TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Walk-Off Travs to Reclaim Share of First Place

Published on September 4, 2016 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark. - The stage is set for a Labor Day showdown at Arvest Ballpark. Northwest Arkansas' *Mauricio Ramos* delivered a RBI single in the bottom of the tenth as the Naturals (35-34, 64-75) walk-off the Arkansas Travelers (35-34, 67-72) on Sunday night by a 2-1 final. The two teams will meet in the regular season finale on Monday, September 5 at 1:05 p.m. where the winner wins the second half Texas League North Division title and advances to face Springfield in the Division Round.

The tightly contested ballgame remained tied at 1-1 as we headed to the bottom of the tenth. Naturals' right fielder *Logan Moon *began the frame with a single just over the out-stretched glove of Travelers shortstop *Daniel Fletcher*. *Corey Toups*, the next batter, moved Moon to second base with a sacrifice bunt. With *Alfredo Escalera* at the plate, Arkansas' reliever* Eduardo Paredes *uncorked a wild pitch that sent Moon to third. The Travelers elected to walk Escalera to put runners at the corners to setup the double play. Ramos, the Naturals' *August Player of the Month*, has been scorching of late at the plate. He continued his hitting ways by coming through with the clutch, game-winning single to plate Moon and the celebration ensued.

Offense was hard to come by in tonight's game. Northwest Arkansas struck first with a solo home run by Toups in the bottom of the third and then North Little Rock came back to tie it at 1-1 in the sixth with a run-scoring groundout by *Andrew Daniel*.

The pitching however was excellent as both teams used an array of relievers after each starter gave their team a quality outing. *RHP Yender Caramo* of Northwest Arkansas twirled 4.0 scoreless innings and lowered his league leading ERA to 2.45 in the process. Meanwhile, *RHP Alex Blackford* of the Travs fired 6.1 one run innings to go along with a game-high seven strikeouts. The bullpens were stellar for each side as the Naturals' pen fired 6.0 innings of one run baseball while the Travelers' relievers gave up a run in 3.0 innings of work. Paredes (L, 0-3) took the loss while *RHP Mark Peterson (W, 3-2)* earned the win.

Northwest Arkansas will conclude the regular season with the do-or-die series finale against the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) tomorrow afternoon- Monday, September 5 - with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. *Fan Appreciation Weekend presented by Crain Buick GMC of Springdale continues with Unused Ticket Day by Ozarks Electric Cooperative featuring Dollar Hot Dogs by Tyson Foods and Indigo Sky Casino Baseball Bingo*. The Naturals will send hard-throwing *RHP Josh Staumont (1-1, 3.45 ERA)* to the mound while the Travelers will counter with *RHP Alex Klonowski (1-2, 4.12 ERA)* in the season finale. You can catch all the live play-by-play action with the *Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly *on your home for Naturals baseball on KQSM 92.1-FM The Ticket at 12:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on Season Nine of Naturals Baseball as well as the 2017 season.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information, including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Texas League Stories from September 4, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central