NEW JERSEY SWEEPS TO HOLD THEIR WINNING STREAK
The Gateway Grizzlies fell behind early on Thursday night against the New Jersey Jackals, and despite a rally, were unable to overcome the deficit in a 7-5 loss at Grizzlies Ballpark, sealing a sweep for the visitors. A leadoff walk in the first inning by Joey Gonzalez (3-3) eventually came around to score on a two-out RBI single by Josh Rehwaldt for a 1-0 New Jersey lead. In the second inning, the Grizzlies had a chance to respond when they loaded the bases with no one out, but could not score as a popout and double-play ground ball thwarted their efforts against Jackals starter Bryan Pena. New Jersey then immediately capitalized by scoring two runs in the third inning and two in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. It was then that Gateway began their scoring on the night, with an Abdiel Diaz RBI single and an Eric Rivera sacrifice fly getting them within 5-2 before another RBI by Rehwaldt, his third of the game, made the score 6-2 courtesy of a solo home run. A leadoff walk by Clint Freeman began the next half inning, and Gateway got back within 6-3 on a sacrifice fly by D.J. Stewart that nearly made it over the fence for a game-tying grand slam with the bases loaded. Mark Vierling then made the score 6-4 on a pinch-hit, two-out RBI single. Both bullpens were stout from there, with Yuichi Shiota (1-0) pitching two and one-third scoreless innings, and the combination of Zac Treece and Zach Blankenship holding the Jackals off the board in the sixth and seventh. In the eighth, New Jersey scratched across another run on a two-out RBI single by James Nelson, but Gateway also got that run back in the bottom half on an error by Nilo Rijo that scored Stewart from second base, making the score 7-5. But it was not enough as the Grizzlies lost for the fifth time in their last six games, while the Jackals extended their win streak out to 10 in a row.
A pitchers' duel was turned sideways at Ozinga Field Thursday night as the Evansville otters scored seven runs in the sixth inning on their way to beating the ThunderBolts 9-5. Adrien Reese, making just his second pro start, tossed five shutout innings out of the gate. He pitched out of one bases loaded jam but allowed only one hit during that timeframe. The Bolts (11-19) broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth. After Dan Robinson singled and stole a bag, Will Riley scored him on a bunt single. The lead was short-lived as Evansville (18-12) batted around in the top of the sixth. Jeffrey Baez's triple and George Callil's double started the rally but it continued when the ThunderBolts committed a pair of errors that extended the inning and allowed four unearned runs to score. The Bolts tried to make a game of it, getting a run in the sixth on a Micah Yonamine base hit. They scored two more in the eighth thanks to big knocks from Will Riley and Jake Boone but the Evansville bullpen shut the door and walked away with a four-run win. Tim Holdgrafer (5-2) pitched well, allowing two runs over six innings for the win and Reese (0-2) took the loss. Three of the five runs he gave up were earned over a 5.1 inning outing.
The Tri-City ValleyCats (16-14) improved to 5-0 in series at home, and won the rubber game 9-2 against the Lake Erie Crushers (14-16) on Thursday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. Every ValleyCats starter reached base safely for the second straight day. Lake Erie opened the scoring in the third. Kemuel Thomas-Rivero launched a solo homer off Dwayne Marshall to give the Crushers a 1-0 lead. Jiandido Tromp began the fourth with an infield single. Sean Cheely walked. Santiago Chirino advanced both runners with a sac bunt. Todd Issacs Jr. lifted a sac fly to provide the Crushers with a 2-0 advantage. Lake Erie starter JD Hammer tossed three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and three walks, and striking out five. Tri-City jumped on reliever Nathan Holt in the fourth. Jakob Goldfarb went to first on a hit by pitch. Pavin Parks plated Goldfarb with an RBI double. Jaxon Hallmark walked before Trey Hair cranked a go-ahead three-run blast to pull Tri-City ahead, 4-2. It was Hair's seventh big fly of the season. Parks lined a solo homer in the fifth to put the 'Cats on top, 5-2. The two-way star now has five homers this year. Marshall got into some trouble in the sixth, yielding three walks and a hit. However, Goldfarb threw out Tromp trying to steal second after he went to first on a walk. Tri-City got out of the jam unscathed as Elliot Carney came in with the bases loaded to induce a flyout from Thomas-Rivero. Tri-City went yard again in the bottom of the sixth. Carson McCusker picked up a single, and Aaron Altherr homered to make it a 7-2 game. It was Altherr's fifth long ball of the season. Parks collected his third hit of the day to begin the bottom of the seventh. Hallmark singled, and Parks went to second. The two baserunners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. After Cito Culver walked to load the bases, Parks came around on another wild pitch, and Hallmark was driven in on an RBI groundout from Hair to extend the ValleyCats lead to 9-2. It was Hair's second four-RBI game of the year. Marshall (4-1) earned his third consecutive win at home. He had his longest outing at "The Joe" as a member of the ValleyCats, throwing 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, walking five, and striking out five on 113 pitches. Holt (2-2) received the loss. He pitched four innings, allowing nine runs on 10 hits, and walking two batters.
