Anderson Homers Twice, Milkmen, RailCats Split, Weekly Honors

Robert Pannier May 30, 2023

Photo Credit: Jennifer Andreachi/Field Dreams Photography

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 five games in the American Association on Monday, including the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the Milwaukee Milkmen splitting a double-header, Nick Anderson homers twice for the Lincoln Saltdogs, and the Cleburne Railroaders down the Sioux City Explorers in 10. Plus, American Association honors for the week are provided.

Game Recaps for Monday

Beardsley, Bullpen Spur Cougars

Tyler Beardsley allowed one run in five innings and the bullpen did the rest as the Kane County Cougars defeated the Lake Country DockHounds, 3-1. Beardsley (1-1) evened his record with the victory, allowing six hits and three walks while striking out seven. Daniel Bies tossed two scoreless frames and Keith Rogalla closed out the ballgame, recording two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.

This game was scoreless through the first three innings, but Kane County took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Daniel Wasinger delivered a sacrifice fly and Josh Allen drove home Galli Cribbs with a double into left field. Lake Country cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth thanks to a Marcus Chiu RBI single, but Wasinger sealed the victory with his second sacrifice fly of the game.

Nick Herold allowed just two earned runs in six innings, but took the loss for the DockHounds. Thomas Jones and Chiu each had two hits. Allen and Jonah Davis each had two hits for Kane County.

Boxscore

Milkmen, RailCats Split Double-Header

The Milwaukee Milkmen scored two runs in the third and fourth innings to help earn a 4-1 victory in the nightcap of their double-header with the Gary SouthShore RailCats, helping Milwaukee split the two-game set. Aneuris Rosario earned the victory in relief and Nate Hadley came on to close out the contest for his third save of the year.

Milwaukee opened the scoring in the top of the third when Bryan Torres came home on an error and Drew Ward followed with an RBI single. An inning later, Rudy Martin reached on an error, bringing home the third run of the game for Milwaukee, and a wild pitch scored Aaron Hill to make it 4-0. Gregori Vasquez was dominating through the first three innings, but back-to-back doubles in the fourth put the RailCats on the board. However, that would be the only run allowed by the starter.

LG Castillo finished with two hits and an RBI for the RailCats. Bryan Torres had two hits for Milwaukee.

In Game 1, the RailCats put up runs in each of the first four innings on their way to a 7-4 victory. Each team scored two runs in the first, with an RBI double by Drew Ward and a single by Justin Williams staking the Milkmen to a two-run lead. Gary Southshore scored two in the bottom of the frame on back-to-back RBI singles by Castillo and Victor Nova. The RailCats took the lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Gio Diaz and passed ball that brought home Marco Hernandez. Jesus Marriaga plated a run in the third to make it 5-2.

Milwaukee battled back, scoring two with the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by Rudy Martin, his fourth of the season. However, the RailCats responded once again, as Nova delivered a two-run single in the bottom half of the frame. That made it 7-4, which would be the final.

Jack Eisenbarger earned the victory, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. DJ Wilkinson finished off the final 1.2 innings for his first save of the season. Castillo was 4-4 with an RBI and Nova had two hits and drove in three. Bryan Torres was 3-3 for Milwaukee and Gabriel Cancel was 2-2 with two walks.

Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman

Game 1 Boxscore

Game 2 Boxscore

Railroaders Down Explorers in 10

The Sioux City Explorers battled back from a three run deficit to force extra innings and jumped out in front in the top of the 10th, but the Cleburne Railroaders scored three in the bottom of the frame, winning on a two run walk off homer by Hill Alexander to give Cleburne a 6-4 victory. Cleburne took the lead in the bottom of the first when Zach Nehrir connected for his fourth home run of the year. An inning later, the Railroaders extended the lead to three on back-to-back RBI singles by Elmer Reyes and Delino DeShields.

Sioux City had been shut down by Cleburne starter Michael Mariot through the first four innings, but finally got on the board in the fifth. Kyle Kasser plated two with a double and Jake Sanford scored on an error to knot the game at three. That sent the game to extra innings were DeShields scored on a grounder up the middle by Vince Fernandez. Cleburne would not go quietly, however, as DeShields scored on a base hit by Nehrir and Alexander followed with a drive that just cleared the center field wall.

Sioux City Explorers Recap by Dan Vaughan, Jr.

Boxscore

Anderson Homers Twice in Saltdogs Victory

Nick Anderson homered twice and drove in five to help lead the Lincoln Saltdogs to an 11-7 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs. Walter Borkovich earned the victory, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, and Jeff Singer took the loss for Kansas City.

This was a wild first inning that saw seven total runs scored. Kansas City put up three in the top half of the frame, as Chris Herrmann delivered a two run double and Edwin Diaz brought home Herrmann with the triple. The Saltdogs responded in the bottom half of the inning, as Drew Devine came home on a groundout by Luke Roskam, and Yanio Perez followed with a two-run double. Singer then walked three of the next four batters, including Matt Goodheart, driving home Perez.

Lincoln extended the lead to four thanks to a three-run homer by Anderson in the third and he drilled his second shot of the day, a two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth. Kansas City did not give up, however, as Johneshwy Fargas brought home a run with a groundout in the top of the seventh, and Jan Hernandez followed with a three-run homer, his first of the year. However, Lincoln sealed the victory when Will Kengor hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run shot to make it 11-7.

Anderson finished 2-3 with three runs scored and five RBI. Perez was 2-3 with two runs scored and two RBI and Connor Panas had three hits and scored twice. Hernandez and Jacob Robson each scored twice for Kansas City.

Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Carter Woodiel

Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Tyler Beardsley (Kane County Cougars) 5.0 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 7 K

No. 2 – LG Castillo (Gary SouthShore RailCats) 6-6, 2 RBI, BB

No. 1 – Nick Anderson (Lincoln Saltdogs) 2-3, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR, BB, HBP

American Association Daily Notes

The Minor League Sports Report and This Week in the Association named their weekly honorees on Monday. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks right-hander Davis Feldman was named as the Pitcher of the Week in the American Association while Sioux City Explorers third baseman Matt Lloyd was named as the top player for the week. The American Association also named Feldman and Lloyd as their weekly honorees… Ken Huckaby was named as the new manager of the Lake Country DockHounds on Sunday. Huckaby replaces Paul Wagner, who had been serving as the interim manager… Lincoln Saltdogs centerfielder Nick Anderson homered twice on Monday. He is now tied with Chicago Dogs shortstop Josh Altmann for the league lead in homeruns with seven.