Rally Falls Short, Aviators Fall 6-5
May 17, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Rockford Aviators News Release
LOVES PARK, IL - It was a game of rallies for the Rockford Aviators (0-2), presented by Pearson, but unfortunately, the boys in orange couldn't quite take the lead away from the River City Rascals (2-0).
Kyle Brueggemann (0-1) took the mound for his first start in an Aviators uniform, but never got dialed in. The righty retired the first three batters of the night, but in the second inning, things got a little dicey.
In the top of the second, Rascals first baseman, Saxon Butler lead off the inning with the first of his two home runs with a blast over the right field wall. The Rascals followed up with back to back doubles when two batters later, Curran Redal doubled with two outs and was immediately driven in by an RBI double from catcher Josh Ludy.
The Rascals put up two more runs in the third when Taylor Ard singled with two outs, stole second, and then was driven in by Butler's second bomb of the night.
The Aviators never quit fighting, however, as the bats came alive and the team pushed three runs across to cut the Rascals' lead to 4-3.
Tanner Witt reached first after being hit in the shoulder and then two batters later, Jose Martinez slapped an RBI single to left-center field, bringing Witt all the way home from first. Martinez didn't waste any time coming around to score as Edgar Corcino sent a ball to the outfield wall for a stand-up RBI triple. Kenny Bryant, who went 3-5 on the night came to the plate to drive in Corcino with an RBI single up the middle.
The Rascals responded with another two runs in the top of the fourth inning when Ludy doubled again, Hector Crespo drew a walk, and Eric Williams sent a fly ball into center field that was dropped by Corcino and allowed Ludy and Crespo to score to make the score 6-3.
Once again, the Aviators rallied back by scoring one run in the bottom half of the fourth when Witt sent an RBI single into center field, bringing in Kyle Dhanani to score and cut the Rascals' lead to 6-4.
The Aviators scored again in the bottom of the sixth inning when, with the bases loaded, Martinez sent a sacrifice fly deep into left field to score Danny Gonzalez from third to cut the lead down to just one, 6-5.
Relief pitcher, Logan Odom, entered the game in relief to start the eighth inning and walked two batters and gave up a hit to load the bases, but was able to get out of the jam when Dhanani threw out the runner at home on a force out to get the second out and Odom froze Ard to retire the side.
It all came down to the final inning for the Aviators who had already loaded the bases twice in the game. Martinez singled to left field after Jeff Kremer sent a fly ball to the warning track to lead off the inning. Corcino flied out to center and with two outs on the board in the bottom of the ninth, things got interesting.
Bryant then doubled to put runners the winning run on second and the tying run just 90 feet from home. Wander Ramos was intentionally walked to load the bases as Gabriel Shaw wanted to face Dhanani to pick up his second save of the season. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and two outs on the scoreboard, Shaw retired Dhanani on strikes and escaped with a save and a Rascals win.
The Aviators are back in action tomorrow night to wrap up the Opening Weekend series with River City. It will be YMCA Family Day and all kids twelve years old and younger will receive admission for just $2. There will be extra inflatable games, the kids will be able to play catch on the field prior to the game, and they will be able to run the bases after the game. Members of the Rocko's Kids Club will receive free admission, as they do every Sunday home game this season. For more information on how to sign up for Rocko's Kids Club, visit www.rockfordaviators.com or call the office at 815-885-2255.
Rock River Valley Baseball, LLC 4503 Interstate Boulevard, Loves Park, IL 611111 Phone: (815) 885-2255 Fax: (815) 885-2204 Web: www.rockfordaviators.com.
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