Amberson Ambushes Explorers with Walk-Off in Ninth
July 19, 2014 - American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
WICHITA, KS - David Amberson was standing at home plate the last time the Wichita Wingnuts earned a walk-off win this season, July 12. The same man was standing in the batter's box with one out and two men on base in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium with the Wingnuts trailing the Sioux City Explorers 3-2. Last time, the right fielder was hit by a pitch to win the game; this time he laced a two-run single into left that sparked a wild celebration in front of second base. The clutch single gave Wichita a 4-3 win and improved their league-best record to 41-18.
Wingnuts' starter Tim Brown allowed multiple hits in each of the first three innings of the contest, but wasn't hurt until the third. In that inning, Oscar Mesa and Tim Colwell each singled to begin the threat. Brown then issued his eighth walk of the season to Rene Tosoni to load the bases with nobody out. Brown came back to sit down both Andres Perez and Peter Barrows on strikeouts to give himself a chance to escape. However, Amos Ramon came through with a sharp groundball single up the middle that scored a pair and made it 2-0 Explorers. Brown ended up going six innings and allowed those two runs on nine hits in another stellar outing for the right-hander. He would not factor in the decision.
At the plate, the Wingnuts were scuffling against a couple of pitchers through five innings. Geoff Broussard had to make an emergency start when the regular member of the rotation, Patrick Johnson, was deemed unavailable shortly before first pitch. Broussard worked two hitless frames and struck out three Wingnuts' hitters before handing the ball to Alex Burnett. Burnett, who was in the Major League's just last season, retired the Nuts in order in three straight innings before calling it a night. Rob Wort relieved him and allowed the first two hits of the game for Wichita, groundball singles for Jake Kahaulelio and Brent Clevlen in the sixth. They would not score, but were a preview for what happened in the seventh.
With Wort still on the hill, Taylor Oldham singled on a bunt and David Amberson hit a ground rule double to put runners in scoring position for Ryan Khoury. The shortstop bounced a ball to third that Tommy Mendonca fielded, but threw off target to first. The throw pulled Perez off of first base and up the line, which encouraged Amberson to try and score from second on the play. The throw glanced off the catcher, Dillon Usiak's, mitt and to the backstop, which allowed Amberson to slide in with the tying run.
Daniel Bennett came on to pitch in the eighth, after a scoreless seventh inning from Alan Williams. The side-arming right-hander gave up a leadoff single to Perez, who was immediately sacrificed over to second by Barrows. After striking out Ramon, Kevin Hooper, the Wingnuts manager, made the call for left-hander Alex Hinshaw to face Mendonca. The lefty squirted a shallow single into center on a tough pitch that pushed in Perez and gave the Explorers (25-35) a 3-2 advantage.
The Wingnuts couldn't tally in the eighth, but after scoreless inning by Patrick Mincey (2-3) in the top of the ninth, they made an urgent comeback. Chris McMurray led off the inning with a single to left and moved to third when Trevor Whyte put down a bunt that the closer, Chris Bodishbaugh (1-2), fielded and threw off target to second. The ball rolled into left field giving Whyte second base and putting the winning run in scoring position. With a base open, Taylor Oldham filed out to shallow right for the first out of the inning. Amberson then jumped on a 2-1 pitch from Bodishbaugh and ripped it into left to score both McMurray and Whyte, whipping the crowd of 4,196 fans into a frenzy.
Despite being outhit by the Explorers 11-5, the Wingnuts managed to earn their sixth win of the season when finishing with less hits than their opponent. Amberson was the only Wingnut with multiple hits. Amos Ramon went 3-4 for Sioux City. The Wingnuts 41-18 record matches the 2013 team's after 59 games. Last year's squad broke the American Association record for wins in a season with 68.
Game two between the former Central Division foes is Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. RHP Justin Klipp (6-2) throws for Wichita against RHP John Straka (5-4) of Sioux City. It will be K12 Force Out Bullying Night along with a visit from the always entertaining Myron Noodleman. For information on season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Wingnuts' main office at (316) 264-NUTS, or visit the Wingnuts' official website at www.wichitawingnuts.com.
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- Amberson Ambushes Explorers with Walk-Off in Ninth - Wichita Wingnuts
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