Rascals Crank out 16 Runs and Inch Closer to The Playoffs

August 27, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release

A five run bottom of the first inning set the tone and the River City Rascals (46-42) nearly tallied 20 hits for the second consecutive night as they defeated the Normal CornBelters, 16-4, in the series opener Friday night at CarShield Field. The Rascals have won nine games in a row, their longest streak since Steve Brook became manager in 2010 and currently sit 2.5 games ahead of the CornBelters and WildThings for the final wild card spot with eight games to go.

Four Rascals drove in three or more runs and all nine members of the starting lineup recorded a hit and scored a run. In total, the Rascals got 16 runs on 19 hits and 12 of the 16 came during the first three innings.

Kyle Gaedele was the offensive player of the night launching two home runs, including a three run homer in the first inning before a one hour rain delay occurred prior to the second inning. Also in the first inning, Josh Silver drove in a run with a single into right field and Jason Merjano continued to haunt his old team with a sacrifice fly against Belters starter Charlie Gillies.

"I think that first inning was huge, we came out and scored five runs in the inning and that kind of brought them down," Gaedele said. "It's a big series for both teams and I think we were able to gain early momentum and ride with it the rest of the way."

The rain delay didn't stop the Rascals dominance and when the game resumed, southpaw Austin Warner turned in a scoreless top of the second to bring the Rascals back to the bats.

River City sent eight batters to the plate for the second consecutive inning and scored four runs via a pair of RBI doubles from Josh Silver and Mike Jurgella to lead 9-0 heading to the third.

That was the last inning for Gillies and Normal's manager Brooks Carey went to Mike Elwood to throw the next three frames.

It wasn't smooth sailing either for Elwood as he struggled to find the strike zone in the bottom of the third walking three batters and hitting two more. The Rascals tagged him for three runs that inning, a bases loaded walk to Josh Ludy, a bases loaded walk to Josh Silver and a RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Merjano. The second baseman charged Elwood with one more run in the fifth inning with a RBI single that scored Alexi Colon.

The nine run lead early was plenty to pave the way for Rascals starter Austin Warner to win his fourth game in a row and he finished with a line of three runs on six hits and struck out five in six innings.

The CornBelters first run came in the fourth inning and added two more in the sixth with RBI from Nolan Meadows and Jacoby Middleton and 13-3 was the closest they came to the Rascals.

The Rascals remaining three runs were spread out over the sixth and the seventh innings and were all scored off right-hander Quin Pippin, one of their four relievers Friday night.

Kyle Gaedele had a solo home run to begin the bottom of the sixth and added a RBI single along with Mike Jurgella in the bottom of the seventh inning to round out the 16 run, 19 hit night.

15 of the 16 runs came via a RBI with Kyle Gaedele driving in five total and three each from Merjano, Silver and Jurgella. Josh Ludy had the other RBI and also scored a run and notched a hit.

Along with Silver's three RBI, he led the team with four hits and was one of three players to score three runs (Colon and Morales).

Over the past two games, the Rascals have scored 31 runs and pounded out 37 hits.

Before the game was all over, the Belters added one run in the ninth inning against Reese Gregory via sacrifice fly. Gregory was the only Rascals reliever and he earned his first save of his career tossing three innings of one run baseball.

The hunt for the postseason continues Saturday night as the Rascals play game two of the three game series against Normal and look to add to their lead in the wild card race.

"Going to be intense and fun the rest of the way but hopefully we can pull it out and keep winning ballgames," Silver said.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 with Joe Pavlovich on the mound for the Rascals.

Rascals Crank out 16 Runs and Inch Closer to the Playoffs

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Frontier League Stories from August 27, 2016

• Early Runs Sink Boomers - Schaumburg Boomers
• Freedom Take Game Two Behind Two-Out Hitting - Florence Y'alls
• Rascals Nine Game Winning Streak; Playoff Tickets - River City Rascals
• Rascals Crank out 16 Runs and Inch Closer to The Playoffs - River City Rascals
• Lake Erie Crushers D. Traverse City, 12-5 - Lake Erie Crushers
• Rascals Explode Early to Defeat CornBelters - Normal CornBelters

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