GREYS BLOW OUT LEAGUE LEADING CATS
Troy, NY—The Empire State Greys (13-55) have defeated the Tri-City ValleyCats (44-25) 10-1 behind Jaylen Smith's huge night and a whole team effort.
Empire State got off to a hot start off ValleyCats starter Brac Warren (L, 1-3) in the top of the 1st. Following a pair of singles by Jaylen Smith and Manny Garcia, Josh Sears did what he does best. The designated hitter hit his team-leading 12th home run of the season putting the Greys up 3-0.
The Greys got to Warren once again in the top of the 3rd. Following Jaylen Smith's second single of the night, Manny Garcia came to the plate. Garcia drove a deep fly ball over the fence in left-center field for a 2-run blast to increase Empire State's lead to 5-0.
In the 5th, the ValleyCats were able to get on the board against Ryan Sandberg (W, 2-5). Lamar Briggs led off the inning with a walk and during Pavin Parks' at-bat stole second. With two outs, Cito Culver singled to center field to cut the deficit to 5-1. Culver's single was the only blemish on an otherwise great start by Ryan Sandberg. Sandberg went 5 1/3 allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 5.
The rest of the game was all Empire State. In the 7th, the Greys hit collectively for the cycle. Jordan Scott led off the inning with a double and was immediately tripled in by Jaylen Smith. Manny Garcia then drove in Jaylen for the second time this game with a double to left. Luis Atiles had the biggest with of the inning with a 2 out 2 run home run to left center. Walner Espinal promptly completed the team cycle with an infield single. In the 8th, Jaylen Smith continued his fantastic game at the dish adding another insurance run to give the Greys a 10-1 lead.
Nate Holt, Tanner Propst, and Tyler Bryant helped secure the Greys' win by allowing no runs and just one hit out of the bullpen as a group. Tyler Bryant was the most dominant of the bunch as the righty struck out 6 batters in his 2 innings of work.
Empire State will be heading to Ottawa and taking on the Titans tomorrow night at 6:30 EST.
CRESTWOOD, IL – Paul Coumoulos hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a 6-5 deficit into a 9-6 lead as the ThunderBolts beat the Lake Erie Crushers for the third straight day, 9-7 at Ozinga Field Thursday night.
The Crushers (27-42) jumped out to a big early lead, plating their first run in the top of the second on a Scout Knotts home run. They added three more in the third when Josh Rego picked up an RBI single and Jackson Pritchard hit a two-run double.
The ThunderBolts (30-38) fought back, getting some help from the Lake Erie defense. Three hits and two errors in the bottom of the fourth brought the Bolts to within one. Micah Yonamine, Jake Boone and Jonathan Waite picked up RBIs in the rally.
Jarrod Watkins hit an RBI single for Lake Erie in the sixth and former ThunderBolt Zach Racusin's sacrifice fly gave the Crushers a 6-3 lead.
That's where the score sat with two outs in the bottom of the eighth when Yonamine hit his eighth homer of the year to make it 6-4. Boone followed with a single and the bases were loaded on a walk and hit by pitch. Another hit batter forced in a run to pull Windy City within one. Then, with a 1-2 count, Coumoulos became the sixth straight ThunderBolts to reach, cracking his third home run of the year, which turned out to be the game-winner.
Lake Erie took advantage of four walks in the ninth but left the bases loaded for a 9-7 final.
Derrick Edington (3-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Brayden Bonner (1-4) took the loss. Daiveyon Whittle picked up his ninth save.
The ThunderBolts hit the road on Friday evening to start a three-game series with the Florence Y'alls. Taylor Sugg (4-4, 3.64) starts game one against Florence's Ryan Watson (0-2, 4.50).
EVANSVILLE, IL – The Florence Y'alls (28-41), presented by Towne Properties, used a stellar start from their rookie righthander to scrape past the Evansville Otters (37-31) by a score of 4-3 in a series-clinching victory on Thursday, August 3rd.
Much like the rest of the series, pitching dominated Game 3 between Florence and Evansville. Neither team scored through three innings before Florence got on the board first in the top of the fourth against Otters' starter Zach Smith (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K). Center fielder Ray Zuberer hit a high-hopping double down the right field line to lead off the inning, then moved to third on a passed ball. With one out, first baseman Harrison DiNicola grounded out to shortstop to bring Zuberer home. After four innings, the Y'alls led 1-0.
The 1-0 score would hold through seven innings behind Florence rookie righthander Carter Spivey (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K), who dazzled in his third career professional start. Spivey's seven innings marked a new career high and marked his most in any game, professional or otherwise, since he pitched seven innings for East Carolina University on April 15th, 2023 against the University of Cincinnati. From the third through the seventh inning, Spivey allowed just a single baserunner and faced the minimum number of batters.
In the eighth, Florence extended its lead with a three-run outburst. Ray Zuberer walked to start the inning ahead of catcher Zade Richardson, who singled Zuberer to third on a hit-and-run. Evansville righthander John Beymer then hit Harrison DiNicola with a pitch to load the bases. After a flyout, shortstop Ed Johnson came to the plate and hit a shallow single to left center that drove in Zuberer. Second baseman Jeremiah Burks followed up the hit with a knock of his own, driving in two with a single. The Y'alls exited the inning leading 4-0 and would ultimately need all the extra insurance.
