BOOMERS WEATHER THE GREYS
The Schaumburg Boomers waited through a pair of weather delays and rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the opener from the Empire State Greys 6-2 at Wintrust Field. The contest started 26 minutes late due to rain and the Greys struck for a pair of runs in the first. Rain started falling even harder with two outs forcing a delay of over two hours. Neither team was able to do much after the resumption until Alec Craig posted an RBI single with two outs to score the first run for the Boomers. Kyle Fitzgerald smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to put Schaumburg ahead. A wild pitch scored a run and Brett Milazzo added a two-run single in the five-run frame. Antonio Frias worked 6.1 scoreless innings of relief following the resumption of play. Cristian Lopez earned his first professional win in relief while Dylan Stutsman closed out the win. Craig and Milazzo posted two hits apiece while Gaige Howard walked three times to extend his on-base streak to 27.
The Gateway Grizzlies got a quality start from Collin Sullivan on the mound and gave up just four runs on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Jackals, but could not get their offense going in a 4-1 loss at Grizzlies Ballpark. It was the long ball that again bedeviled the Grizzlies early in the contest, with Alex Toral's solo shot and Josh Rehwaldt's two-run home run staking the visitors to a 3-0 lead. Sullivan (4-1) would permit no more runs and also no more hits for the rest of his six-inning outing, striking out seven to keep the Grizzlies close. Gateway was able to get on the board against Anthony Rodriguez (2-0) in the bottom of the fourth inning when Clint Freeman singled with one out and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. But the Grizzlies could not get any closer than that, striking out 11 times in the game and mustering just four singles offensively in dropping the opener to New Jersey, which won their eighth consecutive contest.
The Florence Y'alls (17-11), presented by Towne Properties, built an early lead and eventually hung on to win 6-5 against the Sussex County Miners (17-10) in Game 1 of a three-game set at Skylands Stadium. In a back-and-forth game, Florence built an early lead against Sussex County starter Alex Hart. After a scoreless first three innings, the Y'alls jumped Hart for four runs in the fourth. Five straight runners reached with one out and four scored on four hits and a pair of Sussex County errors. Shortstop Jeremiah Burks contributed an RBI single, while left fielder Marcos Castillo drove in two with a single. The Miners answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. After walks to center fielder Jawuan Harris and left fielder Will Zimmerman, catcher Elvis Lopez singled both of them in to cut the Florence lead to 4-2. The Y'alls tacked on another run in the fifth when designated hitter Brennan Price smacked his seventh home run of the year, but Sussex County scored runs in both the fifth and sixth to make it a one-run game. After six, the Y'alls led 5-4. Florence scored its sixth run in the seventh when second baseman Craig Massey led off with a single and advanced first to second on a wild pitch, then to third on a groundout. Brennan Price drove in Massey from third with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4 Y'alls. The Miners scored in the eighth off of Florence righthander Carter Poiry, but lefthander Kent Klyman entered to record two outs and strand a Miner at second base. In the ninth, Klyman allowed back-to-back singles to designated hitter Oraj Anu and Will Zimmerman. A groundout advanced both into scoring position, but shortstop Willie Escala grounded out to shortstop to end the game. Righthander Bobby Brabrand (6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) earned the victory, while Klyman locked down his second save of the year. The Y'alls now lead the season series with the Miners 1-0.
The Lake Erie Crushers were winners in Game 1 of a three-game-set versus the Tri-City ValleyCats in barnburner action, with a final score of 1-0. The Crushers (14-14) keep the momentum going as they have now won five of their last seven games and knock the ValleyCats (14-14) back down to .500. The limited scoring provided an exciting pitcher's duel as Yasel Santana of the Grapes squared up with Tri-City's Elijah Gill. Santana only found himself in trouble once. In the fourth frame, he began play with a walk. After getting the next two guys out he issued back-to-back free passes via a second walk of the inning and a hit-by-pitch. Santana buckled down though, and got Zach Biermann to fly out in foul territory ending the inning. The ValleyCats loaded them up one more time in the seventh inning. Brayden Bonner led runners to second and third with two outs before Trevor Kuncl got the call. Kuncl came out of the pen and plunked the first batter he saw on one pitch, bringing a full house onto the bases. After a 3-0 pitch that was ruled a strike much to the dismay of the entire Tri-City roster, Kuncl came back to two more strikes to fan Carson McCusker for the second time in the night and strand all three runners. The difference came during the top of the fourth frame. Mike Blanke singled into left field with one away, and Jiandido Tromp walked to put runners at first and second. With a good scoring opportunity for Lake Erie, Kemuel Thomas-Rivero hit a ground ball to third that was booted by Pavin Parks. The baseball traveled into shallow left field, allowing Mike Blanke to score on an unearned run for the only score of the night. Sam Curtis came in for the bottom of the ninth and slammed the door on the ValleyCats by striking out two and getting the last man to fly out.
