DeMello, Miners Walk off over Freedom in Tenth Inning
August 24, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
The Southern Illinois Miners came back late to knock off the Florence Freedom in 10 innings 7-6 on Tuesday night at Rent One Park, using a career-high four hits from catcher Toby DeMello to do it, including a game-tying homer in the ninth and a walk-off infield single in the tenth.
The opening part of the game was all Miners, as they scored two in the first on an RBI groundout by Craig Massey and a wild pitch to open up a 2-0 lead. Florence got a run back in the second inning, but with two outs, Aaron Gates' two-run single stretched the lead out to 4-1, and in the third, Steve Marino hit a solo homer down the line in left field to make it 5-1 Miners after three innings.
But the Freedom rallied against Jarett Miller, using three straight singles in the fifth to score a pair of runs and make it 5-3 before going ahead with three runs in the sixth inning. Four more hits in the frame, including a go-ahead double by Taylor Oldham, made the score 6-5 Florence as the Freedom rapped out 13 hits in the first six frames, all but Oldham's being singles.
In the middle part of the ballgame, Southern Illinois' offense was shut down by Florence pitching, as a pair of walks in the seventh inning represented the only baserunners the Miners had until the ninth inning. With DeMello leading off against Florence closer Ethan Gibbons, the backstop drove a deep home run to left-center to tie the game at 6-6 and eventually send it into extra innings.
In the tenth, Adam Lopez (2-0) struck out the side in order in the top half, and Cody Gray (7-3) retired the first two batters in the bottom half. But Brandon Cummins singled to center field, and on a pickoff attempt, the ball sailed wide of first, allowing Cummins to get all the way to third base on the play. With DeMello up again, he hit a ground ball up the third base line, with Oldham backhanding deep behind the bag and throwing wide of first, an infield hit that won the game.
DeMello finished with a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs to lead Southern Illinois to the comeback victory. They will look to take the series on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m., with Brooks Trujillo pitching for the Miners against Florence's Jordan Kraus.
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- DeMello, Miners Walk off over Freedom in Tenth Inning - Southern Illinois Miners
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