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Pump Jacks Celebrate Fireworks Friday with Walk-Off

June 16, 2014 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


Friday night was supposed to be different. After all, not only was it Friday the 13th, but it coincided with a full moon. The two won't happen on the same night again until 2049.

Yet the East Texas Pump Jacks didn't bow to superstition. Instead, they did what they seem to always do nowadays: take a home game into extra innings before walking off with the dramatic win.

Friday night, the Acadiana Cane Cutters played the foil, battling into the tenth inning before falling to the Pump Jacks, 2-1. Nick Rabat's one-out single in the tenth scored pinch runner Anthony Gonsolin in a disputed play at the plate to win the game, sending the home crowd into a frenzy before the first fireworks show of the season.

As has been the case lately, it was a pitcher's duel, but one ruled by the Pump Jacks staff. The two teams combined for just 11 hits in ten innings, and the stingy hurlers allowed just one walk.

The East Texas hurlers certainly had the better night, though, striking out 15 Cane Cutters. Starter Jeremy Hallonquist surrendered just three hits and an unearned run in six innings of work, striking out eight. Marshall Kasowski earned the win with four scoreless innings, allowing two hits with seven whiffs.

After four scoreless frames, the Pump Jacks opened up the scoring in the fifth inning. Newcomer Dustin Williams led off with a double, his first hit in a Pump Jacks uniform. Two outs later, Rabat came through with a clutch single that scored Williams for a 1-0 lead.

Acadiana evened the score in the seventh inning by virtue of a leadoff error and a run-scoring double. With the go-ahead run in scoring position, Kasowski struck out the final two batters of the inning to preserve the tie.

The teams remained knotted until the bottom of the tenth inning when a one-out single from Bobby Webb gave the Jacks hope. Drew McLaughlin hit a bouncer that forced Acadiana second baseman to charge for the ball, right into the baseline as Webb raced to second. The ensuing collision was called incidental contact, much to the chagrin of the Cane Cutters staff. Gonsolin came in to run for Webb, and Rabat followed with his heroics for the Pump Jacks third extra-inning, walk-off win in six home games this season.

Rabat was the only player on either team with more than one hit, going 2-for-4 and driving in both Pump Jacks runs. Williams picked up a hit and the only walk of the game.

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