MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

QC Stays Scorching Hot

Published on August 9, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Swing of the Quad Cities trailed nearly the entire game on Thursday night at John O'Donnell Stadium, but a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth was capped by a walkoff squeeze play as the Swing stunned the Dayton Dragons for their fourth straight victory with a 6-5 final.

Down 5-2 with just two outs left to work with, the late rally started when Jaime Landin drew his fourth walk of the game. A double by Tony Cruz cut the deficit to two runs and prompted the Dragons to bring in Kevin Gunter out of the bullpen. Steven Hill greeted the reliever with a single to left to put men at first and third, and a bloop-single to left by Christian Reyes plated Cruz while sending pinch-runner Antone DeJesus to third base.

Nick Derba followed with a bouncing ball up the middle that tied the score, caroming off the shortstop's glove to allow pinch-runner Daryl Jones to head to third while Derba snuck into second. An intentional walk subsequently loaded the bases, and on the very next pitch Jose Ramirez bounced a squeeze bunt to the left side of the infield that easily scored Jones for the walkoff, 6-5 winner.

Quad Cities (28-17, 66-48) won for the sixth time in their last seven games and 12th time in their last 16, improving to 18 games over .500 for the first time this year. Dayton (23-23, 67-49) will try to avoid the series sweep on Friday night in a contest that will feature post-game fireworks.

Armando Carrasco (5-2) earned the win for Quad Cities, wiggling out of trouble with a pair of double plays to toss two scoreless frames. The loss went to Gunter (0-2), who faced five batters in the ninth without recording an out.

Early on, Swing starter Clayton Mortensen was cruising into the second inning when a two-pitch sequence ended his night in a flash. After he set down the first four batters he faced, Drew Stubbs drove a 2-2 pitch the other way that cleared the fence for a solo homer. The next offering sailed behind Jason Louwsma and caught a piece of his jersey, prompting home plate umpire Philip Henry to immediately eject Mortensen. Though the Swing argued that the ball had simply gotten away from their starter, Mortensen was out of the ballgame and Quad Cities fell behind, 1-0.

Chuckie Fick came out of the bullpen to relieve Mortensen, but after the first six batters he faced went down in order, the Dragons added to their lead thanks to a two-out rally in the top of the third. Logan Parker battled to a full count before swatting the 10th pitch of the sequence out of the yard to right-center, and one pitch later Stubbs reached base on a throwing error by shortstop Oliver Marmol. After Louwsma singled and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Carson Kainer lined a base hit to left that plated both runners for a 4-0 Dayton lead.

Quad Cities got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, chasing Dragons' starter Travis Webb from the game while cutting the lead in half. Jose Garcia and Marmol each singled with one out and Landin walked to load the bases. Cruz followed with a bouncing ball through the right side that scored two runs.

But while the Swing pulled to within 4-2, reliever Marcos Mateo came in and struck out two in a row to get out of the inning. Dayton added a run in the seventh to take a 5-2 lead before Quad Cities stormed back in the ninth.

TICKETS: Tickets for all events at John O'Donnell Stadium can be purchased by calling the Swing of the Quad Cities ticket office at (563) 328-2000, coming to the box office located at the stadium along South Gaines Street, or by logging on to www.swingbaseball.com.

UP NEXT: The Swing are in the midst of a 10-game homestand that kicks off an action-packed month of August at John O'Donnell Stadium! All Swing games feature a radio broadcast that can be heard on WKBF AM-1270 or online at www.swingbaseball.com, with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to scheduled first pitch.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: Friday's game will feature post-game FIREWORKS before a Boy Scout sleepover. The weekend's promotions begin with a busy Saturday featuring Autographed Baseball Night, an appearance by Rally the Mascot on Credit Union for Kids Night, and FIREWORKS!!! A U.S. Bank Family Sunday is also New Choices, Inc. Day, featuring a backpack giveaway. The new week begins with MidwestOne "Pay Your Bill" Night on a Kids Eat Free Monday and continues on Tuesday with the Family 4-Pack promotion. After an off-day on Wednesday, Ladies Night will take place on a Bent River Brewing Company Thirsty Thursday, featuring Rock 104.9's Dave and Darren. The homestand then concludes with the QC-Times Diamond Dig on a FIREWORKS Friday!!!

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

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



Midwest League Stories from August 9, 2007


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