KNOCKOUTS, VALLEYCATS BOTH SHUT EACH OTHER OUT IN SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER - FRONTIER DAILY ROUNDUP
WRITTEN BY: MIKE GUISTOLISE
VALLEYCATS AND KNOCKOUTS EXCHANGE SHUTOUTS IN TWIN BILL, SERIES GOES TO TRI-CITY
TROY, NY - The New England Knockouts and the Tri-City ValleyCats shut each other out to finish off their series on Thursday in a doubleheader at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium.
Rain has affected nearly every team in the Frontier League through the first half of the week, forcing several rescheduled games. The Knockouts (23-44) and ValleyCats (37-32) made up their postponed contest from Wednesday in the form of a Thursday evening doubleheader, with the first game coming up all New England. C John Crisitino, who won the Frontier League Home Run Derby during the All-Star festivities in Québec City, slapped an RBI double to center field in the opening frame to put the Knockouts up 1-0. New England continued to do damage against RHP Easton Klein in the early stages of the game, posting two runs in the second. LF Victor Castillo continued the onslaught in the third, blasting a two-run home run to swell the Knockout lead to five. The Tri-City offense floundered, unable to respond while New England continued to grow their lead with two more runs in the seventh. LHP Ben Seiler worked around a leadoff single to complete a three-inning save in the seventh, finishing the game-one shutout. RHP Trevor Anibal earned the win while Klein took the loss.
In the second game, the ValleyCats jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. The contest quickly evolved into a pitching duel, with the ValleyCats not allowing a hit beyond the third inning. LHP Alfredo Ruiz completed all seven innings for Tri-City, only allowing three hits while striking out six. RHP Liam O'Sullivan was also sharp, only allowing four hits. RF Dylan Broderick's RBI stood as the only run of the game, giving Ruiz the win while O'Sullivan took the loss.
With the series win, the ValleyCats move within 1.5 games of the final playoff spot in the Frontier League East division. Their next series will begin on Friday against the New York Boulders at 7:00 PM EDT. The Knockouts will head up to Trois-Rivières to face the Aigles in a weekend series, beginning on Friday at 7:05 PM EDT.
THUNDERBOLTS FINISH OFF SWEEP OF BOULDERS
CRESTWOOD, IL - The Windy City ThunderBolts completed their sweep of the New York Boulders at Ozinga Field on Thursday, taking the finale by a final score of 6-2.
The ThunderBolts (31-39) extended their winning streak to four games with the win and are 9-1 over their last 10 games. SS Michael Seegers drew first blood for the Bolts in the third, singling up the middle to bring home LF Thomas Rodriguez. RF Brennen Dorighi pushed the lead to 3-0 with his two-run home run later in the inning. Windy City scored again in the fifth and twice in the sixth, including another RBI from Seegers that made it 6-0. New York (38-30) was able to get a run back in the seventh, plating their first score on a wild pitch. The Boulders managed one run in the ninth but left two men stranded as their comeback effort came up short. RHP Buddie Pindel earned the win, striking out eight in 6.2 innings of one-run ball. RHP Brandon Backman took the loss for New York.
The ThunderBolts will move on to face the struggling Lake Erie Crushers in Avon on Friday. First pitch will be at 7:05 PM EDT. The Boulders will host the Tri-City ValleyCats for an important East division series beginning on Friday at 7:00 PM EDT.
TITANS, AIGLES EXCHANGE LOPSIDED SCORES IN DOUBLEHEADER
TROIS-RIVIÈRES - The Ottawa Titans and Trois-Rivières Aigles each took a game in their makeup doubleheader at Stade Quillorama on Thursday.
The split keeps both the Titans (40-28) and Aigles (36-33) in their respective spots in the East standings. In the first game, Trois-Rivières took a 1-0 in the first with an RBI single. CF Taylor Wright responded for Ottawa in the second, tying the game with an RBI base hit. The Titans took the lead with a wild pitch during the next at-bat. Ottawa's offense stayed hot through the next two innings as the lead steadily grew to 5-1 entering the fifth. The Aigles plated three in the fifth to come to within one, but the Titans bombarded their opponents with seven runs in the seventh, running away with a 12-4 win. Taylor Wright and 3B AJ Wright combined for five RBIs in the win while RHP Shane Gray pitched to a win. RHP Osman Gutierrez took the loss for Trois-Rivières.
In the second game, the Aigles turned things around with a four-run second inning to take the game's first lead. 2B Payton Robertson made it 5-0 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly, notching his second RBI of the game while pushing the Trois-Rivières lead to 5-0. The onslaught continued in the sixth as the Aigles posted five runs while sending all nine men to the plate to make it 10-0. The Titans were able to manufacture a run in the seventh to avoid the shutout but fell victim to a 10-1 blowout at the hands of the Aigles. Robertson ended his day with three RBIs, supporting RHP Tucker Smith's sixth winning decision of the year. LHP Kyle White took the loss for Ottawa.
