Clingstones Ride Ritchie's Remarkable Start in 1-0 Win
July 5, 2025 - Southern League (SL)
Columbus Clingstones News Release
COLUMBUS, GA. - Just five days after being nominated to the 2025 All-Star Futures Game, J.R. Ritchie turned in the best performance of his Double-A career and the Columbus Clingstones (6-5, 32-45) defeated the Montgomery Biscuits (6-5, 45-34) 1-0 on Saturday night at Synovus Park.
Decisive Plays: The beginning of Saturday night's game gave a sense of deja-vu. Ethan Workinger got the scoring started in the home half of the opening frame with an RBI double to left field. Neither offense could get anything going until the top of the eighth inning when Montgomery had two batters reach on singles with just one out. However, Jose Cuas recovered and forced back-to-back groundouts to end the inning and keep the shutout alive. In the top of the ninth, the Biscuits found two more baserunners, but LJ McDonough retired the next two batters quickly and earned his first career Double-A save.
Key Contributors: Ritchie (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 SO) set a new Double-A high with eight strikeouts and only allowed four baserunners in Saturday night's start. Drew Compton (2-for-4, run), David McCabe (2-for-4), and Workinger (2-for-4, RBI, double) recorded six of the Clingstones' seven hits.
Noteworthy: Ritchie earned his first win at the Double-A level after a dominant, five-inning performance just days after being nominated to the 2025 All-Star Futures Game where he will be reunited with former Clingstone Hayden Harris. Saturday night's win secured Columbus' first series win in over 30 days. The Clingstones had dropped five straight series before their win on Saturday night. The last time Columbus won a series was against Montgomery at Synovus Park (May 20-25).
Next Game (Sunday, July 6): Columbus vs. Montgomery, 1:05 pm ET at Synovus Park. Radio Broadcast: 4:50 pm ET on Sports Visions 92.1 FM. RHP Brett Sears (2-3, 4.06 ERA) will start for Columbus opposed by RHP Owen Wild (4-5, 5.23 ERA) for Montgomery.
Southern League Stories from July 5, 2025
- Bryant Records First Double-A Save, Miller Hits Go-Ahead Homer in Shuckers Win - Biloxi Shuckers
- White Pitches Well in Futures Game Rehearsal, But Wahoos Fall 6-4 to Shuckers - Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Barons Get 7-0 Shutout over the Lookouts - Birmingham Barons
- Edwards Makes this One Count as Trash Pandas Win 2-1 over Smokies - Rocket City Trash Pandas
- Clingstones Ride Ritchie's Remarkable Start in 1-0 Win - Columbus Clingstones
- Biscuits Blanked in 1-0 Loss to Clingstones - Montgomery Biscuits
- Shuckers Reinstate RHP Nick Merkel from 7-Day Injured List - Biloxi Shuckers
- Barons Score Runs Early, But Go Down to Lookouts 8-7 - Birmingham Barons
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