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August 11, 2024 - Frontier League (FL) News Release


BOULDERS TAKE DOWN VALLEYCATS IN SUDDEN DEATH

TROY, NY - The New York Boulders came out on top in their first game with the Tri-City ValleyCats at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in sudden death on Saturday.

The victory and a loss doubleheader split in Ottawa put New York (41-33) back in the final playoff spot in the Frontier League East Division, at least for the moment. The Boulders got off to a fast start with a solo homer from LF Steve Barmakian in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Tri-City (41-33) knotted things up with a sacrifice fly in the third. In the fourth, the ValleyCats used back-to-back RBI base hits up the middle to build a 3-1 lead. Another RBI on a double in the fifth pushed the Tri-City advantage to 4-1. RF Jake Reinisch got New York back into the game by crushing a solo homer to lead off the sixth. DH Chris Kwitzer and C Joe DeLuca then cranked back-to-back homers to kick off the seventh and tie the game at four all. After both sides failed to convert with a man on third in the last two innings, the game went into the 10th where both the Boulders and the ValleyCats went three up, three down. The contest then moved into sudden death, where Tri-City elected to hit; the ValleyCats repeated their effort in the ninth by going down to end the game. RHP Dylan Smith earned the win after three innings of relief work.

The ValleyCats and Boulders will play a doubleheader to close out a key divisional series on Sunday. The first game of the twin billing will begin at 4:00 PM EDT.

CAPITALES CRUSH KNOCKOUTS AGAIN, MACKENZIE HITS FRANCHISE MILESTONE

BROCKTON, MA - The Québec Capitales won the series against the New England Knockouts on Saturday with an 8-2 victory at Campanelli Stadium.

The Capitales (52-25) have continued to show their dominance in the Frontier League East Division and have yet to lose a series in August. 1B Mathieu Sirois gave Québec an early lead with his RBI single in the second inning. RF Marc-Antoine Lebreux doubled the Capitales' lead up to 2-0 with a solo homer in the third. New England (27-48) then gifted a run to Québec with an error from the catcher. The Knockouts trimmed the deficit down to one with two runs in the bottom of the third on a fielder's choice and an RBI single. In the fifth, C Anthony Quirion made it 5-2 with a two-run single into center field. The Capitales pushed across one more in the sixth and then another two in the ninth to make a comeback unobtainable. In the win, 3B Jake MacKenzie became Québec's franchise leader for most stolen bases in a single season with his 37th swiped bag. RHP Abdiel Saldana earned the win for the Capitales while RHP Michael Quigley took the loss.

The Capitales will go for the series sweep in the finale on Sunday. First pitch is at 1:00 PM EDT.

SLAMMERS OVERCOME GRAND SLAM WITH THREE-RUN NINTH

FLORENCE, KY - The Joliet Slammers scored three runs in the ninth to win the middle game 8-7 against the Florence Y'alls on Saturday.

Despite giving up three homers, including a grand slam, the Slammers (32-44) snuck past the Y'alls (37-39) to force a rubber match on Sunday. The scoreless tie was broken in the fourth when Florence took a 1-0 lead with a solo homer. Joliet snatched a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on an RBI single from 2B Antonio Valdez. DH Tommy Stevenson then crushed a two-run homer in the sixth to increase the Joliet lead to three. Zade Richardson, Florence's designated hitter, then made Frontier League history in the bottom of the sixth when he launched his third grand slam of the season; the achievement tied him for the most grand slams in a season in league history and also gave the Y'alls a 5-4 lead. Florence then gifted the Slammers a free run on a passed ball in the seventh to bring the game back to even. Another Y'alls home run in the bottom of the inning put them back out in front 6-5. 1B Matthew Warkentin took the lead back for Joliet in the ninth with a two-run double that made it 7-6. LF Jeissy De La Cruz then added an insurance run with an RBI single to make it 8-6. The Y'alls took one run back in the bottom of the ninth, but left the tying run stranded on second base to come up short of a comeback. RHP Greyson Linderman earned the win in relief while RHP Cameron Smith picked up his fourth save of the season. LHP Kent Klyman was tagged with the loss after giving up the lead in the ninth.

The Slammers and the Y'alls will finish up their series at Thomas More Stadium with a rubber game on Sunday. First pitch is at 5:07 PM EDT.

CRUSHERS OFFENSE RETURNS TO FORM IN WIN OVER BOOMERS

AVON, OH - The Lake Erie Crushers built on their historic win on Friday with a 4-1 victory on Saturday over the Schaumburg Boomers.

The Crushers (43-33) are now 10 games over .500 and have a 4.5-game lead over the Boomers (38-37) for the final playoff spot in the West. 3B Logan Thomason gave Lake Erie the lead with an RBI double in the second inning. After a bases-loaded walk doubled the Crushers' lead in the third, RF Jack Harris singled home a run to make it 3-0. CF Sam Franco added another with an RBI groundout in the following at-bat, pushing the Lake Erie lead to 4-0. The Boomers manufactured a run in the sixth but left two men stranded to end the inning. Schaumburg put another two men in scoring position in the seventh but again came away empty-handed. The Crusher bullpen then closed things out with two shutdown innings in the eighth and ninth to grab a key series win. RHP Matthew Mulhearn earned the win while RHP Sammy Tavarez earned the save. LHP Daniel Paret took the loss for Schaumburg.

The Crushers could sincerely jeopardize the Boomers' postseason chances with a sweep on Sunday. The finale of the series at Crusher Stadium will begin at 2:05 PM EDT.

OTTERS ROCK GRIZZLIES BEHIND 18 HITS

SAUGET, IL - The Evansville Otters blew out the Gateway Grizzlies 15-3 on Saturday to even up the series at Grizzlies Ballpark.

The Otters (33-43) scored 15 runs on 18 hits, dominating Gateway (45-31) across all nine innings. DH Mason White put Evansville up 1-0 in the first with an RBI single. The Otters then exploded for five runs in the second, behind LF Randy Bednar's grand slam. Bednar added another RBI in the fourth to kickstart another five-run inning. The Grizzlies sprinkled in solo homers in the second and sixth innings but couldn't keep up with the Evansville bats. Leading 11-2 in the seventh, the Otters collected another four runs to balloon their lead to 15-2, including another RBI from Bednar on a base hit. The Otters surrendered another solo homer in the eighth, but it only served to polish the 15-3 final for Gateway. RHP Casey Delgado earned the winning decision for Evansville while RHP Aaron Dona took the loss.

The rubber match of the series will be on Sunday at 5:30 PM CDT.

WILD THINGS TAKE SERIES WITH T-BOLTS

CRESTWOOD, IL - The Washington Wild Things claimed another series as they took down the Windy City ThunderBolts 9-5 on Saturday at Ozinga Field.

The Wild Things (52-24) are one game closer to securing a playoff berth and clinching the West Division title. Washington took an early lead on an RBI groundout from 1B Andrew Czech in the first inning, but the lead was short-lived as the Bolts (33-45) scored twice to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. LF Wagner Lagrange knotted things up for the Wild Things with an RBI double in the third, which jumpstarted a seven-run outburst in the inning; Washington sent a dozen hitters to the plate in the inning while Lagrange picked up an RBI in two separate at-bats to make it 8-2. Windy City took one run back in the bottom of the fourth, but it was erased by DH Tyreque Reed's RBI double in the fifth. The ThunderBolts plated two more runs in the eighth, but could not catch the first-place Wild Things in the end. LHP Kobe Foster struck out seven across six innings to claim the win for Washington. LHP Michael Barker struggled, giving up seven runs in 2.2 innings to claim the loss.

The Wild Things will go for the series sweep on Sunday. First pitch is at 1:05 PM CDT.

TITANS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER, DROP OUT OF PLAYOFF SPOT

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Titans split their doubleheader with the Sussex County Miners at Titan Stadium on Sunday.

After the split and New York's win, the Titans (42-34) dropped out of the final playoff spot in the East due to having one more loss. In the first game, RHP Bryan Pena dominated for Ottawa, striking out 10 in a complete-game shutout while only allowing three hits. CF Jackie Urbaez cracked a two-run homer to begin a seven-run explosion in the first inning for the Titans. DH Lamar Briggs and C Michael Fuhrman picked up two RBIs each in the effort, as Ottawa pranced to a dominating victory over RHP Mike Reagan.

In the second game, the Miners (27-49) thwarted an Ottawa comeback effort to even the series and set up a rubber game on Sunday. Despite finding themselves down 3-0 after two innings, the Miners stayed poised and put together an outstanding third inning that began with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to get them on the board. 2B Evan Giordano tied things up for Sussex County with a two-run single into the left-center field gap. A walk and a sacrifice fly gave the Miners their first lead of the day at 4-3. Sussex County did not let up as the game progressed, scoring two more times to increase their lead to three entering the last of the fifth. The Titans homered twice in the sixth to bring themselves to within one. In the seventh, Ottawa got both the tying and the winning runs in scoring position but unfortunately could not convert the opportunity. RHP Eston Stull earned the win for Sussex County in relief as RHP Robbie Hitt picked up the save. LHP Jake Dixon took the loss for Ottawa.

The Miners and Titans will settle their series in a rubber game on Sunday at 1:00 PM EDT.

JACKALS BLANK AIGLES BEHIND SAKO GEM

PATERSON, NJ - The New Jersey Jackals blanked the Trois-Rivières Aigles 5-0 on Saturday night at Hinchcliffe Stadium.

The Jackals (25-50) rallied behind an excellent start from RHP Yuhi Sako to claim the series-opening victory against the Aigles (37-38). CF Bryson Parks put New Jersey out in front in the third inning with an RBI double. 1B Miguel Gomez then doubled the Jackal lead three batters later with an RBI single into right field. The score stayed stagnant until the 2B Ryan Ford's leadoff home run in the seventh inning. Gomez added another RBI in the frame to increase the lead to 4-0. C Frank Nigro put the game out of reach in the eighth with an RBI single that made it 5-0. Sako earned the win behind seven shutout innings in which he struck out six while only surrendering three hits. RHP Jesen Therrien took the loss for Trois-Rivières.

The weather-shortened series will conclude on Sunday at 4:35 PM EDT.

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