BATS WERE ON FIRE TO FINISH OUT THE SERIES
The Evansville Otters had a hit from every member of the lineup on their way to a 9-4 win over Windy City to clinch the midweek series over the ThunderBolts. The Otters totaled 11 hits, including six extra base-hits to overwhelm the ThunderBolts in the rubber match of the three game series from Bosse Field. The fourth inning keyed the Otters victory. Jacob Olson led off with a double. Justin Felix followed with a bloop base hit and Kelvin Melean recorded his fourth RBI of the week on a base hit to score Olson. Ethan Skender's sacrifice fly scored the innings' second run before Dakota Phillips capped the big inning with an RBI double off the right field wall. The three run inning extended the Otters lead to six. Windy City cut into the lead with three runs in the third and one in the sixth. Noah Myers removed any drama in the eighth with a two run blast over the right field wall. The home run capped a two home run, 7 RBI series for the Otters' left fielder. On the mound, Zach Smith earned his third win of the season. He held the ThunderBolts scoreless through the first four innings before the three run fifth. Smith totaled three strikeouts. He holds a 1.44 ERA, the 7th best among qualifying pitchers in the Frontier League. Jon Beymer provided the bulk of relief for the Otters' bullpen. He allowed just one base runner in two innings of work. The righty from Hopkinsville, Kentucky has not allowed a run in his last 9.2 innings pitched. The Otters scored first for the 16th consecutive game on Thursday. In the second, Kona Quiggle hit a triple off the right field and Omar Reyes brought him home with a double to center. Two more came across in the third with an Skender single, Dakota Phillips double and Jeffrey Baez triple. Skender extended his hit streak to nine games, while Quiggle and Phillips have both reached base in 15 consecutive games.
The Gateway Grizzlies kicked off the month of June like they ended the month of May- with another victory, this time by a final score of 6-4 at Mercy Health Stadium to record a sweep of the Lake Erie Crushers and their eighth consecutive win overall. Zac Ryan got the start for Gateway, and the right-hander worked around baserunners for three scoreless innings, striking out a career-high six in what was his second time starting a game in his pro career. Nate Garkow (3-1) then tossed two scoreless innings in back of Ryan, and Gateway's offense waited for their chance to pounce, which they would get in the top of the fourth inning. After Lake Erie starter Yasel Santana (0-1) got the first two batters out, he walked both Peter Zimmermann and Andrew Penner. After a double-steal, Jairus Richards reached base on an infield single to score Zimmermann and make it 1-0. Then, in the fifth inning, the Grizzlies strung three singles together to double their lead to 2-0 on Gabe Holt's RBI base hit. On the very next pitch, Eric Rivera smashed a three-run home run down the left field line, making the score 5-0 Grizzlies. Rivera would then come up with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning and draw a walk, increasing Gateway's lead to 6-0.
The Tri-City ValleyCats (9-9) won the rubber game 10-6 over the Trois-Rivières Aigles (7-11) on Thursday as New York Mets legend Darryl Strawberry made his guest appearance at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. With the victory, Tri-City has a .500 record for the first time since May 16, and has won all three series at home. The ValleyCats opened the scoring in the first. Cito Culver and Carson McCusker had back-to-back one-out knocks off Ray Weber. Aaron Altherr singled in Culver, and Zach Biermann drove in McCusker with a base hit to give Tri-City a 2-0 lead.McCusker and Altherr each picked up their second hit of the ballgame in the third. McCusker singled, and advanced to second on a groundout before Altherr brought him in with an RBI single to pull the 'Cats ahead, 3-0. The Aigles picked up their first hit in the fifth. Elijah Gill retired 12 hitters in a row before issuing a double to Malik Williams. Ricardo Sanchez laced an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-1. Tri-City broke the game wide open in the seventh. Jaxon Hallmark led off with a double against Jacob Stobart. Hallmark swiped third, and McCusker was intentionally walked. Trey Hair hit a grounder to Williams who threw the ball away, which allowed two runs to come around. Biermann lined a ball to left and it was dropped by Parker DePasquale, which scored Hair to put the ValleyCats on top, 6-1. The 'Cats extended their lead in the eighth. Pavin Parks worked a walk against James Bradwell. Ciaran Devenney singled before Hallmark reached on an error from Juan Kelly. Culver hit a ground-rule double to plate two runs to put an exclamation point on an eight-RBI series. McCusker then lifted a sac fly to right. Afterward, Culver crossed the plate on a wild pitch to provide Tri-City with a 10-1 lead.
The Florence Y'alls (10-8), presented by Towne Properties, ventured back from a first-game defeat to clinch their second straight series over the Washington Wild Things (8-10) with an 8-5 victory at Thomas More Stadium on Thursday. Neither team scored through three innings of play. The Wild Things finally drew first blood in the top of the fourth when third baseman Ian Walters drove in left fielder Robert Chayka with an RBI single. Two batters later, shortstop Nick Gotta drove in Walters with a single of his own. Heading to the bottom of the third, the Y'alls trailed 2-0. In the bottom of the third, the Y'alls began a four-inning scoring streak. Florence scored its first run on an RBI groundout from second baseman Ray Zuberer that brought in first baseman Craig Massey from third base. The Wild Things scored again in the top of the fifth, but the Y'alls answered back to tie the game when left fielder Marcos Castillo drove in two with a double that scored third baseman Brian Fuentes and center fielder Cole Brannen. After five innings, the Y'alls and Wild Things were knotted 3-3. The Y'alls scored again in the sixth when catcher Zade Richardson brought home designated hitter Brennan Price from third base on a sacrifice fly. Florence then broke the game open in the seventh with four runs on four hits against two Washington pitchers. Brian Fuentes provided the big blow, courtesy of a two-out three-RBI triple hit off the right field wall. Heading to the eighth, Florence led 8-3. The Wild Things plated two in the eighth and threatened in the ninth by bringing the tying run to the plate, but Florence lefthander Kent Klyman held Washington off to secure an 8-5 Florence win. The victory marks the Y'alls' fifth in six games against Washington so far this year in two series.
The New York Boulders took game 3 of the series against the Greys. The Boulders started off hot with a homerun from David Vinsky early in the lineup; he would set the tone for the rest of the game. 3 other homeruns would follow from Chris Kwizter, Gabriel Garcia and Tucker Nathans. Bats stayed hot with a total of 16 RBIs and 8 doubles. The Greys did not give up and brough in 4 runs including an in the park homerun from J.R. DiSarcina. The final score was 17-5.
