Railroaders Clinch Berth, Dogs Blank Explorers, Snyder Homers Twice

Robert Pannier September 4, 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, Rob Pannier recaps the six games in the American Association on Sunday, including the Cleburne Railroaders earning the final playoff spot, the Gary SouthShore RailCats rally to defeat the Milwaukee Milkmen, and Taylor Snyder drives in six to power the Kansas City Monarchs to victory.

Game Recaps for Sunday

Railroaders Clinch Final Playoff Berth

The Cleburne Railroaders defeated the Sioux Falls Canaries on Sunday, locking up the final playoff spot in the East Division. Jose Sermo led the way, homering twice and driving in three, and Bret Boswell drove in five. Kasey Kalich earned the victory, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings. Neil Lang was rocked, allowing nine runs in seven innings.

The Railroaders took control of this game early, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first. Sermo got things going with a two-run homer. Zach Nehrir delivered a two-run single and Boswell drove in two runs with a single. Sermo led off the third with his second homer of the game to extend the lead to six. Sioux Falls got that run back in the top of the fourth when Mike Hart hit a solo home run, but Boswell responded with a three-run shot in the bottom half off the frame to make it 9-1. Hart drove home a run in the sixth and Shamoy Christopher added a two-run homer in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Boswell finished with two hits and five RBI and Sermo had two homers and three RBI. Hart had two hits and two RBI for Sioux Falls.

Sioux Falls Canaries Recap by Tanner Hoops

Boxscore

Cristino Walk-Off Homer Propels Kane County

John Cristino hit a solo homer with one down in the bottom of the ninth to give the Kane County Cougars a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs. Daniel Bies earned the win while Carter Hope gave up the game-winning homer.

Lincoln took the lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Zane Zurbrugg but the Cougars tied the score in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Galli Cribbs. The score remained tied until the top of the fifth when Will Kengor led off with his sixth home run of the season. The Cougars took the lead two innings later when Jonah Davis drilled a two-run shot, his 18th of the season. The lead did not last for long as the Saltdogs tied the score in their next at-bats, thanks to an error. That sent the game to the ninth tied where Cristino turned on a 3-2 pitch for his second home run of the year.

Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon

Boxscore

RailCats Rally to Down Milkmen

The Gary SouthShore RailCats rallied from a three-run deficit, scoring two in the eighth and three more in the ninth to defeat the Milwaukee Milkmen, 11-9. Francisco Del Valle and Jackson Valera led the way, as both players homered as part of four-hit performances. Del Valle scored three runs and drove in five while Valera drove in three.

The RailCats jumped out to a four-run lead, scoring three in the second and adding one more in the third. Milwaukee tied the score, scoring a run in the fourth and adding three more in the fifth. In the sixth, both teams scored two runs to keep the game knotted. In the seventh, it looked like Milwaukee was going to pull away as Drew Ward hit a solo home run, his seventh of the year, and the Milkmen scored two more in the frame. Gary SouthShore refused to go away, however, scoring two in the eighth to cut the deficit to one, and Del Valle drilled a three-run homer in the top of the night, his 10th of the season, to deliver the victory.

Oddy Nunez earned the victory and Jack Eisenbarger retired the side in order in the ninth for his third save of the season. Nate Hadley took the loss. Ward and Rudy Martin each had three hits for the Milkmen.

Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Ryan Zimmerman

Boxscore

Schreiber Drives in Four to Lead RedHawks

The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, propelling them to a 9-2 victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Fargo-Moorhead sent nine men to the plate with four different players driving in runs, including Scott Schreiber delivering a two-run triple. The lead became six in the bottom of the fourth when John Silviano drove home Nick Novak with a double the center. Winnipeg began to chip away, scoring runs in the fifth and seventh innings, but the RedHawks put this game away in the eighth, scoring two more runs. Schreiber delivered a two run double to close out the scoring.

Landen Bourassa suffered the loss, snapping a seven-game winning streak. Brenden Heiss earned the victory, allowing one run in five innings. Schreiber finished with three hits and four RBI and Silviano had three hits and two RBI.

Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Doug Greenwald

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Recap by Chad Miller

Boxscore

Green, Dogs Blank Explorers

Nick Green tossed six shutout innings to lead the Chicago Dogs to a 3-0 victory over the Sioux City Explorers. Trevor Lane tossed two scoreless frames and Brian Schlitter put two on in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but got John Nogowski to ground into a double play to earn his 18th save of the season.

Chicago gave all the runs their starter needed in the bottom of the first when Ryan Lidge scored on a base hit by Luke Mangieri. In the third, the lead became two on a Josh Altmann sacrifice fly, and Dylan Rosa led off the bottom of the sixth with his 13th homer of the year.

Jared Wetherbee pitched well for Sioux City, allowing three runs in six innings. Rosa finished with two hits for the Dogs.

Sioux City Explorers Recap by Dan Vaughan, Jr.

Boxscore

Snyder Powers Monarchs to Victory

Taylor Snyder homered twice and drove in six to lead the Kansas City Monarchs to an 11-4 victory over the Lake Country DockHounds. The 3-6 hitters for Kansas City were brutal in this contest, going a combined 9-15 with eight runs scored and nine RBI.

Lake Country got off to a great start, scoring three runs in the top of the first. Thomas Jones hit a solo shot and Marcus Chiu a two-run blast. However, Kansas City responded with five in the bottom half of the frame, hitting three home runs. Justin Wylie and Chris Herrmann hit back-to-back shots, and Snyder put his team on top with a two-run home run. Andy Yerzy closed out the scoring in the frame with an RBI double. Micker Adolfo hit a solo home run to lead off the third and Snyder added a three-run shot in the fifth, his fifth of the year.

Zach Matson earned the victory, allowing three runs in seven innings. Matson struck out eight. Herman, Adolfo, and Brian O’Grady each scored two runs and had two hits for the Monarchs. Chiu had two hits, scored twice, and had to RBI for the DockHounds.

Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Nolan Brooks

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Nick Green (Chicago Dogs) 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

No. 2 – Bret Boswell (Cleburne Railroaders) 2-4, R, HR, 5 RBI

No. 1 – Taylor Snyder (Kansas City Monarchs) 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI

American Association Daily Notes

The Cleburne Railroaders clinch the final playoff spot with their victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries on Sunday… Winnipeg Goldeyes right-hander Landen Bourassa saw his seven-game winning streak come to an end… The Kansas City Monarchs selected to play the Sioux Falls Canaries in the first round of the West Division playoffs. That will mean that the Sioux City Explorers will take on the defending champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks in Round 1… The RedHawks have won six straight games… The Lake Country DockHounds lost their sixth straight games, eliminating them from playoff contention… Cleburne Railroaders first baseman José Sermo homered twice on Sunday, and now leads the American Association with 27 home runs.

Transactions

Fargo-Moorhead: Activated OF John Silviano from the Inactive List; Placed LHP Kevin McGovern on the Inactive List retroactive to August 30

Kane County: Placed RHP Tyler Beardsley on the Inactive List retroactive to August 25

Lincoln: Activated RHP Tanner Brown from the Injured List; placed RHP Josh Roeder on the Injured List