Late Rally Comes Up Short in Middle Game at Tri-City
TROY, New York (June 26) - The Wild Things dropped the middle game despite a late comeback attempt against the Valleycats, 11-9 and with the win, the Valleycats took the series.
Tri-City started the scoring in the first inning by getting three to start its night. Phil Caulfield, whom the Cats acquired in a trade with Gary earlier in the day, singled home Nelson Molina before scoring himself along with Denis Phipps on a two-run homer.
Hector Roa answered that home run with a two-run shot of his own in the second before a single by Joe Campagna plated Cody Erickson to tie the game at 3-3 in the third. It stayed that way until the fourth when Willy Garcia's second home run in as many nights gave the Valleycats a one-run lead, which they'd add to later in the inning on a run-scoring single by Keaton Weisz. Bralin Jackson singled home a run in the sixth before scoring himself on an RBI triple by Hector Roa, which tied the ballgame at five a side.
Tri-City wouldn't let the tie last long though, as the Cats scored on a solo homer from Carson Maxwell in the bottom half of the same inning. An Andrew Sohn RBI single plated the tying run for the Things in the seventh, but Tri-City struck for five in the home seventh, highlighted by a grand slam by Phipps, giving him two homers and six RBI on the evening. The Wild Things scored three times in the top of the eighth to pull within two on a sac fly by Erickson, a fielder's choice off the bat of Erickson and another Sohn RBI knock.
Washington evaded a jam in the bottom of the eighth to keep it at 11-9 and was able to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but couldn't get more, as they dropped the series with the loss.
The Wild Things will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow, with a 3 p.m. first pitch scheduled for the Sunday finale that will feature a pair of right handers in Keven Pimentel for Washington and Parker Kelly for the Valeycats. You can watch the game (subscription required) on Frontier League TV at frontierleaguetv.com or on the Frontier League streaming app, available on the Apple and Google Play stores.
