FL River City Rascals

River City Drops Series Opener against Windy City

Published on August 2, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


The River City Rascals dropped the series opener against the Windy City ThunderBolts, 7-2, Tuesday night at Standard Bank Stadium in Midlothian, Illinois. The loss marked the Rascals fourth in a row and are now four games back from the final wild card spot held by the Normal Cornbelters.

On the mound for the Rascals was right-hander Joe Pavlovich and he first got into trouble with runners at the corners and two outs in the opening frame. ThunderBolts shortstop Ransom LaLonde drew a walk to load the bases and then the Eastern Division opponent struck first on a two RBI single from Johnny Eierman to take a 2-0 lead.

Bolts starter Brady Muller retired the side in order in the top of the second and had a 5-0 advantage the next time he took the mound.

Prior to Tuesday night, Pavlovich gave up just five earned runs in 26 2/3 innings as a starter but the run numbers would double after the home half of the second.

Taylor Smart led off the inning with a single and came home to score one pitch later on a double to left field from ninth place hitter Kyle Wood.

Leading 3-0 with one out, Windy City added two more runs on two more hits via a Tim Zier single and a Corey Bass double to gain a 5-0 advantage.

Pavlovich tossed a solid third and fourth inning before having to pitch out of another jam in the fifth, bases loaded with no outs. After a ground out where the Rascals threw out the runner at the plate, Windy City tacked on two more runs via an error to take a 7-0 lead.

Both of the runs in the fifth inning were unearned and Pavlovich finished the game going six innings, allowing seven runs (5 earned) on nine hits but did strike out a career tying seven batters.

Pavlovich lasted one more inning than the Bolts starter, lefty Brady Muller. Leaving in line for a win, Muller tossed five scoreless innings allowing 2 hits and four walks.

Offensively for the Rascals, they got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning with three consecutive two out hits. Jason Merjano extended his hitting streak to five games with a single and came around to score the Rascals first run via a RBI double from Robby Enslen. Johnny Morales followed that with his second hit of the game, a RBI single to bring the Rascals within five, 7-2.

However, those would be the final hits the Rascals recorded the rest of the night as a pair of Bolts relievers retired the side in order in the final two frames to pick up the series opening 7-2 win.

The loss put the Rascals a season low six games under .500 and have dropped seven of their past ten games after opening up the second half of the year winning two out of the first three series.

River City looks to rebound Wednesday night with right-hander Jake Negrete on the mound.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 at Standard Bank Stadium.

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics

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



Frontier League Stories from August 2, 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