. Following a Brantley Bell ground out that allowed Culver to advance to third. Third baseman Pavin Parks would single to drive the shortstop in to score, cutting into the Miners lead.

The combination of Joey Gonzalez and Olbis Parra would hold the Sussex County offense scoreless the remainder of the contest.

Tri-City would score another run in the fifth, an RBI single from Joey Campagna plated Carson McCusker from second base, chipping away at Sussex's lead.

In the bottom half of the seventh inning, first baseman Brad Zunica would lead off the inning with a flyout. McCusker would then reach on a Willie Escala error, giving Tri-City life in the bottom half of the final inning. Jesus Lujanon lined out sharply to Oraj Anu in left field for the second out of the inning. Campagna would record his second hit of the night, a single back up the middle to put runners on the corners with two away. Catcher Austin Bernard's broken bat single plated McCusker, bringing Cito Culver to the plate representing the tying run. The ValleyCats shortstop would hit a towering three-run blast into the 'Cats bullpen to tie the game at six. Following a Brantley Bell walk, Pavin Parks popped out to Silverio at third to end the inning.

In the top half of the eighth inning, Parra would strand the go-ahead run on third base following a great play by Brantley Bell to end the inning, giving Tri-City the chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the inning.

Tyler Thornton entered the game out of the bullpen for the Miners, facing Denis Phipps to start the inning. The designated hitter would ground out, advancing Pavin Parks, who started the inning as the international tie breaker runner, to third. Miners skipper Bobby Jones would intentionally walk Brad Zunica bringing Carson McCusker to the plate. On an 0-2 count, the ValleyCats right fielder hit a towering blast over the left center field fence, capping off the improbable nine unanswered run comeback.

Trois-Rivières vs Ottawa

Wednesday's game between the Ottawa Titans and Trois-Rivières Aigles had been canceled due to inclement weather.

New Jersey vs Quebec 

The Quebec Capitales defeated the New Jersey Jackals 12-3 on Wednesday night. 

The Capitales got to scoring quickly by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. 

They would continue their scoring spree in the bottom of the second with Marc-Antoine Lebreux reaching first on an error to score Ruben Castro and Yordan Manduley stealing home to make it 0-4. 

Dalton Combs would help the Jackals get on the board with a sacrifice fly to score Joe Simone. 

Quebec would score another run in the bottom of the third. 

Joe Simone would have a sacrifice fly of his own to score Josh Rehwaldt to make the score 2-5 at the top of the fourth.

Quebec would continue to score some more runs  over the next few innings  with New Jersey adding one more run in between and would ultimately win the game 3-12. 

Keegan Wright got the loss for New Jersey while Carlos Sano got the win for the Capitales. 

Empire State vs New York 

Tucker Nathans hit two home runs and Ray Hernandez one as the host New York Boulders took over second place in the Eastern Division of the Frontier League with aN 8-4 win over the Empire State Greys on Wednesday at Clover Stadium in Pomona.

The win was a season-high eighth in a row for the Boulders and put them in second place in the Eastern Division, 1/2 game ahead of the Ottawa Titans and 1 1/2 games up on the Sussex County Miners. The Titans had their game with Trois-Rivieres rained out, while the Miners were swept in a doubleheader by Tri-City.

Nathans hit a solo home run in the fourth inning that gave the Boulders a brief 2-1 lead; then, in the sixth, he blasted a two-run shot that extended the New York advantage to 7-4. The home runs gave Nathans 15 on the year.

Meanwhile, Hernandez' three-run blast in the fifth inning gave the Boulders a 5-4 lead. The homer was the third of the season for Hernandez.

The Greys jumped on New York starter Robby Rowland for a run in the first on an RBI single from Willies Estrada.

New York tied it at 1-1 in the third on a run-scoring by Gabriel Garcia,  but the Greys answered with three runs in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Estrada and a two-run triple from Jordan Holloman-Scott that gave the visitors a 4-2 advantage.

In the eighth inning, the Boulders tacked on an insurance run with a sacrifice fly by Chris Kwitzer. Leading off the frame, David Vinsky lined his third hit of the night and 130th of the season, setting a new New York single season record which was set in 2015 by Jared McDonald with 129.

Rowland picked up the win for New York, going seven innings and allowing four runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out six as he improved to 7-5 on the year,

Johsson Arias was tagged with the loss for the Greys after surrendering five runs on 10 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out seven as he dropped to 2-9 on the season.

