FL River City Rascals

Quality Pitching And A Strong Fifth Inning Gives Rascals A Win

Published on June 18, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


A bases clearing triple from Mike Jurgella highlighted a six run inning and the Rascals rode a solid pitching performance to defeat the Evansville Otters, 7-3 Friday night at Bosse Field. The solid pitching was backed up by stellar defense and it showed early as the Rascals turned a pair of double plays in the first two frames to help set the tone for Rascals starter Joe Scanio.

The Otters first chance to score came in the second as Julio Rodriguez got to third after a three base error with one out. Jeff Gardner took a ball out to left and what could have been a sacrifice fly, Kyle Gaedele turned it into a double play with an excellent throw to the plate to retire Rodriguez and the game remained scoreless heading to the third.

The Rascals were unable to capitalize with a Robby Enslen triple in the third and then Scanio had a good third inning striking out a pair. That would be the final inning that there were no runs on the scoreboard and the Otters struck first with a RBI single from Rodriguez.

The Otters wouldn't hold the lead for long as the Rascals slugged their way through the top of the fifth inning off of Max Duval, who was 4-0 prior to the start.

With one out, Robby Enslen gave the Rascals their first baserunner via a walk and then Jason Merjano singled and got Enslen into scoring position for Johnny Morales. Morales tied the game up with a hit and run single to score Enslen and then Kyle Gaedele loaded the bases on a walk, his first of three on the night.

The Rascals would take the lead two pitches later with an RBI single from Alexi Colon and then with the bases still loaded, Mike Jurgella slugged a bases clearing triple for a 5-2 lead and the Rascals would hold a multi-run lead the remainder of the contest.

"I knew what they were trying to attack me with and I was just focusing on getting runs in any way possible. The ball found my barrel and it was a good result," Jurgella said. "When you are able to help contribute to a win it feels good."

"It was a huge inning and it works out very well when you have guys who can hit and run and do things right. The big knock after that was huge and I'm happy for him that he was able to get a big hit against his old team," manager Steve Brook said.

Griff Gordon gave the Rascals more insurance with a sacrifice fly and then Johnny Morales scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to round out the seven run, seven hit night.

Scanio took the six run lead into the stretch and tossed a good seventh inning to mark his longest outing of the year. Prior to the start, Scanio had gone 6 2/3 innings twice but never a complete seven.

"When your team puts up a huge inning and gives you a big lead it is a lot fun," Scanio said.

He would be pulled in the eighth with no outs and two runners on, which both came home to score as Jared Wilson failed to strand them to make the game 7-3.

The second year Rascal finished allowing three earned runs on nine hits in seven innings and picked up a quality start to go along with a team leading third win. The righty also struck out four and now has 25 strikeouts compared to just four walks.

"I made a lot of adjustments tonight from the last time I faced them, especially with my sinker and slider," Scanio said. "My slider against lefties was on tonight and I was able to get some big strikeouts on their big left-handed hitters."

Michael Gunn and Zac Treece combined to finish out the contest and helped put the Rascals just one game back of the first place Southern Illinois Miners. Gunn struck out two and Zac Treece struck out the side to give him a team leading 34 strikeouts on the year.

The series continues tomorrow night as a double header is slated to begin at 5:35. Zeb Sneed will be on the mound for game one and Joe Pavlovich for game two as the Rascals finish out their six game road trip.

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics

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



Frontier League Stories from June 18, 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