OTTERS USE HOME RUN DERBY TO BEAT Y’ALLS
Wednesday’s games featured a doubleheader and a low-scoring battle that ended with a home run derby. Read how every game unfolded with our nightly recap:
In the early game of the day, Équipe Québec scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to push past the New York Boulders 10-6. Québec jumped out to a lead after Ruben Castro’s sacrifice fly, and in the second, doubles by Riley Pittman and L.P. Pelletier increased their lead to 3-0. The Boulders answered with a Ray Hernandez home run in the second, and RBI singles by Kevonte Mitchell and Ryan Ramiz in the third to tie the game. Québec then snapped the tie with a Connor Panas home run in the sixth inning and tacked on two more in the seventh with an RBI single by Castro and a sacrifice fly by Panas. New York tied the game again at six in the eighth inning on an RBI double by Phil Capra and a two-run single by Tucker Nathans. Then in the top of the ninth, Québec’s David Glaude broke the tie for good with a bases-loaded two-run single. They added another run on a double play and the last run on a wild pitch to make the final score 10-6.
The Joliet Slammers shut out the Schaumburg Boomers, winning by a score of 2-0 after a dominant pitching performance. The only scoring of the night would come in the second inning, when Lane Baremore connected on a two-run home run for the Slammers. Starting pitcher Logan Dubbe tossed seven scoreless innings and gave up just four hits and two walks. He struck out eight batters and earned the victory. Brad VanAsdlen and Trevor Charpie both came out of the Joliet bullpen to pitch a scoreless inning and secure the win, with Charpie earning the save. Schaumburg starter Andrew Dean also went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out four in the loss.
The New Jersey Jackals earned a 12-7 win over the Sussex County Miners after an eight-run second inning. That was also the first scoring of the game for either team. Justin Wylie hit a two-run double, Alfredo Marte followed with a ground rule double that scored two more, Stanley Espinal advanced to first base and two scored on an error, Jason Agresti launched a solo home run, and Stanley Espinal scored to cap the scoring on a T.J. Ward strikeout. With an 8-0 lead heading into the third, New Jersey added two more on a Dalton Combs two-run home run. Sussex County finally got on the board in the fifth, when Kaleo Johnson scored a run on a single. They followed that run by scoring four in the seventh. Juan Kelly walked with the bases loaded, Johnson singled home a run, Cito Culver walked another run home, and Audy Ciriaco hit a sacrifice fly. The Jackals got two runs back in the bottom half on an error and the Miners’ Chuck Taylor doubled home a run in the eighth. Trevin Esquerra hit into a double play in the ninth, but a run scored on the play and made the final score 12-7.
The Evansville Otters defeated the Florence Y’alls in a home run derby after the two teams were tied 1-1 after ten innings. The two teams were scoreless after seven innings and locked in a true pitcher’s duel. Eventually, in the eighth, Evansville’s Riley Krane was able to break the tie with an RBI single. In the bottom half, Trevor Craport doubled home a run for the Y’alls to even the game and send it to extras. With neither team scoring in the tenth, the game headed to the home run derby tiebreaker, which the Otters won 6-1. Florence tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out five in the loss, while Ryan O’Reilly gave up one run and struck out seven in 7.2 innings for Evansville. The two teams are now tied for first in the West Division.
The Windy City ThunderBolts scored five runs late en route to a 9-2 victory over the Southern Illinois Miners. The ThunderBolts plated two runs in the first after an RBI groundout by Rob Calabrese and a double by Jairus Richards along with an error. In the third, they would double their lead to 4-0 when Rob Weissheier hit an RBI single and Jack Strunc hit a sacrifice fly. The Miners opened their scoring in the seventh by plating a pair of runs on an RBI single by Ian Walters and a sacrifice fly by Gianfranco Wawoe. Windy City scored added two runs on an RBI triple by Jairus Richards in the seventh and Zach Racusin and Dan Robinson followed in the eighth with RBI hits. Kenny Mathews gave up just two runs in seven innings pitched for the Bolts in the win, before the bullpen kept the final two innings scoreless.
The Lake Erie Crushers and Gateway Grizzlies split Wednesday’s doubleheader. Lake Erie took game one 9-5. Gateway scored first on a Jay Prather RBI single to make it 1-0. The Crushers answered with five runs in the second. Javier Betancourt scored one on a single, Shawon Dunston Jr. gave the Crushers a 2-1 lead on an RBI single of his own, Bryan De La Rosa followed with a walk and Isaac Benard hit an RBI double. Trevor Achenbach capped the inning with a two-run single. De La Rosa alter walked with the bases loaded and gave the Crushers a 6-1 lead. Back-to-back solo home runs from Achenbach and Brody Wofford in the fourth made it 8-1 and a Benard RBI single in the fifth made it 9-1. Gateway’s Dustin Woodcock launched a two-run home run in the fifth before they would add two more in the seventh to make it a 9-5 final. In game two, the Grizzlies won 3-2 in extra innings. Lake Erie would score first on a Karl Ellison sacrifice fly in the second. The Grizzlies scored two in the fourth on a two-run single from Jose Rosario. The Crushers would tie the game in the fourth on an Ellison single, but the game remained tied after seven innings. In the eighth, Gateway’s Jay Prather singled home the runner from second to go up 3-2 and that’s how it would finish.
Wednesday’s game between the Washington Wild Things and Tri-City ValleyCats was postponed due to weather and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Thursday starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.
All eight of Thursday’s scheduled games can be seen at FrontierLeagueTV.com or in the Frontier League app! You can now use the promo code “July2021” through July 26 to receive 50% off the first month of a new monthly subscription!