RailCats, Saltdogs Earn Walk-Off Wins, Kengor Homers Twice, Monarchs Sweep
American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier recaps the six games in the American Association on Sunday, including. This and much more.
Long Walk-Off Hit Spoils Canaries Comeback
Ryan Long singled home J.R. DiSarcina with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Lincoln Saltdogs a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries on Sunday, completing the sweep of the three-game series. Lincoln had taken a 3-0 lead, but the Canaries cut that lead to just one with two runs in the top of the seventh. Lincoln responded with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Sioux Falls scored three in the top the ninth, capped off by a two run double by Kona Quiggle that tied the score at five.
That set up the dramatic bottom half of the frame. DiSarcina walked to start the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Long worked the count full before drilling the seventh pitch of the at-bat up the middle with the game-winning hit.
Kyle Kinman pitched well for the Saltdogs, allowing no runs in 5.0 innings while striking out 10. Brandon Cunniff blew the save, but earned the victory. Justin Byrd finished 2-4 with a homerun and three RBI. Wyatt Ulrich had three hits for Sioux Falls and Gavin LaValley and Nick Gotta each had two hits.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Adams Homers as Monarchs Complete Sweep
Matt Adams drilled his 11th homerun of the season, tying him for the league lead in homers, helping lead the Kansas City Monarchs to a 9-2 victory over the Chicago Dogs, completing the sweep of the three-game series. Chicago twice held one run leads in this game, jumping out in front in the bottom of the first when Charlie Tilson led off with a homerun. After Kansas City tied the score in the top of the fourth, Anfernee Grier hit a sacrifice fly that scored K.C. Hobson to put the Dogs back on top in the bottom half of the frame.
However, it was all Kansas City from there. The Monarchs took the lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI ground out by J.C. Escarra. Kansas City held that lead until the eighth when they scored five runs to put this game away. David Thompson and Jan Hernandez each drew bases loaded walks to extend the lead to two. Casey Gillaspie delivered a two run double and a wild pitch score the final run of the inning. In the ninth, Matt Adams homered to close out the scoring.
Adams finished 1-3 with two runs and two RBI. Gillaspie had two hits and drove in a pair and Darnell Sweeney was 3-5 with two runs scored. Akeem Bostick earned the victory, allowing two runs in 5.2 innings, striking out six. The Monarchs bullpen tossed 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Adam Cook
Ramirez Shines in Goldeyes Sweep of Cougars
Luis Ramirez delivered his third straight great outing, allowing one run on three hits in 8.0 innings to lead the Winnipeg Goldeyes to a 3-1 victory over the Kane County Cougars. Ramirez has now allowed one run in three straight starts. The right-hander struck out nine.
Winnipeg took the lead in the top of the first inning when Ian Sagdal delivered a sacrifice fly that scored Raul Navarro. Three innings later, Reggie Pruitt drilled his fifth homerun of the season, a two-run shot to make it 3-0. From there it was all Ramirez who held the Cougars off the scoreboard through the first eight frames, allowing one hit in that span. However, in the ninth, Galli Cribbs led off with a double. Tasker Strobel came on and gave up a one-out hit to Steve Lombardozzi to pull Kane County within two, but they would get no closer.
Strobel finished off the game for his sixth save of the season. David Washington and Pruitt each had three hits. José Fuentes took the loss, allowing three runs in 6.0 innings.
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Jason Young
Kengor Homers Twice as Milkmen Down Railroaders
Will Kengor homered twice and scored three runs to help lead the Milwaukee Milkmen to an 8-2 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders, helping Milwaukee to take the series. The Milkmen jumped out in front, scoring five unanswered runs through the first five innings. In the top of the third, Bryan Torres hit his first homerun of the season to put the Milkmen on top. An inning later, Kengor led off with his second homer of the year and Logan Trowbridge closed out the scoring in the frame with an RBI double. In the fifth, Dylan Kelly added an RBI double and Christ Conley drove home Kengor with a sacrifice fly.
Ryan Zimmerman was cruising for the Milkmen, tossing five scoreless frames to start the contest. In the sixth, he allowed one unearned run before his day was over. Zimmerman earned his first victory of the season, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six.
In the eighth, Chad Sedio delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to six and Kengor delivered his second homerun of the contest in the top of the ninth. Zach Nehrir finished with two hits for Cleburne and Chuck Taylor scored both runs.
RedHawks Take Rubber Match Behind Kessay Gem
Sebastian Kessay allowed one run in 7.0 innings and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks scored six unanswered runs in a 6-2 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. Lake Country took the lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Aaron Takacs, but the RedHawks tied the score in the bottom of the third when Manuel Boscan singled against Alex McRae.
The game remained tied into the bottom of the sixth when Fargo-Moorhead took command. Drew Ward drilled a two-run homer, his 10th of the season. One inning later, the RedHawks extended the lead to three when Nick Novak scored on a double play and the team added two more in the eighth to take a commanding five run lead. The DockHounds were able to get one more run in the ninth, but that would be all they could muster.
Kessay allowed six hits and two walks while striking out seven to move to 4-0. Boscan finished with three hits. Takacs and Blake Berry each had two hits for the DockHounds.
Racusin Walk-Off Hit Completes RailCats Comeback
Zach Racusin singled home Daniel Lingua with two down in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Gary SouthShore RailCats a 7-6 come from behind victory over the Sioux City Explorers. The RailCats trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, but put five runs on the board to take the lead. Sioux City responded with two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the score, but Racusin sent the crowd home happy with his walk-off hit.
Josh Vincent earned the victory. Brandon Brosher took the loss. Thomas Walraven had a big day for the RailCats, going 2-4 with a run and four RBI. He drilled a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth that put Gary SouthShore on top.
Zach Hedges pitched well for Sioux City, allowing one run in 7.0 innings. Trey Martin was a perfect 4-4 with four RBI. Nick Franklin scored three runs.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Harrison Francis (Gary SouthShore RailCats) 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, ER, 8 K
No. 2 – Nick Belzer (Kansas City Monarchs) 6.0 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 ER, 3 K
No. 1 – Buddy Baumann (Lincoln Saltdogs) 6.0 IP, 4 H, BB, 0 ER, 8 K
American Association Daily Notes
The consecutive on-base streaks for Lake Country DockHounds OF Aaron Takacs, Chicago Dogs OF Charlie Tilson, and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks OF Drew Ward continued on Sunday, as the trio have now reached base safely in 27 consecutive games… With his homerun on Sunday, Kansas City Monarchs 1B Matt Adams is now tied for the American Association lead in homeruns with 11. Teammates Jan Hernandez and David Thompson as well as Sioux Falls Canaries OF Jabari Henry each have 11 as well… Milwaukee Milkmen outfielder Will Kengor became the 30th player this season to deliver a two-homer contest. He is the third Milwaukee Milkmen player to do so, joining Keon Barnum and Correlle Prime.
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By Robert Pannier