The Aigles will host the New England Knockouts next, beginning on Friday at 7:05 PM EDT. The Titans will travel across the province to take on the Québec Capitales on Friday. First pitch for the series opener will be at 7:05 PM EDT.
WILD THINGS PUSH WINNING STREAK TO FIVE, COMPLETE SWEEP OF SLAMMERS
JOLIET, IL - The Washington Wild Things finished their sweep of the Joliet Slammers with a 7-4 victory on Thursday at Duly Health & Care Field.
Eight out of nine starters for the Wild Things (46-22) got on base in the game as Washington won their league-leading 46th game of the season. LF Wagner Lagrange and 2B Ethan Wilder knocked in runs in the first inning to put the Wild Things up 2-0. In the second, 3B Tommy Caufield made it 3-0 with an RBI double in the left-center field gap. Lagrange and 1B Andrew Czech made it 5-0 in the fifth with a pair of run-scoring base hits. The Slammers (28-41) cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a couple of RBI singles of their own, making it 5-2. Czech answered with a solo homer to right field, the 57th of his career, to push the lead back out to four. Joliet got a two-run homer to come to within two, but another Wilder RBI in the ninth put the game out of reach. LHP Kobe Foster racked up seven strikeouts in his start while picking up the win. RHP Gyeongju Kim earned his 18th save of the season while RHP Brett Sanchez took the loss.
The Wild Things will return home to host the Sussex County Miners on Friday at 7:05 PM EDT. The Slammers will continue their homestand when the Florence Y'alls come to town on Friday. First pitch is at 6:35 PM EDT.
MINERS TAKE SUSPENDED GAME, QUÉBEC RESPONDS WITH SHUTOUT
AUGUSTA, NJ - The Sussex County Miners finished a weather-delayed game before playing a seven-inning contest against the Québec Capitales at Skylands Stadium on Thursday evening.
Like several other teams around the league, the Miners (25-43) and the Capitales (45-24) were rained out during their game on Wednesday, forcing the contest to be suspended and finished the following day. Play resumed in the fifth inning with the Miners leading 5-1, thanks to RBIs from DH Oraj Anu and C Jason Agresti. The Capitales cut the deficit in half with a two-run home run in the seventh, but another Anu RBI pushed the lead back out to three in the eighth. The Capitales were able to get the tying run in scoring position with two outs in the ninth, but Sussex County was able to close things out and take a game from the East division leaders. RHP Jimmy Boyce earned the win for the Miners as RHP Robbie Hitt picked up the save. LHP Harley Gollert took the loss for the Capitales.
The second game began as a pitchers' duel, with the Capitales collecting only two hits through the first three innings while the Miners remained hitless. 3B Anthony Quirion led the fourth inning off with a home run to break the scoreless tie, putting Québec up 1-0. CF Jonathan Lacroix doubled the lead with an RBI two-bagger in the sixth. 2B Jesmuel Valentin then doubled the lead again for Québec later in the inning, driving in two on a base hit to right field. The Miners finally broke through in the hit column in the sixth but left the frame without a score. The Capitales finished things out in the seventh to complete the seven-inning shutout and take the series two games to one. RHP Ryan Sandberg took a no-hitter into the sixth while collecting the win. RHP Tyler Thornton took the loss for the Miners.
The Capitales will head back to Québec to host the Ottawa Titans for their next series. First pitch for Friday's opener will be at 7:05 PM EDT. The Miners will visit the Washington Wild Things for a weekend series, beginning on Friday at 7:05 PM EDT.
GATEWAY USES LATE COMEBACK TO TAKE SERIES VS. JACKALS
SAUGET, IL - The Gateway Grizzlies took the lead in the eighth from the New Jersey Jackals to win the series finale 6-5 on Thursday night.
The Grizzlies (41-27) sit firmly in second place in the West division, five games behind Washington. After SS Abdiel Diaz gave Gateway a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, New Jersey (23-45) went on a tear tying the game in the second, taking the lead in the fifth, and then pushing the lead out to four in the sixth. The Grizzlies found themselves down 5-1 entering the sixth and used an RBI double from RF Kevin Krause to get back into the game and cut the deficit down to three. LF Cole Brannen and C Jose Alvarez immediately followed Krause with a pair of RBI base hits to make it 5-4. In the seventh, 3B DJ Stewart knotted things up at 5-5 with an RBI single, setting things up for a fabulous finish. With two outs and a man on third in the eighth, the Grizzlies stole the lead back on a wild pitch, putting themselves back on top 6-5. LHP Leoni De La Cruz was able to close things out in the ninth for his seventh save of the year, securing the series win for Gateway. RHP Matt Hickey picked up the win in relief while RHP Andrew Kramer took the loss.
The Grizzlies will face off against the Boomers in Schaumburg for their next series, beginning on Friday at 7:30 PM EDT. The Jackals will continue their Midwest road trip with a visit to Evansville to face the Otters. First pitch for the series opener will be on Friday at 7:35 PM EDT.
