Pirates, Reds lead Minors, Majors
- Published: June 23, 2016
It was a close call as the Tom’s Market Pirates barely escaped what would have been their first loss to remain atop the Minor League standings with an undefeated 4–0 record after the third week of play. Last week’s action also saw the Peach’s Reds get their first win of the season, while the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Indians suffered not just one, but two one-run losses.
The Pirates came from behind, down by as many as seven midway through the game, with a last two-inning rally to defeat the Indians 10–9 in the second game on Saturday, June 18. The two teams combined for 19 runs and 34 hits, although the Pirates looked flat the first half of the game, being held scoreless and falling behind by seven runs after three innings. The Indians were first on the scoreboard with a first-inning RBI single by Lucas Dunn to score Isaac Grushon after his double. The Indians then exploded in the top of the third to take what appeared to be a commanding 7–0 lead on RBI singles by Max Lugo, Anthony Mascola, Josephine Zinger, Hope Danis and Lily Kibblewhite along with Brady Baker’s sacrifice grounder.
The sleepy looking Pirates suddenly woke up in their half of the fourth inning and began their rally on Malcolm Blunt’s three RBI triple, scoring Malik Royalston, Hazen VanMeter and Derek Reed. Blunt then scored on Justin Hamilton’s RBI single and suddenly the Pirates were now trailing by only three at 7–4. The Indians then added two more runs in the top of the fifth and final inning when Reagan Dunn’s two RBI single to center scored Josephine Zinger and Hope Danis to put the Indians up 9–4 before one last at-bat for the Pirates where they continued their amazing rally. Jack Horvath struck out to lead off and J.P. Anderson followed with a grounded out to third but knocked in Teddy Horvath. The Indians led 9–5 at this point with two outs, just one away from handing the Pirates their first loss.
But the Pirates kept coming — and hitting, and scoring. Dylan Reed followed with an RBI single to score Quinn Creighton. Reed then scored on Hazen VanMeter’s center field RBI single to make it 9–7. Derek Reed’s RBI single then plated Malik Royalston and Malcolm Blunt’s RBI single to second sent VanMeter across the plate to tie the game. Justin Hamilton then stepped into the box and knocked a walk-off infield single to shortstop that sent Blunt across the plate with the winning run. Blunt finished the day with four RBIs on two hits for the Tom’s Market Pirates, while Max Lugo and Isaac Grushon of the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Indians each went a perfect 3–3 at the plate, with Grushon combining with Lucas Dunn on four ground outs to third base.
Saturday’s first game saw a much improved Peach’s Reds squad get their first win of the season with their own 8–4 come from behind victory over the Sam and Eddie’s Open Books Dragons. They jumped out to an early 3–0 lead in the bottom of the first starting with Colin Linderman’s RBI single scoring Liam McLean. Linderman then scored thanks to Kian Rainey’s RBI single, followed by Luka Sage-Frabotta crossing the plate on Neirin Baker’s fielder’s choice to third base.
The Reds went on the board in the top of the second when Sam Miller’s RBI single scored Avry Bell-Arment. The Dragons were held scoreless in the bottom of the second, although rookie Emery Fodal got her first-ever hit with a single to third base. The Dragons managed to add another run in the third to go up 4–1 on Neirin Baker’s RBI single to score Sage-Frabotta.
The top of the fourth saw the Reds bats come alive. Bell-Arment’s RBI double scored Scout Espinosa while ground outs by rookies Violet Babb and Summer Anadell scored Ruthie Myers and Bell-Arment respectively to tie the game. After again holding the Dragons scoreless in the fourth, the Reds tacked on four more runs in the top of the fifth when Ben Espinosa scored on Ashley Anadell’s RBI single, Ruthie Myers’ RBI double scored Mateo Basora and Bell Arment’s two RBI single sent Anadell and Myers across the plate. Bell-Arment finished the day with three RBIs on as many hits, while Colin Linderman went 2–3 at the plate with one run scored.
Sam & Eddie’s Books Dragons and the Yellow Springs Chiropractic Indians both threatened with rallies in the week’s first game on Monday, June 13, but the Dragons held on for a 2–1 win. The Indians out-hit the Dragons nine to eight, but the Indians stranded eight runners on base. The Dragons scored the only two runs they needed in the top of the first when Liam McClean crossed the plate on a Colin Linderman infield RBI single, with Linderman scoring all the way from first on the next play when Luka Sage-Frabotta smacked a ground ball into center field. The Indians responded with their only run of the game in the bottom of the first when Isaac Grushon scored on Max Lugo’s ground out to third. That was all either team could produce as both defenses took over holding each other scoreless for the game’s remaining four innings.
The Pirates have a solid grip of first place with a record of 4–0, followed by a tie for second between the Sam and Eddie’s Open Books Dragons and Yellow Springs Chiroproactic Indians, each at 2–3, followed by the Peach’s Reds at 1–3.
Meanwhile, the Winds Cafe Reds have jumped into first place in the Major League Standings after last week’s games. They won their first game of the week with a 14–9 win over the Sunrise Café Indians on Monday, June 13. The Reds held the Indians to only four runs in the first two innings, while putting up four of their own in the first. They then exploded for an eight run second inning to take the lead for good, while adding two more insurance runs in the fourth. Colton Bittner went 3–3 at the plate, scoring three runs and one RBI. Jackson Bleything smashed an RBI single and another RBI triple and eventually scored off both. Meanwhile Eamonn Cary went 2–2, hit two RBIs, stole two bases and threw four strikeouts while pitching two and two-thirds innings. Phillip Diamond went 2–4 for the Indians with a stolen base and two runs scored while Blaine Baker went 2–3 with a pair of stolen bases while scoring a pair.
The Sunrise Cafe Indians bounced back on Monday, June 13, with a close 11–10 win over the HarkenWard Solutions Cubs. The Indians led 4–3 after two innings and put six runs on the board in the third. But the Cubs put up a huge final inning rally, scoring six times on seven walks and one base hit to tie the game. The Indians came to bat in the bottom half of the final inning and Tyson Housh was walked, followed by a Jeremy Lange single, another walk to Blaine Baker. Then all it took was a Phillip Diamond base hit to score Housh for the winning run and the final score of 11–10. Vaughn Hendrickson, Jake Ortiz-Thornton and Jaymon Lange all finished the game with two runs each for the Sunrise Café Indians, while Krishan Miller led the HarkenWard Solutions Cubs with three runs.
The Winds Cafe Reds won their second game of the week on Saturday, June 18th in another close one, 9–8 over the HarkenWard Solutions Cubs. Additional details were not available at press time but will be summarized in next week’s edition.
The Winds Cafe Reds are now 3–2 on the season and lead the HarkenWard Solutions Cubs, at 2–2, by half a game with the Sunrise Café Indians in third place at a full game back at 2–3.
Minor League games are played on Saturday mornings and Monday and Wednesday evenings, while Major League games are Saturday afternoons and Monday and Thursday evenings. All games are at Gaunt Park. See the league website at http://www.ysbaseball.org for the latest scores, standings and schedule updates.
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