Thunder Salvage Series vs Williamsport
August 29, 2024 - Major League Baseball Draft League (MLBDL)
Trenton Thunder News Release
Your Trenton Thunder, Presented by NJM Insurance Group, earned their 20th win of the second half season in 4-1 fashion over the Williamsport Crosscutters in the series finale. It was a masterclass on the mound for the Thunder arms as the bullpen combined for five innings of two-hit shutout baseball in the win.
The Crosscutters jumped out to an early 1-0 lead for the third straight game, this time in the top of the second inning. Trenton would struggle for the first handful of trips to the plate but found a way to push a pair across in their half of the sixth to take the lead.
Following back-to-back walks to start the inning, Ryan Vogel placed a perfect sacrifice bunt to put two in scoring position with just one out. With the infield in for the Crosscutters, Chase Engelhard hit a cue shot to first that was misplayed and thrown away by Williamsport to score Joaquin Monque for the first run. The hot bat of Jack O'Reilly would continue as he followed Engelhard with an RBI-single to score Ian Battipaglia and give the Thunder the lead.
For O'Reilly it was his league leading 32nd run batted in on the year.
After four solid innings from Jackson Balzan, the Thunder turned to Alec Rodriguez out of the pen who delivered three and a third of no-hit baseball before leaving with one out in the seventh. Rodriguez would take home Hyatt Regency Princeton Thunder Player of the Game honors in the winning effort and improved to 4-3 on the combined season.
In the bottom of the eighth, Trenton got two more insurance runs when Engelhard singled to score Battipaglia from third with one out in the inning. The second run came across off the bat of Andy Blake on a two-out single into center field that scored Engelhard to make it 4-1.
In the ninth the Thunder turned to Ethan Bradford who remained perfect in save opportunities picking up his fourth in the series finale. With the victory the Thunder improve to 20-15 on the year and sit in second place by a half-game behind the West Virginia Black Bears.
Your Thunder welcome the State College Spikes to town for a three-game set beginning Friday night at 7:00. Come out to Trenton Thunder Ballpark Friday August 30th at 7:00 against the State College Spikes for Decades Night and Boomer for the People Bobblehead Giveaway to the first 1,030 fans ages 13+! For tickets and additional information visit trenthonthunder.com/tickets.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Baseball Draft League message board...
Major League Baseball Draft League Stories from August 29, 2024
- West Virginia Sweeps State College with 14-Hit Game - West Virginia Black Bears
- Thunder Salvage Series vs Williamsport - Trenton Thunder
- Keys Take Down Scrappers in Final Regular Season Road Game - Frederick Keys
- Cutters Unable to Complete Sweep - Williamsport Crosscutters
- Twice As Nice! Cutters Down Thunder For Second Straight Win - Williamsport Crosscutters
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.