OTTERS, THUNDERBOLTS TRADE WALK-OFFS IN DOUBLEHEADER
Crestwood, Ill. – The Evansville Otters walked off the Windy City ThunderBolts in a sudden death tie breaker in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader before the ThunderBolts returned the favor with a walk off in game two. Jacob Olson played the hero in game one. The team's were tied at one apiece after eight innings of a scheduled seven inning ballgame. Windy City elected to pitch to try to win the game with a scoreless inning. Evansville used pinch runner Troy Viola at first base. Olson led off the tiebreaker and launched a double into the left-center gap. Viola hustled from 1st to home to give Evansville the 2-1 road walk off victory. Zach Smith guided the Otters on the mound in game one. The righty twirled six innings allowing just three hits and one run. He retired the first ten Windy City batters in order. Jon Beymer provided gutsy relief out of the bullpen. In both the seventh and eighth innings he escaped the inning with a runner in scoring position. He struck out three batters in his two scoreless innings pitched to help bring the game to the sudden death tiebreaker. Jomar Reyes had three hits in game one, including the game tying RBI double in the sixth inning. Evansville is now 2-1 in the Frontier League's sudden death tiebreaker in the second year of the rule's existence. Wednesday was the first road walk-off win in team history and answered Windy City's walkoff in the tiebreaker at Bosse Field two weeks ago. — Game two of the doubleheader developed into a similar low scoring tense affair over seven innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Windy City used a two out infield base hit and stolen base to put the walk-off run in scoring position. The ThunderBolts' Will Riley line drive base hit to center then scored the runner for a Windy City walk off. Austin Gossmann worked a quality start from the mound. The Otters' pitcher threw six innings allowing just two runs with three strikeouts and no walks. The ThunderBolts hit a two run homer in the second but Evansville answered with two runs in the sixth inning. Jomar Reyes recorded his fourth hit over the two games with a double down the left field line. George Callil followed with his second bunt base hit of the game to put runners on the corners. Jake Green knocked in an RBI double and Kona Quiggle ran out a fielder's choice groundout for Callil to score as the tying run. Jeffrey Baez also had a two hit day in game two. Reyes raised his hit streak to seven games, now tallying a team-leading 33 hits in 25 games on the season. Evansville faces Windy City in the series rubber match on Thursday from Ozinga Field in Crestwood with a 6:35 PM CT first pitch.
SCHAUMBURG, IL — The Schaumburg Boomers trailed 5-0 in the sixth inning but rallied to record a 6-5 victory over the Empire State Greys on a walk-off double from Kyle Fitzgerald in the bottom of the ninth.
Fitzgerald's heroics came against the sixth pitcher of the night for the Greys. Blake Berry drew a one-out walk and scored on the double to give the Boomers the lead for the first time. The Greys scored four times in the top of the fourth, taking the lead on a two-run homer from Cristopher Cespedes. The lead reached 5-0 in the top of the sixth.
Schaumburg turned it into a game in the bottom of the sixth against the Empire State bullpen. Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home the first run and Quentin Selma added a three-run double. Chase Dawson tripled with two outs in the seventh and crossed the plate on an RBI single from Berry to tie the game.
Jake Joyce earned the win in relief. Jackson Hickert started and threw 5.1 innings, walking four and striking out a season high six. John Fiorenza and Dawson logged two hits apiece. The Boomers drew seven walks in the contest. With Gateway's third consecutive defeat earlier in the day the Boomers are now within a game of first place in the West Division.
The Boomers (18-10) conclude the series tomorrow with a 12:00 pm Business Day Game presented by the Schaumburg Hotel Cluster: Courtyard, Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites. David Kaplan of ESPN 1000 will be on hand to throw out the first pitch and greet fans. The Elk Grove Village sponsored NASCAR will also be at the ballpark. LHP Kobey Schlotman (4-2, 3.03) is scheduled to start against RHP Andres Rodriguez (1-2, 7.22).
TROY, NY - The Tri-City ValleyCats (15-14) slugged their way to a 13-6 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers (14-15) on Wednesday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. For the second time in the last three games, every ValleyCats starter reached base safely.
Tri-City opened the scoring. Matt Mulhearn issued a walk to Cito Culver in the first. Trey Hair then picked up a single. Carson McCusker reached on a fielder's choice, which moved Culver to third. Afterward, Culver scored on a wild pitch, and McCusker advanced to second. Aaron Altherr clobbered a two-run blast to pull the ValleyCats ahead, 3-0.
Lake Erie got on the board in the eighth. Jack Harris led off with a base hit. Kemuel Thomas-Rivero moved Harris to third with a single. Kenen Irizarry plated Harris with an RBI knock to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The ValleyCats got the run back in the bottom of the second with a solo homer from Pavin Parks to take a 4-1 lead. It was his fourth of the season.
Tri-City picked up a run in the third. Culver walked for the second time. Hair singled Culver to third. Carson McCusker picked up an RBI fielder's choice to put the 'Cats on top, 5-1.
The Crushers closed the gap in the fifth. Base hits from Todd Issacs Jr. and Gabe Snyder set the table for a three-run blast off the bat of Jack Harris to make it a 5-4 game.
Beebe received the no-decision. He went 4.1 innings, yielding four runs on eight hits, walking none, and striking out two.