Schaumburg vs Lake Erie

The Schaumburg Boomers secured a return trip to the postseason, the fifth in franchise history, by scoring a 4-3 win at Wintrust Field over the Lake Erie Crushers on Wednesday. 

Both teams plated unearned runs in the first inning. The Boomers opened a 2-1 lead behind a Braxton Davidson RBI single in the third, scoring William Salas. Lake Erie countered with two runs in the fourth to open a 3-2 edge. Brett Milazzo tied the game with a double to center in the sixth, scoring Chase Dawson on a controversial play. The winning run came across with two outs in the seventh when Blake Berry singled home Alec Craig. 

Tanner Shears earned the win in relief with 1.2 scoreless frames. Darrell Thompson struck out two in the ninth for his 16th save of the year.  Shumpei Yoshikawa threw six innings and allowed just two earned runs while adding to his team record strikeout total with three. The offense finished with six hits. Dawson and Milazzo both totaled a pair.

Gateway vs Windy City

The ThunderBolts bounced back from Tuesday's loss to deal the Gateway Grizzlies a taste of their own medicine on Wednesday, scoring in the first five innings on their way to an 11-2 win at Ozinga Field.

Gateway (43-49) briefly held the lead after scoring two runs in the top of the first on a Peter Zimmerman two-run single.

Brian Klein answered with a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Later in the first, a Dan Robinson RBI single made it 4-2. Peyton Isaacson's solo shot in the bottom of the second inning increased the lead to three. 

In the third inning, the ThunderBolts (33-58) pulled away. Klein and Jake Boone singled and Robinson brought home the first run of the inning on a base hit. Matt Morgan followed with an RBI single and Jalen Greer hit a run-scoring groundout. 

Robinson's two-run single in the fourth gave him four RBIs and extended the lead to 10-2. Klein put a cap on the scoring with his fourth run batted in, singling home Brian Fuentes in the bottom of the fifth.

Five ThunderBolt pitchers combined to shut down the Gateway offense after the first inning. Layne Schnitz-Paxton (4-6) was the most impressive of the bunch, striking out four over two shutout innings to pick up the win. The loss was charged to Clint Freeman (0-3), who allowed five runs in two innings.

Washington vs Evansville

Behind a strong pitching performance from Rob Whalen, Zack Erwin and Lukas Young and a two-run shot from Anthony Brocato in the fifth, the Washington Wild Things (58-34) toppled Evansville (50-42) in a tight middle game in Washington Wednesday night. The West Division Champion Wild Things earned the series win with the victory, snapping a three-series losing streak. 

Both teams scored in the first inning, with Evansville striking first on a sacrifice fly by Dakota Phillips. Washington scored on a single by Cam Balego in the home half, on which a second runner was thrown out trying to score. 

Brocato's two-run homer, his first as a Wild Thing and 23rd of the year, gave Washington a 3-1 lead in the fifth before the Otters plated a run on a groundout in the sixth.

Rob Whalen got the win to move to 12-2 after a quality start saw him yield two runs over six innings on eight hits. He fanned four. Zack Erwin set down all six he faced with three strikeouts in his two innings of work while Lukas Young earned his 20th save in the ninth with a strikeout in the ninth.

Florence vs Joliet

Bobby Brand pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out six Joliet hitters in a 1-0 Florence victory Wednesday night at Thomas More Stadium. The Y'alls also won the first game of the day – the suspended game due to weather from July 17 – for a two-win day against Joliet. 

Brabrand faced the minimum in five of his seven innings. His shining moment was stranding the bases loaded in the third inning with Joliet threatening. Over his past three starts, Brabrand has struck out 25 batters. He allowed just two hits tonight. 

The Y'alls did not need much offense and got just enough with an Alberti Chavez RBI single in the third inning. Chavez has 16 hits in the past 12 games. Luke Harper went 1-3 to extend his hitting streak to four games. Florence only had three hits in the game, mostly kept off balance by Steve Moyers who takes the tough-luck loss. The lefty struck out six. 

In game one of the day, the Y'alls inherited a 4-1 lead in the third inning and scored four more runs to win 8-5. The Y'alls hit two home runs in the fourth inning – one each for Brennan Price and Ethan Stern – to provide the bulk of the scoring. Matt Burch, Matt Feinstein, and Matt McGarry also went yard for Joliet, but the Slammers could not keep pace after the early deficit created back in July. 

The second game became a seven-inning game because the two teams were required to finalize the full nine-inning game from July 17, which was suspended due to inclement weather.