Michael Crouse Brings the Dogs a Walk-Off Win over Milwaukee Milkmen, 10-9
July 3, 2022 - American Association (AA)
Chicago Dogs News Release
ROSEMONT, Ill. - It was heartbreak last night, and heroics tonight.
It was a belated Canada Day celebration at Impact Field, hosted by none other than Michael Crouse. The center fielder pushed the Dogs to a a walk-off win in 10 innings to top the rival Milwaukee Milkmen, 10-9.
The night was defined by lively offense. One strike away from a victory, Milkmen first baseman Correlle Prime hit a miraculous go-ahead grand slam off of Chicago closer Brian Schlitter. It was a moment of deflation in front of a crowd of over 6,000, but the Dogs never died.
Ryan Lidge led the inning off with a single and both K.C. Hobson and Stevie Wilkerson made it aboard from the benefits of errors. Now sitting down two, bases loaded and no outs, Danny Mars had the game in his hands. On a 1-0 count, Mars swung hard and lined a ball into the right field gap. Lidge and Hobson scored easily and suddenly the Dogs tied the game and were one swing away from victory.
Milwaukee elected to intentionally walk Grant Kay and that brought up Connor Kopach. The shortstop was an integral piece to the offense all night, going 2-for-4 up to that point with a home run and double for three total RBI. Despite the hot bat, Kopach quickly fell behind in the count and eventually struck out on a hard fastball from Karch Kowalczyk.
The same went for Cosimo Cannella. He racked up three hits prior to the ninth, but couldn't catch up to Kowalcyzk's fastball. With a run standing 90 feet away, Charlie Tilson was thrown into the moment. The center fielder attacked early and fouled off three pitches from Kowalcyzk. Once Tilson made fair contact, it was a race between him and Milkmen second baseman Bryan Torres' throw to decide if the night would extend. The slick gloved Torres made clean work of the chopping ground ball and fired to first to just beat out the speedy Tilson.
That out marked the second straight night that these two squads would decide the game in extra innings. Manager Butch Hobson elected to send in righty Joe Cavallaro to face the bottom of Milwaukee's order. Leadoff man Aaron Hill came out with aggressive swings and fouled off two balls from Cavallaro to put the pressure on for an out, but the man on the mound prevailed and got Hill to swing and miss for strike three.
Christ Conley had the entire stadium hold their breath when he launched a ball high into the night sky. Mars tracked it further back and back to the warning track and bumped against the wall as the ball fell into his glove. Will Kengor tagged up from second base and hustled to third, however, which put the go-ahead run at third base with two outs.
With a growing need to tread carefully, Cavallaro stared down the hottest hitter in Milwaukee's lineup: Logan Trowbridge. Trowbridge was only hitting .200 prior to the game and was in the nine-spot, but was 3-for-4 to that point. Cavallaro attempted to paint around the strike zone, but missed on four consecutive pitches to walk Trowbridge and bring up Torres, one of the best hitters in the American Association, up for an opportunity to be a hero.
He wanted to be one too. The All-Star swung at all four pitches delivered to him. He wiffed on the first two, fouled off the third, and on the fourth he popped one up to center field. Almost as karma, Tilson was there to retire Torres and preserve the tie.
The game was back in the hands of the Dogs. The speedy Tilson stood at second base and the hot bat of Michael Crouse stepped into the box. The Canadian earned a home run the day before, but saw his team fall. After taking a ball, Crouse jumped on a pitch in the zone and fired it back up the middle. Tilson rounded third and sprinted for home plate, slid in and made it in moments before the throw came home.
Just like that, the Dogs avenged the late-inning home run and came away with a win to even even up the series at one. The final iteration of this already dramatic saga will be Sunday at 3 p.m., when the Dogs will send out lefty Shane Barringer and look for a series win over their divisional rival.
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