The ValleyCats added some insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. Hair doubled and McCusker brought him in with a single. Altherr picked up his second hit before Zach Biermann cranked a 440-foot shot to right field to give Tri-City a 9-4 lead.
Tri-City padded its lead in the sixth. Thomas Bruss issued a walk to Culver, and Hair clobbered a two-run blast to make it an 11-4 game.
Lake Erie made it a six-run affair in the seventh. Brendan Bell issued a walk to Santiago Chirino. Thomas-Rivero singled, and Jiandido Tromp drove in Chirino with a base hit.
The ValleyCats responded in the bottom of the seventh. Robbie Merced mashed a solo homer for his first professional hit off Perry Bewley to extend the ValleyCats lead to 12-5.
Issacs Jr. ripped a homer off Matt Dunaway in the eighth to cut the deficit to 12-6.
Tri-City picked up its 13th run of the day in the bottom of the eighth. McCusker singled, and Biermann brought him in with a double.
Bell (1-0) earned his first win in a ValleyCats uniform. He tossed a season-high 2.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking one, and striking out three.
Mulhearn (2-2) was handed the loss. He threw 4.1 innings, giving up nine runs on eight hits, walking three, and striking out two.
Biermann became the fifth ValleyCat this season with a four-plus RBI game. Hair was the fifth player with Tri-City this year to record a four-hit game. Meanwhile, Culver matched a season-high as he compiled four walks.
Tri-City concludes its three-game set against Lake Erie tomorrow, Thursday, June 15. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM.
Washington, PA - The Ottawa Titans (13-16) picked up a pair of victories to open their road trip, scoring a 9-2 win in game one and a 5-3 victory in game two to sweep the doubleheader with the Washington Wild Things (12-17) on Wednesday.
Game one - Ottawa 9, Washington 2
Jackie Urbaez got the scoring started in the series opener with an RBI double down the right-field line in the first, plating Jamey Smart.
The Titans poured it on in the second with a Manny Garcia double and AJ Wright's two-run homer off Spencer Johnston (loss, 2-4), extending the lead to 4-0.
Andrew Czech answered back for the Wild Things with a solo homer to get the home side on the board in the bottom of the second.
The run would be the lone tally Damon Casetta-Stubbs (win, 1-2) would allow. The right-hander went six strong innings, allowing one run, six hits, walking two, and fanning six for the victory.
AJ Wright's second two-run homer of the day added to the lead in the fourth before Sicnarf Loopstok belted a three-run blast in the sixth to finish off the offensive outburst.
Gleyvin Pineda allowed a run in the bottom of the seventh but capped off the Titans' series-opening victory.
Game two - Ottawa 5, Washington 3
The Wild Things tallied three runs on four hits against Alec Thomas (ND, 1-1) in the bottom half of the second to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.
Thomas would exit after just two innings, limiting the damage to just three earned runs on six hits.
In his professional debut, Kanta Kobayashi brought home a Brandon Bannon triple to get the Titans on the board in the third inning with an RBI groundout.
AJ Wright's two-out solo shot off of Hayden Shenefield (ND, 0-0) in the fifth brought the Titans within a run. Wright is now up to eight home runs on the season.
Nick MacDonald (win, 2-2) would keep the Titans within striking distance with three shutout innings in relief. The right-hander allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out a pair.
Taylor Wright tied the game in the top of the sixth, cashing in a Jason Dicochea double to bring the Titans level. Later, Brandon Bannon's RBI single off Justin Goossen-Brown scored Taylor Wright to give the visitors their first lead of the night. Following a stolen base, Kanta Kobayashi's infield single drew a wild throw, allowing Bannon to score to extend the lead.
Chris Burica and Trevor Clifton (save, 1) locked things down to preserve the victory.
With the pair of wins, the Titans have now won two consecutive series and have won a season-high five games.
On the day, AJ Wright went 4-for-8 with three homers and five RBI. Jamey Smart also went 4-for-8 with a walk, while Taylor Wright went 4-for-7 with an RBI.
Trois-Rivieres, QC - The New York Boulders held off the Trois-Rivieres Aigles in a nail-biting 8-6 win Wednesday night in Canada. The Aigles had the game-tying runs in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Boulders were able to secure the win.
Joey DeLuca broke out of his offensive slump with a massive performance at the plate for New York. The catcher went 2 for 3 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. DeLuca entered the game on a 4-for-38 skid at the plate, and tripled his RBI production over that span on Wednesday.
Chris Kwitzer and Matt McDermott each went 3 for 5 at the plate for New York, which improved to 17-13 with the win. Kwitzer has now recorded multiple hits in five of his last eight games. Patrick Kivlehan homered for the second consecutive night to help bolster the Boulders to victory. Gabriel Garcia added two hits and two RBI for New York.
Ryan Munoz earned the win on the mound for the Boulders, allowing five earned runs in seven innings of work. Zach Schneider and Dylan Smith each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with Smith earning his Frontier League-tying sixth save of the season.
Trois-Rivieres (9-20) put the tying runs in scoring position after an Austin Markmann walk and Nate Scantlin double. Smith was able to strike out Rodrigo Orozco and get Steve Brown to ground out to end the game.