In the ninth, Y'alls lefthander Alex Theis ran into difficulty. A leadoff hit-by-pitch and a one-out walk to first baseman Dakota Phillips brought up third baseman Jomar Reyes, who hit a three-run home run to dead center field to cut into the Florence lead. Theis then placed the tying run aboard with a second hit-by-pitch, but struck out the final two batters of the game to end the jam and earn the Y'alls a series win.
Florence's series win is its first since a 2-1 series win at New Jersey in late July. Florence returns home Thursday night ahead of a weekend series with the Windy City Thunderbolts. First pitch for Game 1 between the Y'alls and Thunderbolts is scheduled for Friday, August 4th at 7:03 p.m. ET.
Joliet, IL (August 3, 2023) – The Gateway Grizzlies tied a Frontier League record on Thursday night at Duly Health and Care Field by stealing 13 bases, and led nearly throughout the rubber game against the Joliet Slammers in what became a 9-3 victory to take the series on the road.
It started in the first inning, as Eric Rivera was hit by Cam Aufderheide (1-8), and Cole Brannen then reached on an infield single to advance Rivera to second base before Andrew Penner came up with two outs and hit a go-ahead RBI single to right field to put the Grizzlies ahead 1-0.
The onslaught of stolen bags really started in the third inning, as Gateway used four of them to assist in scoring two more runs as well as a pair of leadoff walks by Aufderheide, with Penner picking up another RBI on a fielder's choice, and D.J. Stewart also recording a sacrifice fly in the inning.
Joliet would get a two-run homer by Phil Steering in the bottom of the third to get within a run, and then another homer by Matt Warkentin to draw within 4-3 after the Grizzlies stole three more bases to manufacture another leadoff walk into a run thanks to an RBI infield hit by Brannen. But Joey Gonzalez (8-6) was sharp from there on out, completing six innings for his second-straight win on the mound with four strikeouts in total.
Meanwhile, Gateway kept on running and kept on scoring, plating three runs in the sixth inning while stealing an additional four bases to take a 7-3 lead on a two-RBI single by Penner, giving him four runs batted in on the day. Abdiel Diaz would cap the scoring with a two-run single in the ninth inning at 9-3, as the Grizzlies lowered their "magic number" to clinch a playoff spot down to 16 with Washington's loss to Schaumburg.
The 13 stolen bases tie a Frontier League record that was ironically set earlier this season by the Slammers on June 28 against Windy City, while Diaz and Brannen both had four steals individually to come within one of tying Frontier League records themselves for a single game.
Now 3-1 on their road trip, Gateway will look to keep momentum going against the Washington Wild Things on Friday, August 4, at 6:05 p.m. CT, with Carson LaRue on the mound in the series opener against Dariel Fregio of Washington at Wild Things Park.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The Schaumburg Boomers scored in four different innings and did not trail in pulling away from the Washington Wild Things on Thursday night to grab two-of-three in the series at Wintrust Field.
Schaumburg wasted no time in grabbing the early advantage as Alec Craig led off the game with a double and came in to score on a groundout. Craig owns a 21-game on-base streak, second longest of the season. The Boomers used their high-octane offense in the third to pad the lead with three runs. Craig opened the frame with a single and moved up when Chase Dawson followed with a walk. A double steal placed runners at second and third and Gaige Howard, making his return to the lineup, plated the first run with a sacrifice fly. Blake Berry recorded an RBI double to extend his on-base streak to 20 and Zach Huffins also came through with two outs to single home a run and make the score 4-0. The Boomers stole four bases in the inning to up their franchise record total.
A pair of homers from Andrew Czech and JC Santini in the fourth brought the Wild Things within 4-3, but an insurance run would cross in the fifth on a sac fly from Huffins. The Boomers put the game away in the eighth, scoring three times, all with two outs. Dawson notched an RBI single and Kokko Figueiredo stayed hot since joining the team with a two-run double. Figueiredo has driven home 19 runs in 11 games with the team.
Jackson Hickert won his second consecutive start, allowing three runs in six innings of work. Antonio Frias picked up his first save by working the final three innings, recording seven strikeouts and allowing just one baserunner. Craig finished the game 5-for-5 as the Boomers amassed 14 hits. Figueiredo added three and Travis Holt two.
The Boomers (42-26) hit the road for three games in Southern Indiana against the Evansville Otters beginning at 6:35pm on Friday night. RHP Shumpei Yoshikawa (3-1, 3.57) is slated to start the opener against RHP Tim Holdgrafer (7-4, 2.76)
Ottawa, ON – Thursday's game between the Ottawa Titans and New York Boulders has been postponed due to inclement weather.
The game has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Friday, August 11, with a start time of 5:00 pm. Both games are scheduled for seven innings. Game two will commence 30 minutes after the completion of the game one.
Ticket holders for tonight's game can exchange their tickets for any future 2023 Ottawa Titans home game, subject to availability. Any fans wishing to exchange their seats from tonight's game must do so at the Ottawa Stadium front office between business hours, by emailing the box office, or by calling (343) 633-2273.
