FL River City Rascals

Rascals Hang On to Win Game Two 3-2

Published on July 2, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


In game two of the three-game series in Traverse City, following a victory in game one, River City sent rookie starter Ben Bracewell to the mound for his second professional start. In the top of the first, the River City offense was silent as they were held scoreless in their first trip to the plate. Bracewell would then match Phillips in the bottom of the first by throwing an efficient one-two-three inning, sending the game into the second scoreless at Weurfel Park.

The Rascals almost got something going in the top of the second as they put runners on the corners before second-baseman Hector Crespo flew-out to rightfield to end threat and send the game scoreless into the bottom of the second. The pitchers duel would then continue into the bottom of the inning as Bracewell threw a second consecutive one-two-three inning-including two strikeouts-to send the game still scoreless into the third.

After Bracewell threw his second one-two-three inning of the game, Phillips decided to join the party by throwing his own one-two-three inning to start the third. Even though Phillips looked great through three, Bracewell always seemed to one-up him, as he threw a third consecutive one-two-three inning in the bottom of the third-upping his strikeout total to four through three innings.

River City would finally break into the hit column in the fourth on a one-out double by Taylor Ard, but unfortunately they wouldn't be able to capitalize on it as Curran Redal flew-out to end the inning-keeping the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth in Traverse City. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Traverse City would get its first base-knock of the game via a leadoff single by Greg Harisis. However, Bracewell's dominance continued, as he would retire the next three batters to escape the jam without allowing a run. The score then remained scoreless heading into the fifth.

The pitchers duel was then kept going in the top of the fifth as Phillips once again held the River City offense scoreless before Bracewell took the bump in the bottom of the inning and escaped a jam-runners on the corners with two-outs-for the second inning in a row; which was more than enough to keep the game tied at zero heading into the sixth.

The game would finally see its first run in the top of the sixth as River City pushed a runner across the plate on a sacrifice-fly by designated hitter Zach Kometani-making it 1-0 Rascals heading into the bottom of the sixth at Weurfel Park. Bracewell would then take the lead and run with it by throwing his fourth one-two-three inning of the game and keeping the shutout alive through six in Traverse City.

The Rascals would follow suit by adding two insurance runs in the top of the seventh courtesy of a two-run double by shortstop Bryan Aanderud-thus making the score 3-0 River City heading into the bottom of the seventh, where Bracewell would retake the mound and unfortunately lose the shutout on RBI base-knocks by Sean Gusrang and Kevin Taylor to make it a one-run game-3-2-heading into the eighth. Bracewell's night came to a close in the bottom of the seventh as he managed to make it through six-and-a-third innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth, River City held a 3-2 lead with three outs to go. After a lead-off walk issued by lefty Patrick Crider, Brook called in his closer, Gabriel Shaw, from the bullpen. Shaw was able to come in and retire three straight batters to get his 11th save of 2014 and lock down the 25th win of the season for River City. Ben Bracewell therefore earned his first professional win with the loss going to his left-handed counterpart Alex Phillips. Game three coverage starts tomorrow night with the Rascals Pregame Show at 5:40pm CT as Ethan Carter and the Rascals go for a sweep in Traverse City!

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