Amarillo 12, Laredo 5
An incredible night at bat for LF Cory Patton (pictured), which included two home runs and eight RBIs, drove the Sox back from an early deficit and on to a 12-5 win against the Lemurs. Patton was 3-for-5 and crossed home plate each time he got on base.
Laredo’s early lead developed after they converted a string of hits into four runs in the top of the third. Amarillo answered in the following frame with Patton’s first big strike– a grand slam that catapulted the Sox into the lead. DH Stephen Douglas hit a solo home run in the fifth to bring the Lemurs back within one run. But Patton’s second homer pushed the Sox even further into the lead. A two-run double from Patton in the sixth seemed to seal the victory.
Amarillo RHP Jason Johnson allowed five runs in his five innings and earned the win after his relievers held onto the lead and kept the Lemurs scoreless after the fifth.
Wichita 9, Newark 2
Wichita’s eight runs in the final two innings were enough to overcome Newark’s 2-0 lead and more as the Wingnuts defeated the Bears 9-2. The dominant pitching performance of Newark RHP Lendy Perez kept the Bears ahead for most of the game and created problems for Wichita’s batters. Perez had 11 strikeouts in seven innings and allowed just three hits. Wichita’s only run during Perez’s stint on the mound came in the sixth when DH John Rodriguez hit a solo home run.
Perez’s replacement in the eighth inning reversed the momentum of the game. In the final two innings, home runs from 2B Jake Kahaulelio and 1B CJ Ziegler, as well as a two-run single from Rodriguez, highlighted a whirlwind comeback for the Wingnuts. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 in the game with three runs and three RBIs. Defensively, Wichita’s relievers– RHP Lincoln Holdzkom and RHP Daniel Bennett— closed out the game by holding the Bears to just one hit.
Gary SouthShore 3, St. Paul 2
Neither side found much scoring consistency in this low-scoring affair, but Gary SouthShore’s advantage in the hits column allowed them to escape with a 3-2 win against St. Paul. RHP Stephen Hiscock did his part to keep the Saints off the bases, allowing only five hits in six innings and keeping St. Paul scoreless until 1B Ole Sheldon homered in the seventh. The RailCats’ relievers combined to allow just one hit in the last three innings.
A balanced attack from the RailCats’ batters featured 2-for-4 outings from 3B Brian Kolb and C Ryan Babineau, both of whom scored a run. Kolb also had two RBIs.
Fargo-Moorhead 12, Winnipeg 5
A number of batters for Fargo-Moorhead gave stand-out performances and led the RedHawks to a 12-5 victory against the Goldeyes that included a seven run rally in a prolific fourth inning. Every member of Fargo-Moorhead’s lineup earned a hit in the win– several of them more than once. DH Tim Alberts gave the RedHawks their first lead in the second with the only home run of the game. He finished 4-for-5 with three total runs. RF Jeremiah Piepkorn added two runs in his 3-for-5 outing. Other contributors included C Todd Jennings, who had three RBIs, and 2B CJ Retherford, who had three RBIs also and scored twice.
Winnipeg LF Ryan Scoma had an impressive night as well, scoring twice and adding an RBI on a 2-for-3 performance. However, Fargo-Moorhead’s big fourth inning proved to be too much for the Goldeyes to fight back from.
Lincoln 3, Sioux City 1
A pitching duel between Saltdogs LHP Moises Melendez and X’s RHP Jason Jarvis limited the batters on both sides and culminated in a narrow 3-1 Lincoln victory. Melendez pitched a no-hitter through five innings and then held Sioux City to just one run and three hits through the seventh. In addition to four strikeouts, he only had one walk. Jarvis struck out seven men and walked no one in eight innings. However, his slightly less suppressive performance allowed five hits from the Saltdogs, who capitalized with a home run from 2B David Espinosa in the first and two runs in the eighth.
Lincoln’s bullpen kept up the good work through to the end with important relief contributions from RHP PJ Zocchi and RHP RJ Rodriguez. Zocchi and Rodriguez each allowed just one hit in one inning.
Kansas City 11, Sioux Falls 4
Sioux Falls could not stop Kansas City’s batters from getting on base as the T-Bones rode a balanced attack from virtually their entire lineup to an 11-4 defeat of the Canaries. Eight different T-Bones batters tallied multiple hits and contributed to the team’s 17-hit total. Kansas City’s lead-off batter, CF Kennard Jones, might have provided the best performance, going 3-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs. Additionally, DH Kyle Nichols had a home run and three RBIs, and OF Joey Gathright, who came on as a replacement in the third, went 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs.
RHP Dustin Loggins earned the win for the T-Bones, pitching seven strikeouts in five innings. Despite the final score, the Canaries kept the competition close for several innings, scoring four times against Loggins through the fifth inning. LF JP Ramirez’s home run in the fifth brought them just two runs behind Kansas City. But the T-Bones did not let up and their relentless flow of runs took its toll.
Grand Prairie 3, El Paso 2
The Diablos scored first, but Grand Prairie’s stingy defense and the batting efforts of 3B Brandon Pinckney gave the AirHogs the lift they needed to come back and defeat El Paso 3-2. Pinckney, who was 4-for-5 on the night, played a role in all three of Grand Prairie’s runs. His RBI double in the fifth tied things up before his own run gave the AirHogs the lead moments later. In the seventh, Pinckney added another RBI that would secure his team’s win even after El Paso’s single run in the eighth.
Grand Prairie gave up eight hits while RHP Jared Mortensen’s was on the mound, but the team’s defense made the difference by only allowing the Diablos to convert one run in those seven innings.
