Sioux City Finds the Edge in Instant West Division Classic
July 18, 2025 - American Association (AA)
Sioux City Explorers News Release
SIOUX CITY, Iowa- The Sioux City Explorers (41-22) edged out the Sioux Falls Canaries (36-26) in a 1-0 extra-inning thriller at Lewis and Clark Park. In a battle defined by dominant pitching and late-inning drama, the X's found just enough to walk it off.
The first nine frames saw the starting southpaws Austin Drury and Tanner Brown trading zeros.
The Explorers had a chance to score with two outs in the first inning after Zac Vooletich's two-out single. Brown balked him to second, and the speedster turned around and stole third, but Josh Day struck out, stranding him there.
Sioux Falls put two on in the second, but Drury navigated around it. The only Canary to hit safely over the opening eight was Calvin Estrada, who started the fourth with a single to center, but his offense stranded him there.
Jabari Henry led off the top of the ninth with a single for the Canaries but was quickly erased two pitches later on a double play. Drury held Sioux Falls scoreless in regulation, but his offense had to score just once to finish the fight.
Will Levine took over for Sioux Falls in the ninth and sent the game to extra innings. For the first time in the 32-year history of the Sioux City Explorers, a game was tied 0-0 after nine innings.
Steve Montgomery elected to bring in Brett Matthews (1-1) in the tenth inning as Mike Hart began the frame at second base. The righty may have earned a high-leverage spot as he shoved a scoreless frame, giving Sioux City another chance to walk it off in the bottom of the frame.
Sioux Falls manager Mike Meyer turned to rookie right-hander Cole LaLonde (2-2) to open the tenth inning as Josh Day took his rightful place as the zombie runner at second. The X's loaded the bases with one out in the inning, and with Nick Shumpert at the plate, LaLonde's pitch headed for the backstop, allowing Josh Day to score and send the Sioux City faithful home happy.
With the victory and Kansas City's loss to Fargo-Moorhead, the Explorers are now a season-high three games up in first place in the West Division.
The Explorers continue their final series before the All-Star Break on Saturday night July 19 against the Sioux Falls Canaries at 6:05 p.m. The gates will open at 5:00 p.m. The pitching matchup will feature LHP Jared Wetherbee (8-1, 2.33) going for Sioux City while Sioux Falls will turn to LHP Thomas Dorminy (7-0, 2.91) in game two. The weekend series concludes on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. the final game before the All-Star Break. The game can be heard on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM and the video stream will air on aabaseball.tv. Tickets for all Explorers games are available at the ticket office or going online at xsbaseball.com. For more information, please call the Explorers' front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers' social media channels and the club's website, xsbaseball.com, for all our news and updates.
Notes from the Booth with DV:
-Sioux City is 19-10 at home.
-The Explorers are 19 games above .500 for the first time since June 27, 2018, in a 9-2 win at St. Paul.
-Austin Drury tossed his eighth quality start.
-Sioux City tossed their 34th quality start.
-The Explorers have a league best 41-22 record and lead Kansas City by three games.
-Sioux City is the first team to 41 wins.
-Henry George reached base for the 16th straight game.
-The X's are 5-3 in extra innings this season.
-Sioux City is a league best 15-6 in one run games.
-The Explorers tossed their nine shut out of the season, another league leading total.
-Tonight was the eighth walk off win for Sioux City.
TUNE INTO ALL THE EXPLORERS ACTION ON KSCJ AND AABASEBALL.TV
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