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Minor League baseball— Winds still favor Indians
- Published: July 16, 2015
Mother Nature served up a bit of a break last week, with conditions that resulted in four of five scheduled Minor League rec baseball games being played.
The week’s play opened on Monday, July 6, when the Peach’s Reds and Tom’s Market Pirates both threatened with rallies, but it was the Reds that eventually held on for a 7–5 win. The Reds jumped out to an early 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first when Jake Ortiz-Thornton and Cal Freeman each singled and then scored on RBI hits from Mateo and Carina Basora. Anthony Mascola’s RBI double then sent Lily Rainey and Sophia Lawson across the plate in the second. The Pirates lit up the scoreboard in the third, after a Noah VanHoose double and base hits from Justin Hamilton and Scout Espinosa, who all then scored on RBI’s by Sebastian Thompson, Marissa Goodman and Ben Espinosa, who also singled in the first and fifth innings for a perfect 3–3 day at the plate. Thompson also eventually scored to tie the game at 4. The Reds took the lead for good with a fourth-inning rally that saw three runs cross the plate on an RBI double by Joe Freeman and base hits by Freeman and Kian Rainey. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Marissa Goodman fueled a Tom’s Market Pirates’ rally in the top of the fifth when Noah VanHoose scored to cut the Pirate deficit to 7–5. Ben Espinosa then singled to load the bases, but Malcolm Blunt struck out to seal the Peach’s Reds win.
Wednesday’s game was rained out, but by Saturday, July 11, the field was again playable and the day’s first game saw the Vintage Truck Dragons outlast the Peach’s Reds 12–9 in a game where the two teams combined for 40 hits, including five extra base hits. The Reds grabbed an early 2–0 lead in the second thanks to RBI singles by Anthony Mascola, to score Jake Ortiz-Thornton, and Joe Freeman, to score Tallis Onfroy-Curley. The Dragons responded in the second with a single from Kellen Scott that scored Otto Cipollini and a Gabrielle Perkins double that brought in Kellen Scott. Ruthie Myers then hit an RBI single to plate Ryan Scott. The Reds quickly matched the Dragons’ strong inning, scoring three of their own in the second on a three-run single by Mascola. But the Dragons roared back to take the lead for good with five runs in the third. Kellen Scott’s RBI double scored Quinn Creighton, while RBI singles from Ryan Scott, Gabrielle Perkins and Myers scored Cipollini, and brothers Ryan and Kellen Scott. The Reds added another in the fourth off a Kian Rainey RBI single to score Avery Bell-Arment while the Dragons responded with two more runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Ortiz-Thornton and Onfroy-Curley led the Peach’s Reds by each going 4–4 at the plate and scoring three runs, while Kellen Scott and Creighton both went 3–4 at the plate and scored three runs each for the Vintage Truck Dragons.
Saturday’s second game saw the Winds Cafe Indians best the Tom’s Market Pirates in an 11–9 shoot-out in six innings. Five of the 39 hits smashed by both teams were for extra bases. The Indians took a 3–0 lead in the first after base hits by Isaac Grushon and Hazen VanMeter. The Indians infield combination of VanMeter at second, Sam Miller as pitcher and Lucas Dunn at first base sent the Pirates packing in order in their opening inning. Miller fielded the first batter’s ground out followed by VanMeter scooping up ground outs from the next two batters, as well as one more in the second. The Indians added three more runs in the third when Dunn and siblings Krishan and Sam Miller scored. The Pirates finally scored in the third inning and then rallied in the fourth, scoring three runs on a single by rookie Justin Hamilton and a base hit by Noah VanHoose. Shawn VanHoose then crossed the plate on Malcolm Blunt’s RBI ground out. The Indians went up 8–5 in the fifth when Joslyn Herring scored on Camilla Dallas-Gonzalez’s base hit. The Pirates then tied the game at 8 in the bottom of the last regulation inning. Siblings Zoe and Justin Hamilton both had RBI ground outs that scored Ben Espinosa and Ethan Knemeyer to send the game to an extra inning. The Indians offense rallied in the sixth with RBI singles from Sam Miller and Brady Baker to score Hazen VanMeter and Lucas Dunn, while Jason Reinscheld doubled to left to send home Sam Miller. The Pirates mounted one last rally when Ethan Knemeyer’s base hit scored Scout Espinosa, but the Winds Cafe Indians defense held on for the extra inning victory.
The week’s final contest was a make-up game on Sunday, July 13, where the Winds Cafe Indians’ five-run explosion in the first inning carried them to their second win in as many days with a 10–2 decision over the Peach’s Reds. The Indians scored in the first on an RBI double by Lucas Dunn, a fielder’s choice, a Jaymon Reinscheld RBI double and a two-run double by Ava Schell. Dunn had two extra-base hits for the Indians, while he, Reinscheld and Henry Smith-Heston combined for nine hits and five RBIs.
The Indians scored two runs in the second inning, and then followed it up with two more in the fifth. In the second, the Winds Cafe Indians scored on an RBI double by Grushon, bringing home Smith-Heston. Max Lugo lead the Peach’s Reds effort, going 2–3 at the plate and scoring both the team’s runs on RBI singles by Anthony Mascola and Kian Rainey.
The Winds Cafe Indians remain in first place with a record of 7–1, followed by the Vintage Truck Dragons at 4–2, the Peach’s Reds at 2–6 and the Tom’s Market Pirates at 1–5.
Minor League games are played at 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. on Saturday mornings and 7 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday evenings at Gaunt Park. See the league website at http://www.leaguelineup.com/ysoyouthbb for the latest updated schedules, results and player statistics.
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