TAVAREZ, CUNNINGHAM HEADLINE STRONG PITCHING WEDNESDAY
Wednesday in the Frontier League was a day full of excellent pitching performances. Read how every game played out with our nightly recap on the day’s action:
The Windy City ThunderBolts defeated the Evansville Otters 5-1 in one of the early games after a strong performance by starter Logan Wiley. The Bolts got off to a hot start in the first, and scored the first run of the game on a double steal. Rob Weissheier followed that with a two-run home run to make it 3-0. In the third inning, a solo home run from Dan Robinson made it 4-0 Windy City. Wiley shut out Evansville over the first four innings. In the fifth, Andy DeJesus scored the first run for the Otters on his RBI double to make it 4-1. Windy City was able to tack on one more run in the sixth, when Jairus Richards stole third and advanced home on an errant throw from the catcher to make it 5-1. Wiley allowed just the lone run on five hits over seven innings, and he struck out a career-high seven batters in the win.
The New York Boulders shut out the New Jersey Jackals 9-0 after a great day on the mound and a pair of offensive outbursts. The game was scoreless until the sixth, when the Boulders brought four runs home. Kevonte Mitchell scored on a wild pitch for the game’s first run. Phil Capra doubled home a run, Phil Caufield hit a sacrifice fly, and Jack Sundberg doubled Capra home to close the inning at 4-0. Then, in the ninth, New York plated five more runs. Milton Smith Jr singled home a run, Ray Hernandez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Ryan Ramiz and Marcus Mastrobuoni both singled home runs, and Phil Capra plated Hernandez on a sacrifice fly to close the scoring at 9-0. Ryan Munoz tossed six scoreless inning, gave up three hits and two walks, and struck out two batters in the win for New York. Lucas Burton, James Mulry, and Tanner Kiest each combined to pitch the last three shutout innings to secure the 9-0 victory.
The Schaumburg Boomers used a solid start on the mound by Jesse Reminton to down the Joliet Slammers 8-1. The Boomers grabbed the early 1-0 lead when Quincy Nieporte hit an RBI double. Chase Dawson opened the scoring in the sixth by hitting an RBI triple that extended his 11-game hitting streak. Nieporte followed with an RBI single and eventually scored on a single by Clint Hardy. The game was later put out of reach in the eighth, when Schaumburg plated four runs on a two-run Brett Milazzo RBI single and a pair of RBI singles from Chase Dawson and Nick Ames. Joliet got their lone run in the ninth on a Patrick Causa sacrifice fly that made the final score 8-1. Remington tossed seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and zero walks, and struck out six in the win, while the offense helped support him by totaling twelve hits in the game.
Équipe Québec beat the Washington Wild Things 6-2 to even up the series. In the third inning, David Glaude hit an RBI single that brought home the game’s first run. Québec came back an inning later, with Jeffry Parra hitting a solo home run and Gunner Rainey plating a run on a sacrifice fly. Washington got a run back in the bottom half with a Hector Roa RBI single to make it 3-1. Glaude doubled home another run in the seventh, and Connor Panas singled him home to extend the lead to 5-1. The Wild Things got one more in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to Andrew Sohn, but Québec tacked on one final run with an L.P. Pelletier sacrifice fly to make it 6-2. Starter Miguel Cienfuegos gave up two runs in 6.2 innings and struck out five in the win.
The Tri-City ValleyCats jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in their 12-5 win over the Sussex County Miners. As part of a four-run first inning for the ValleyCats, Brad Zunica hit a three-run home run and Luis Roman singled home a run. In the second, Juan Silverio hit a two-run double before Denis Phipps drove him in with a double of his own. The Miners got on the board with an RBI single from Daniel Herrera in the bottom half. Daniel Angulo doubled home a run and Carson Maxwell scored one with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-1 Tri-City after three. In the fifth, the Miners got a couple runs back, with Martin Figueroa singling home a run and then scoring on a wild pitch to make it 9-3. Zunica plated another run for the ValleyCats in the sixth with his sac fly before Figueroa got another run back for the Miners, scoring on his second wild pitch of the game. Heading into the ninth up 10-4, Tri-City tacked on two insurance runs with a sacrifice fly from Nelson Molina and a single from Juan Silverio. Kaleo Johnson added the final run for the Miners on an RBI single to make it a 12-5 final score.
The Gateway Grizzlies beat the Lake Erie Crushers 9-4 after holding all the Crushers scoring to just one inning. The Grizzlies opened the scoring in the third when Ty Moore and Andres Regnault hit RBI singles and Jay Prather plated a run on a fielder’s choice. Gateway racked up five more runs in the fourth inning. Moore and Regnault again hit RBI singles, Prather connected on an RBI double and Chase Vallot brought Prather home after reaching on an error to make it 8-0 Grizzlies. Regnault plated the final run for Gateway on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The only scoring for the Crushers came in the sixth inning, when Javier Betancourt launched a grand slam to cut it to 9-4. Grizzlies starter Jorge Tavarez picked up the win, allowing just four hits in five scoreless innings.
The Southern Illinois Miners beat the Florence Y’alls 8-0 after a dominant day by Chase Cunningham and the Miners bullpen. Cunningham allowed just one hit and three walks in five innings of work, and earned his 37th career win—tied for third all-time on the Frontier League career wins list. The Miners offense got it going in the second with an RBI single by Jarrod Watkins. In the third, Anthony Brocato doubled home a run before the Miners plated four runs in the fifth. Ian Walters and Brocato singled home a run each, and Watkins singled home two more to make it a 6-0 ballgame after five innings. Brocato came up big again in the eighth with another RBI single that tacked on two runs for the Miners. The Miners bullpen combined to give up just two hits and one walk over the final four innings.
Seven more games on the Frontier League schedule for Thursday, with two more early games scheduled. Follow along at FrontierLeagueTV.com or in the Frontier League app! Through 7/26 you can use promo code “July2021” to receive 50% off the first month of a new monthly subscription!
Photo Credit: Paul Baillargeon