Rascals Fall 7-5 in Extras
May 18, 2019 - Frontier League (FL) - River City Rascals News Release
O'FALLON, Mo. - The River City Rascals and Gateway Grizzlies played their second consecutive extra-inning game on Saturday night, and this time it was the Grizzlies prevailing 7-5 in 10 innings to even the series 1-1. The game featured a 72-minute rain delay in the fourth inning.
The Rascals opened the scoring on a sacrifice fly from Kameron Esthay in the first inning. The score would remain the same until the game went into the delay with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. When play finally resumed, the Grizzlies struck for four runs in the top of the fifth. Their first run scored on a wild pitch on a strikeout that would have ended the inning. Connor Owings then added a two-run double before Jamey Smart drove in the fourth run with a bases-loaded infield single.
The Rascals responded with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-3. Esthay drove in the first on an RBI double and the second run scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Nolan Meadows. Shawon Dunston Jr. added an insurance run for the Grizzlies with a run-scoring single in the top of the eighth.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Tanner Murphy tied the game with a pinch-hit, two-run double. However, he was later cut down at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch to end the Rascals' threat. The game went to the tenth inning, when the Grizzlies took the lead on a go-ahead RBI double from Andrew Daniel, who later scored himself on a wild pitch. The Rascals had the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame, but Grant Black induced a game-ending double play to earn his third save of the season.
Both starters were knocked out with the delay, with Dalton Roach going four scoreless innings for the Rascals, and Reign Letkeman allowing just an unearned run in 3 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. Geoff Bramblett (1-0) earned the win, going 1 1/3 scoreless innings late in the game. Colton Freeman (0-2) took the loss, allowing the two go-ahead runs in the tenth inning.
The Rascals (5-4) look to take the rubber match over the Grizzlies (5-3) in the series finale tomorrow night at CarShield Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CDT.
• Discuss this story on the Frontier League message board...
Frontier League Stories from May 18, 2019
- Grizzlies Outlast Rascals in 10, Even Series - Gateway Grizzlies
- Rascals Fall 7-5 in Extras - River City Rascals
- Freedom Take Middle Game over Otters - Florence Y'alls
- Otters Can't Overcome Freedom's Big Seventh - Evansville Otters
- Boomers Score Late, Take Game Two - Joliet Slammers
- Boomers Rally Late to Take Down Joliet - Schaumburg Boomers
- Wild Things Fall to Crushers 3-2 in Middle Game - Washington Wild Things
- Miners Shut out ThunderBolts to Take Series - Southern Illinois Miners
- ThunderBolts Shutout in Middle Game at Southern Illinois - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Crushers outlast Wild Things - Lake Erie Crushers
- Avery Makes Magic as Miners Walk off over Windy City - Southern Illinois Miners
- Washington Drops Home Opener to Crushers - Washington Wild Things
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.
Other Recent River City Rascals Stories
- Rascals Go out on Top
- Rascals Fall in Game 4
- Anderson Walks-Off Freedom in Game 3
- Rascals' Rally Falls Short in Game 2
- Rascals Take FLCS Opener