September 1 Afternoon
Amarillo 12, Sioux Falls 2
Amarillo picked up a big win to keep its playoff hopes alive heading into the final day of the regular season. The Sox beat Sioux Falls, 12-2, leaving Amarillo a half game behind Grand Prairie and Laredo for the South Division lead, heading into tonight’s contests.
Kyle Nichols and K.C. Serna led the Sox offense, while Joe Newby pitched six brilliant innings. Nichols was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and a team-high three RBI. Meanwhile, Serna delivered two RBI on a double and a triple as part of a 2-for-4 afternoon. Newby earned his seventh win of the season by holding the Canaries to just one run on two hits. He struck out six and walked two in the winning effort.
Fargo-Moorhead 4, Winnipeg 2
A steady pitching performance by Jake Laber and three RedHawks relievers led Fargo-Moorhead to a 4-2 victory over Winnipeg. Laber earned his 10th win of the season with six three-hit innings and the RedHawks’ bullpen combined to allow one run on two hits the rest of the way.
Laber only gave up one unearned run in the third. The left-hander commited an error and threw a wild pitch to allow a run to score, but he settled down the rest of the way. Laber set down 10 of the last 11 batters he faced before handing the ball to Derrick Miramontes. He, Joe Harris and Nate Kilcrease finished the job. Miramontes allowed the lone Goldeyes earned run of the game, while Harris shut the door for 1.1 innings and Kilcrease notched the save by retiring the final two batters.
The RedHawks’ offense struck in the fourth and seventh innings. Jeremiah Piepkorn put Fargo-Moorhead on the board for the first time with an RBI single to tie the game and Jose Hernandez put the RedHawks ahead later in the inning with a run-scoring single of his own. Todd Jennings and Zach Penprase helped add a pair of runs in the seventh with two sacrifice flies.
Gary SouthShore 7, El Paso 4
The day after clinching the wild card spot, Gary SouthShore picked up a 7-4 win over El Paso, thanks to some late runs in the seventh and eighth. With the game tied 3-3, Mike Massaro drilled a go-ahead single and the RailCats added three more runs in the eighth to secure the win.
Massaro’s hit scored Ryan Brockett from second with two outs. The following inning, Brockett was at the center of the rally again. This time, his two-run double provided insurance before Nick Liles added an extra run with a single. Massaro, Brockett and Cristian Guerrero each had two RBI in the game.
