Victor Roache homered twice, including delivering the game-winning shot in the top of the 10th inning to lead the Chicago Dogs over the Sioux Falls Canaries, 14-12. This was a wild affair that saw the Canaries battle back three times before they final fell. Michael Crouse also homered twice for Chicago as the Dogs hit five homeruns for the second straight night. KC Huth homered and drove in four for Sioux Falls.

The Dogs took a 3-0 lead, scoring one in the first and two in the third. Crouse led off the game with his sixth homer of the year. Two innings later, it was Crouse again. Garrett Hope led off with a double and Crouse followed by blasting his second homer of the contest.

The Canaries rallied in the bottom half of the frame to tie the score. Ryan Brett reached on an error and advanced to second when Ryan Long walked. Huth followed with a single into right that scored Brett. Andrew Ely then grounded into a double-play and Dogs starter Eddie Butler looked like he may escape with just the one run allowed. However, Logan Landon had other ideas, connecting on his fifth homerun of the season to tie the score at three.

The Dogs retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Three straight singles by Joey Terdoslavich, K.C. Hobson, and Tyler Ladendorf put Chicago back on top. Roache then grounded out, bringing home Hobson. That brought Harrison Smith to the plate, who drilled his fourth homerun of the season to put Chicago on top by four.

The Canaries responded in the bottom of the frame, taking the lead. Long singled to start the inning and Huth followed with a shot over the right field wall for his second homer of the year. Two batters later, Landon singled and he moved to third on a double by Madison Younginer.

That would be it for Butler. Paul Schwendel came on looking to slam the door shut and was able to strike out Clint Coulter, but a passed ball brought Landon home and Mike Hart then hit his third homer of the year, a two-run shot to give Sioux Falls an 8-7 lead.

This time it was the Dogs turn to respond, and they did, scoring four runs in the top of the sixth to retake the lead. Blake Allemand reached on an error and moved to second on a walk to Terdoslavich. Hobson followed with a single, scoring Allemand to tie the score at eight. A wild pitch brought home Terdoslavich before Ladendorf singled up the middle. That allowed Hobson to score but Ladendorf was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. That proved to be costly, as Roache blasted his ninth homerun of the season. The Dogs were now on top, 11-8.

Sioux Falls got two of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Brett led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Long. After Huth flew out, Casey Crosby came on in relief for Chicago and hit Andrew Ely with his first pitch. Landon then hit a sacrifice fly to score Bret and Younginer singled to bring home Long to pull the Canaries within one.

The Dogs extended their lead to two in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back walks to Terdoslavich and Hobson started the inning. Roache singled two batters later to load the bases, and Terdoslavich scored on a passed ball.

Adam Choplick came on in the ninth looking to shut the door for the Dogs, but he gave up a double to Grant Kay and a walk to Brett to put two on with no one out. Long then flew out for the first out of the inning. Canaries Manager Mike Meyer opted to roll the dice to keep his team out of double-play by going for the double steal. Both runners were safe, putting two in scoring position with Huth at the plate. Choplick struck him out, but the ball got away from Hope, allowing Kay to score and Huth to reach first. Ely then grounded a single into right, bringing home Brett to tie the score at 12.

This game had marathon written all over it, but Roache was having none of that. Keaton Steele came on for the Canaries and the Dogs outfielder greeted him by drilling the first pitch he saw for his 10th homer of the year. Smith would later score on an error to extend the lead to two and Wes Helsabeck made the lead stand, recording his first save of the season.

Roache finished 4-6 with two runs scored and three RBI. Smiith and Crouse each had two hits and three RBI. Huth was 2-5 with a run and four RBI for Sioux Falls. Landon had four hits and drove in three.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier