GreyWolves Rally Late, Win Fifth Straight
July 11, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL)
Gresham GreyWolves News Release
WENATCHEE, WA. - For a while on Sunday night, it looked as if the Gresham GreyWolves magical start to the second half of West Coast League play would be halted by the Wenatchee AppleSox.
It looked that way when Gresham stranded the tying run in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings, and it looked that way when the GreyWolves trailed 3-1 heading into the top of the eighth. But as fate would have it, Justin Barchus' team wasn't ready for their streak to die just yet.
Thanks to a defensive error in the eighth and an RBI single off the bat of UC Santa Barbara product Josh Adams in the ninth, Gresham (5-0, 16-16 overall) rallied for a pair of huge runs to tie the game at 3-3. The club then won the game after 11 innings, using a sacrifice fly from Ryan Smith (Southern Illinois) to come out on the right side of a 4-3 decision.
It was Adams and the GreyWolves that drew first blood some three hours earlier on Sunday evening, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the second frame after Adams drove in Konnor Zickefoose with a run-scoring single.
Wenatchee (0-5, 10-22) then answered back with two runs in the home half of the third and one in the fifth off of starter Aaron Shoup (7 IP, 0 ER), staking its pitching staff to a 3-1 lead in the process. That appeared to be enough until Gresham staged another late-game rally - something the new franchise is becoming known for in its first year of play.
Trailing 3-2, Dixie State first baseman Ryan Rodriguez got that rally started with a one-out single in the top half of the ninth. Rodriguez eventually came around to score the game's tying run after a few tense at-bats, with Adams getting the job done via an RBI single.
The game remained tied until the 11th, when Rodriguez led off the second (and ultimately final) extra inning with the team's second triple in as many frames. Smith then stepped up to the plate and put his team up for good with a sacrifice fly to right field that was plenty deep enough to score Rodriguez from third.
Reliever Michael Clark entered the game in the bottom half of the inning, promptly shutting the door on the AppleSox to pick up his second save of the season. Right-hander Brett Gannaway (1-1) earned the win for the GreyWolves after throwing three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, while UC Irvine product Dylan Riddle (0-3) took the loss for Wenatchee.
Gresham's winning streak now stands at five, and the team will have a chance to come home with a perfect road trip if it can beat the AppleSox one last time on Monday. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Paul Thomas Field. -- Connor Pelton Media Relations - Gresham GreyWolves Co-Managing Editor - House of Sparky Cell: 503-998-7686
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