Avant Excels, But Bandits Best Lugs in 10
MWL Lansing Lugnuts

Avant Excels, But Bandits Best Lugs in 10

Published on June 21, 2025 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lansing Lugnuts News Release


DAVENPORT, IA - Corey Avant set a professional high with seven strong innings, but the Quad Cities River Bandits (2-0, 41-27) scored three runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to rally past the Lansing Lugnuts (0-2, 36-32), 4-3, on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

Avant, drafted in the ninth round in 2023 from Wingate as a relief pitcher, had never recorded an out beyond the fifth inning - but was dazzling, striking out eight while allowing only one run on four hits and three walks in 97 pitches.

In the top of the 10th, T.J. Schofield-Sam 's first-pitch RBI double broke a 1-1 tie. Three batters later, Schofield-Sam scored on a wild pitch to put the Lugnuts up 3-1, looking for a third win in five games.

But no team in pro baseball has played more extra-inning games than Quad Cities, who made sure to capitalize on their 17th trip into bonus baseball.

Blaze Pontes struck out Diego Guzman, but tossed a wild pitch to move bonus runner Omar Hernandez to third. Erick Torres followed with an RBI single to bring the River Bandits within 3-2. A Daniel Vazquez single pushed Torres to third, and Sam Kulasingam dropped down a perfect squeeze to tie the game. A second Pontes wild pitch forced the Lugnuts to intentionally walk Callan Moss to load the bases.

The strategy appeared to have worked when Chris Brito sent a sharp grounder at shortstop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, who flipped to Casey Yamauchi for the force at second - but Moss slid in late into Yamauchi, whose toss to first to attempt to complete an inning-ending double play went low and up the line. First baseman Schofield-Sam was unable to handle it, allowing Vazquez to score the game-winning run.

In the loss, Schofield-Sam went 2-for-4 with his league-leading 21st hit-by-pitch of the year, increasing his league-leading batting average to .352. Catcher Nick Schwartz finished 2-for-3 with a walk, single, double and a run scored, and DH Tommy White went 1-for-5 with an RBI single.

The series finale is at 1 p.m. / 12 noon local on Sunday between Lansing right-hander Jake Garland and River Bandits right-hander Drew Beam in a rematch of Tuesday's series opener.

The Lugnuts then return home to host the Dayton Dragons from June 24-29. T ickets are available for purchase at the stadium box office, (517) 485-4500 or online at milb.com/lansing.

Check out the Lansing Lugnuts Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from June 21, 2025


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