Jones' Four-Hit Day Not Quite Enough in Opener
Published on July 17, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Evansville Otters (33-23) dropped the series opener to kick off the Frontier League's second half of the season against the Windy City ThunderBolts (29-27) on Friday night, 8-7.
Colby Morse made his professional debut with the Otters on the mound, getting the start against Windy City's Tyler Biddinger.
Windy City opened the scoring early, bringing two across in the first inning.
After the Otters got on the board on an RBI groundout by J.J. Cruz, the 'Bolts got their two-run lead back with one in the fifth inning.
Evansville would tie the game in the bottom half on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. They would then take their only lead of the night in the sixth after an RBI triple by T.J. Salvaggio, the third triple of the season from the Otters.
The score held at 4-3 until the eighth inning, when a Windy City grand slam put the 'Bolts up by three.
The Otters would come back again in the bottom half of the eighth. The first four would reach to start the frame and three of them would score, highlighted by Amani Jones' RBI single with two outs to tie the game back up at seven.
The tie couldn't hold long enough as one run in the ninth gave the ThunderBolts the lead before they closed out the game in the bottom half.
Jones hit the ground running after participating in the 2026 Frontier League All-Star Game this week, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Logan Brown also had a multi-hit performance, with a 2-for-4 line.
Evansville will try to even the series against the ThunderBolts at 6:35 p.m. CT at EVSC's Historic Bosse Field.
All games can be heard on 96.9 WYIR and the Otters Digital Network and can be viewed live on the Frontier League Network on HTN.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
The Otters play all home games at EVSC's Historic Bosse Field, located at 23 Don Mattingly Way in Evansville, Ind. Stay up to date with the Evansville Otters by visiting evansvilleotters.com, or follow the Otters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call (812) 435-8686.
Frontier League Stories from July 17, 2026
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