After falling behind 6-2 in the bottom of the third inning, the St. Paul Saints couldn’t be feeling very good about their chances. However, the team battled back, scoring nine of the final 10 runs in the ballgame, downing the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, 11-7. Tony Thomas was one of the primary contributors in leading the comeback charge, recording four-hits and scoring two-runs, and Anthony Gallas hit his 11th homerun of the season. Newcomer Mitch Delfino also had four-hits in his second game with the team.

The Saints would jump out to a two-run lead with solo runs in the second and third innings. In the second, Tony Thomas doubled with one out against Will Solomon, and moved to third on a ground out. That brought Maxx Garrett to the plate, who delivered a clutch two out double to bring home Thomas and give St. Paul a one-run lead.

In the third, Danny Oh started of the inning by lining a single into center, and moved to third on a base hit by Mitch Delfino. With runners at the corners and no one out, Nate Hanson grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Oh and the Saints were up 2-0.

The RedHawks responded with six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead. John Straka had started for St. Paul and had been in command through the first two innings, but things fell apart for him in the third. Derrick Fox, Chris Grayson, and Devan Ahart delivered three straight singles, loading the bases with one out. Next up was Keury De La Cruz, who lined a single into right field, scoring both Grayson and Fox to tie the game. Josh Mazzola followed with a double that brought home Ahart, and K.D. Kang was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Trever Adams lined out for the second out of the inning, but Straka could not retire the side before giving up a double to Charlie Valerio that cleared the bases and gave Fargo-Moorhead the 6-2 lead.

In the top of the fifth, the St. Paul Saints would reduce their deficit to one. With one down, Delfino singled, but was replaced on the base paths on a fielder’s choice by Hanson. Brady Shoemaker singled to keep the inning alive, bringing Gallas back to the plate. He took the first pitch for a ball, then clubbed his 11th home run of the season over the left-center field wall to make this a 6-5 game.

It would stay that way until the seventh, when St. Paul would put up six runs of their own. A ground rule double by Hanson started the inning, and he scored when Shoemaker followed his hit with a double of his own. Gallas singled to put runners at the corners, and Thomas followed with a double to score Shoemaker. With runners at second and third and no one out, Kes Carter singled against his former team, bringing Gallas home to give the Saints a two-run lead. A walk to Garrett loaded the bases and, two batters later, Oh ripped a base hit into left field that scored Thomas. An RBI single by Delfino would bring home Carter, and a wild pitch brought home Garrett with the final run of the inning. It was an amazing turnaround that saw the Saints take a commanding lead.

The RedHawks got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Ahart doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a wild pitch. He would score on a double by Mazzola to make it 11-7. That would be the final.

Tony Thomas and Mitch Delfino both finished with 4-hits in 5 trips to the plate. Thomas scored 2-runs and drove in another. Anthony Gallas was 2-5 with 2-runs and 3-RBI. Nate Hanson and Brady Shoemaker each scored 2-runs as well. Josh Mazzola led the Fargo-Moorhead offense, going 2-4 with a run and 2-RBI. Charlie Valerio drove in 3-runs.

These two teams will meet for the rubber match of this three-game series tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier