BEEBE, CATS, TAKE RUBBERMATCH AGAINEST OTTAWA
TROY, NY - The Tri-City ValleyCats (22-17) took the rubber game 6-2 against the Ottawa Titans (17-22) to conclude a three-game series on Sunday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. It was another SunDay FunDay presented by Highmark Blue Shield by Northeastern New York. The ValleyCats have now won seven consecutive series at home to open the 2023 campaign.
Tri-City got on the board in the second. Aaron Altherr singled off Grant Larson, and stole second. Cale Jones, in his professional at-bat, singled in Altherr to pull the ValleyCats ahead, 1-0.
Tri-City flexed its muscles in the third. Trey Hair walked, and Carson McCusker mashed a two-run jack. His 15th homer of the season traveled 411 feet. Jakob Goldfarb was then hit by a pitch. He stole second, and went to third on an error from Mitsuki Fukuda. Jones knocked in Goldfarb with a sac fly to give the ValleyCats a 4-0 lead.
Tri-City showcased its speed in the fifth. Goldfarb had a bunt single, and proceeded to steal second and third. He darted for home on a wild pitch that was up the third base line to manufacture a run. Pavin Parks walked, and swiped second. On the stolen base attempt, Larson threw the ball away, and Parks came around to score to extend the 'Cats lead to 6-0.
Ottawa showed some life in the ninth. Jamey Smart walked and Jacob Talamante reached on an error from the pitcher in Elliot Carney. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Taylor Wright brought in a pair with a double to cut the deficit to 6-2. Carney retired the next two batters to seal the victory.
Florence, Ky. – The Evansville Otters hit a franchise tying eight doubles and Dakota Phillips had four extra base hits in a 14-4 series winning victory over the Florence Y'alls. The Otters had 10 total extra base-hits Sunday afternoon as part of a 15-hit outburst. Phillips' massive day finished with four total hits with three doubles and a home run, four RBIs and four runs. Phillips' three doubles tied the Otters single-game player record. Evansville finished with a season-best 31 total runs across the series. The Otters jumped on the Y'alls early as Phillips had an RBI double in the first. Ethan Skender hit a double and would come around to score on a wild pitch to add another run in the second. Phillips went back to work in the third with a leadoff double and scored as part of a two run inning to give the Otters a 5-0 lead. Florence got two back on a home run in the bottom of third. Evansville responded by blowing the game open with a three run fourth inning as Kona Quiggle notched an RBI hit before Phillips launched a two run blast. Three more runs scored in both the sixth and seventh for Evansville. Phillips hit his record-tying double to bring in the final two runs of the game in the seventh. Aaron Beck continued his excellent start to the year with two doubles of his own as part of a three-hit day. The Evansville native finished his first week of professional play with eighth hits in five starts. Parker Brahms earned the win from the mound, completing six innings with four runs allowed and six strikeouts. Leoni De La Cruz, Kevin Davis and Jake Polancic combined to work three scoreless innings to close out the win. All nine Otters starters scored a run as the team scored the second most runs and the second most hits of any game this season. Jomar Reyes extended his Otters' long on-base streak to 18 games. Evansville has plated at least five runs in their last four games with a home run in all four. Evansville returns to Bosse Field on Tuesday to open a three game series against the Gateway Grizzlies. A 6:35 PM CT first pitch kicks off of a Fifth Third Bank Family Night.
Sauget, IL (June 25, 2023) – The Gateway Grizzlies used home runs by the double-play combination of Abdiel Diaz and Gabe Holt, plus a solid team-wide pitching effort to beat the Washington Wild Things on Sunday night at Grizzlies Ballpark, sweeping the weekend series with their fourth win in a row overall.
Both starters were sharp early, as Zac Ryan and Hayden Shenefield worked around men on base in the first couple of frames. Diaz broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run over the left-center field wall to make it 1-0 Gateway, and in the fifth inning, J.C. Santini answered with his first professional home run to the same part of the ballpark, tying the score at 1-1.
Gateway would regain the lead, however, in the sixth inning. Diaz led off the inning with a single, and Holt stepped up to the plate and cracked a two-run, go-ahead home run down the left field line to put the Grizzlies up 3-1. They would also add an insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI infield hit by Andrew Penner, taking a 4-1 lead into the ninth.
That insurance run would prove to be the game winner, as Washington scored multiple runs in the ninth inning for the third night in a row in Sauget, this time on a two-run home run by Wagner Lagrange to get within 4-3. But Colton Easterwood locked things down from there, nailing down his sixth save of the season as the Grizzlies swept Washington for the first time since 2019 and the first time at home since 2013.
Ryan set the tone with five innings on the mound for the Grizzlies, with Trevor Tietz (1-0), Alec Whaley, and Nate Garkow combining for three shutout innings of relief to hold the Wild Things' offense down.
Now back in a tie for first with the Schaumburg Boomers atop the Frontier League's West division, the Grizzlies will look to keep their win streak going when they head back to Bosse Field for a rematch against the Evansville Otters, against whom they dropped two out of three games last weekend. The first pitch of the midweek series is set for 6:35 p.m. CT in Evansville
