NYPL Norwich Sea Unicorns

CT Tigers Walk off Muckdogs with Sacrifice Bunt in 11th

Published on July 13, 2018 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Norwich Sea Unicorns News Release


NORWICH, Ct. - Sam McMillan laid down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eleventh that drew a throwing error to score Jeremiah Burks in his first game with the Connecticut Tigers (13-14) for a 4-3 walkoff win over the Batavia Muckdogs (12-14) in front of a big crowd at Dodd Stadium on Friday night.

Burks, a former Fresno State infielder and 2018 Detroit Tigers eighth-round draft pick, was placed at second base as the tie-breaking runner to start the eleventh. The sacrifice bunt by McMillan rolled to Batavia third baseman Denis Karas, who threw the ball away from first baseman Sean Reynolds and allowed Burks to tally the fourth walkoff win by Connecticut since June 28.

The game was scoreless into the tenth and Batavia drew first blood against Tigers reliever Ethan DeCaster with a sac bunt and an RBI single by Gunnar Schubert to score the tie-breaking runner for a 1-0 lead.

With Dayton Dugas placed on second to begin the bottom of the tenth, Batavia reliever Zach Wolf (Loss, 1-1) moved him to third on a wild pitch. Following a one-out walk by Moises Nunez, Tigers outfielder Reece Hampton grounded to first base and beat out what could've been a game-ending double play for an RBI fielder's choice that scored Dugas and tied the game at 1-1.

Dylan Stock (Win, 2-0) erased Batavia's tie-breaking runner in the eleventh when he fielded a bunt from Albert Guaimaro and threw out Michael Donadio at third with a perfect feed to third baseman Shane Cooper. Stock retired the next two batters for 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief with two strikeouts.

Tigers starter Carson Lance opened the pitcher's duel for Connecticut with five scoreless innings, three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Dylan Stalsberg dipped his team-best earned run average to 0.66 after two hitless innings. Connecticut held Batavia to just five hits and finished one shy of a season high with 15 combined strikeouts in front of a crowd of 4,498 at Dodd Stadium.

Connecticut mustered only four base hits including a double by Luke Sherley but the Muckdogs batted 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position as the Tigers picked up their eleventh win in the last 15 games. The Tigers took two of three games from the Muckdogs in their only 2018 regular season series.

On Saturday, the Tigers will take the field at Dodd Stadium for one night only as the New England Lobster Rolls to highlight New England Night sponsored by Samuel Adams and their New England IPA. First pitch between the Lobster Rolls and Vermont Lake Monsters is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with gates opening at 5 p.m. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a pair of official New England Lobster Rolls sunglasses. LobsterCraft, a local gourmet seafood truck, will serve authentic Lobster Rolls at Dodd Stadium.

The Connecticut Tigers are the New York-Penn League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. Individual tickets for all 2018 home games, season memberships to "The Club," ticket mini-plans, and Tigers team merchandise are now on sale at Dodd Stadium, over the phone at 860-887-7962, and online at CTTigers.com.

Check out the Norwich Sea Unicorns Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



New York-Penn League Stories from July 13, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central