The Washington Wild Things (13-17) bounced back with a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Titans (12-17) to round out a three-game series Thursday. Justin Showalter had a quality start on the bump earning his second win of the season. The righty got off to a rough start with a two-run first. Showalter then found his groove shoving six consecutive scoreless innings. The Titans started off fast capitalizing on an error. Sicnarf Loopstock flared a ball into right center with two runners in scoring position to immediately put the pressure on the Wild Things and give Ottawa a 2-0 lead. Washington's offense answered quickly with a Nick Gotta leadoff double. A few productive outs closed the gap to 2-1. The Titans wouldn't see the lead again the rest of the night. The bottom of the second began with Andrew Czech roping a liner to the fence for another Wild Things' leadoff double. Robert Chayka kept the train rolling with an RBI single. Gotta nearly gave Washington the lead but a base-running mistake negated the go-ahead run from scoring only by only a few strides. The Wild Things offense remained hot in the third. Scott Dubrule poked a leadoff single. He turned on the jets scoring all the way from first on a Melvin Novoa double earning Novoa his second RBI of the day. Wagner Lagrange joined the party with a single through the third-base hole. Czech rounded out the hit parade with an RBI single for the second Wild Things run of the inning. Washington takes the lead 4-2. In the bottom of the sixth the Wild Things tacked on a few more with some help from the Titans defense. Two separate Ottawa throwing errors mixed with a Dubrule single extended the Washington lead to 6-2. Ottawa made some noise with a run in the ninth but never truly threatened after the first in the game. Washington coasted to a 6-3 victory in the last game of the series.
The Florence Y'alls (17-13), presented by Towne Properties, saw their bats go quiet during Thursday's double-header against the Sussex County Miners (19-10). In back-to-back losses by the scores of 4-3 and 3-2, Florence struggled offensively and allowed the Miners to walk off back-to-back victories in the seventh inning. In Game 1, the Miners scored first during a two-run first inning. Walks to third baseman Abraham Mow and second baseman Juan Santana set up designated hitter Oraj Anu, who singled to plate both runners. Florence answered back in the top of the second with a three-run rally on the back of five hits and a Sussex County error. Center fielder Cole Brannen tied the game with a two-RBI single before second baseman Craig Massey gave the Y'alls a 3-2 lead with an RBI single. The Y'alls would not score again for the remainder of the game, while the Miners chipped away with a solo home run from first baseman Gavin Stupienski in the fifth off Florence lefthander Michael Kirian. In the seventh, Florence righthander Sean Hughes walked leadoff man Willie Escala, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Abraham Mow then drove in Escala with a single to left for a walk-off 4-3 Miners victory. In Game 2, Florence struggled to hit against Sussex County starter Cole Davis (5.0+ IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K). The righthander held the Y'alls scoreless through his first five innings. Meanwhile, the Miners scored a run in the first after an infield single from right fielder Edwin Mateo before a two-base error on Florence right fielder Sam Plash allowed Mateo to score. Through five, Sussex County led 2-0. In the sixth, Florence tied the game on a two-run home run from left fielder Ray Zuberer, but the Y'alls stranded a runner at third with one out in the inning. In the seventh, Florence righthander Edgar Martinez struck out the first two batters before surrendering a walk-off home run to Miners second baseman Anthony Gomez. The homer marked Gomez's first of the season and handed Martinez (6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 K) his second defeat of the year.
