Lincoln 1, Grand Prairie 0 (11 Innings) – Box
The Lincoln Saltdogs and Grand Prairie AirHogs had to take their match into extra innings to decide a victor, and it was the Saltdogs who eked by with the win. With the game still scoreless, Lincoln began the inning with a runner on second base, per league rules. A putout pushed the runner to third, and then SS Mike Gilmartin hit a single to drive in 2B Aaron Payne. Gilmartin and RF Brian Joynt were the only two batters on either side to record multiple hits.
The pitching was clearly spectacular though. Lincoln combined for the team shutout with four different pitchers. Outside of starter Ryan Strufing, who went six innings, no Lincoln reliever allowed a hit or walk for the final five innings. Meanwhile for Grand Prairie, the loss was a waste of a great outing from starter Bennett Whitmore. He pitched nine innings and allowed no runs.
Sioux Falls 7, Gary SouthShore 6 (12 Innings) – Box
A back and forth game in extra innings finally saw the Sioux Falls Canaries break through for the 7-6 win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
Headed to the 11th inning tied at four, Sioux Falls batter Chris Grayson seemingly broke the game open with a two-RBI triple. However, Gary SouthShore didn’t wilt, and in the bottom of the inning, the RailCats battled back to score a run off a putout, and then got an RBI double from J.D. Pulfer to knot the game back up.
But in the next inning, Sioux Falls’ Vickash Ramjit played hero with a pinch-hit RBI-single to put the Canaries in the lead for good. Brian Humphries had a fantastic night at the plate for Sioux Falls. He went 5-for-6 and added an RBI.
St. Paul 10, Winnipeg 2 – Box
The St. Paul Saints only outhit the Winnipeg Goldeyes 13 to 10, yet it was the Saints who dominated on the scoreboard in a 10-2 victory. St. Paul scored a run at the beginning and then scored nine runs between the fifth inning until the end of the game. Some of the offensive highlights with so many runs include an CF Alonzo Harris solo homer in the fifth. 1B Angelo Songco brought two runs in off a triple. And there were two two-run homers from LF Willie Argo and RF Mike Kvasnicka late in the game.
Winnipeg only scored twice, but they were a solid two runs. LF Chris Robinson led off the ninth inning with a solo homer, and 3B Josh Mazzola added another with two outs.
St. Paul pitcher Dustin Crenshaw pitched the complete game and allowed just the two runs.
Ottawa 1, Fargo-Moorhead 0 – Box
The Ottawa Champions defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks by a slim 1-0 tally after a hard-fought pitcher’s duel. In the interleague match, starting Ottawa pitcher Drew Granier went eight innings and allowed just one hit. Alan DeRatt notched the save after working a perfect ninth inning. On the other side, Tyler Alexander may have picked up the loss for Fargo-Moorhead, but he pitched just as well. Alexander pitched the complete game and allowed one run, but also struck out seven.
The single run for Ottawa occurred in the seventh inning. 1B Jon Talley hit a sacrifice fly to score LF Mike Schwartz. The Champions as a team finished with six hits.
Amarillo 3, Laredo 0 – Box
Despite the herculean effort from Laredo pitcher Greg Holle, the team effort from the Amarillo pitching staff helped the Thunderheads beat the Lemurs 3-0. Holle pitched the entire game and allowed just two earned runs while striking out seven, but he didn’t receive any run support. Amarillo didn’t allow a run with the help from four pitchers: Leondy Perez, Leyson Septimo, Richard Barrett and Randy Hamrick. Perez went the first 5.1 innings, then Septimo took over for 1.2 and then the final two each took an inning.
Amarillo scored one run in each of the second through fourth innings. To break the scoreless tie, DH Stefan Gartrell knocked out a solo homer in the second. C Jordan Guida singled home a run in the third. And an error in the fourth allowed 2B Juan Martinez to score the third run. Though Laredo couldn’t get any runs across, 1B Dustin Geiger had three hits.
Joplin 10, Sioux City 8 – Box
Despite a four-run rally by the Sioux City Explorers in the ninth inning, the Joplin Blasters held on for the 10-8 win. Joplin was able to build that lead with some opportunistic swings of the bat earlier. Omar Luna knocked a ball out of the park in the fifth inning for two runs. Back-to-back singles from 2B Mitch Glasser and 1B Carlos Ramirez in the sixth put three more runs on the board. Only one Blasters player recorded two hits, RF Jesus Solorzano, but four had multiple RBIs.
In the ninth, Sioux City tried its best to make it a game. DH Austin Stubbs scored two with a single, and SS Noah Perio later brought two more home in another single. However, that was all the Explorers could score.
Starting pitcher Jorge Martinez performed well for Joplin. Martinez went six innings and allowed just two earned runs.
Kansas City 6, Wichita 5 – Box
A solo home run by Adam Bailey in the seventh inning was just enough for the Kansas City T-Bones to get by the Wichita Wingnuts 6-5. After the T-Bones scored a run in the first inning, Wichita responded with two in the second, including a C John Nester triple. Then in the third inning, Kansas City had two-run home runs from both 1B Jake Blackwood and CF Robby Kuzdale. The Wingnuts did respond once again, thanks to the help from a two-RBI triple from 1B Matt Padgett.
On the mound, this was a game of relievers. Derek Loera, Aaron Baker and Fernando Hernandez all pitched a scoreless inning for Kansas City. For Wichita, Al Yevoli pitched one scoreless inning, and Frankie Reed pitched two.
