MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Wick Homers Chiefs to 14-Inning Win

Published on August 12, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


BURLINGTON, IA- The Peoria Chiefs scored early, tied the Burlington Bees in the ninth and won 4-2 on a Rowan Wick home run in the top of the 14th inning Tuesday night in the first game of a six-game road trip. The Chiefs are now 26-24 in the second half and 63-56 overall, two games out of a playoff spot with 20 games left in the season.

The Chiefs wasted no time in taking the lead against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's 2014 first-round draft pick Sean Newcomb. Vaughn Bryan led off the game with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by C.J. McElroy Jr. Juan Herrera doubled home Bryan for a 1-0 early lead but he was left at second as the inning ended.

Chiefs starter Alex Reyes cruised through six innings in his first outing since July 29. A double play in the first settled him down and he ended the frame with a strikeout. The 19-year-old struck out at least two Bees over each of the next four innings and at one point recorded six straight outs via the strikeout. He finished the fifth inning with his 10th strikeout of the game and a 1-2-3 sixth inning was punctuated by his 11th strikeout to tie a career high.

The Chiefs missed out an a chance to extend the lead in the top of the sixth as Bryan doubled of Grant Gordon and moved to third on a bunt single by McElroy. Bryan was out at the plate on a fielders' choice to third off the bat of Herrera. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch but Burlington escaped the inning as Justin Ringo flew out to right and Ranyelmy Mendoza threw out McElroy at the plate for a 9-2 double play.

Peoria still led 1-0 into the eighth as Zach Loraine took over on the mound. Erick Salcedo walked and Bo Way singled to put two on. After consecutive outs, Eric Aguilera drew a walk to load the bases and Michael Fish singled to right-center for a 2-1 Bees lead.

McElroy led off the ninth with a walk against Cole Swanson and Alan Busenitz took over for the Bees. McElroy moved to second on a groundout and scored when Ringo singled to right-center to tie the game 2-2. Both teams had chances in extra-innings but neither team could break through until the 14th.

Ringo led off the 14th with an opposite field double against Ronnie Muck and with one out Wick launched his fourth Chiefs homer over the 20-foot-high wall in right field. Kyle Barraclough came on for Jhonny Polanco in the bottom of the inning and a single and two errors but runners on the corners with one out and the Chiefs up 4-2. A walk loaded the bases before Barraclough struck out Way and Eaves flew out to left to end the game.

Reyes tied a career high with 11 strikeouts over six shutout innings with three singles allowed and two walks in the no-decision. Blake McKnight threw one shutout inning with a walk allowed and a strikeout. Loraine allowed two runs on two hits and two walks over one inning while striking out two. Robert Stock threw four shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk issued and four strikeouts. Polanco (4-1) earned the win and struck out all three batters faced. Barraclough allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts in one inning to earn his fifth save of the season.

Notes: The 23 strikeouts are believed to be a Chiefs single-game franchise record, eclipsing the 20 batters struck out against Kane County over 13 innings on May 23, 2013The Chiefs are now 10-5 in extra inning games this seasonThe 10 wins are tied for the second most in team history with the 1994 team winning 11The Wick home run was his fourth with the Chiefs and 18th overall this seasonHis first three Chiefs homers were 3-run shotsThe last Chiefs extra-inning home run was also at Community Field when Luis Perez hit a 2-run homer July 13 in the 12th inningThe Chiefs are 3-0 against Burlington in extra inningsReyes struck out 11 last season with Johnson CityHis 11 strikeouts are the most for any Chiefs pitcher since Cory Jones struck out 12 on July 22, 2013Barraclough has saved each of the last three Chiefs winsThe game was the longest innings sise since the Chiefs lost 5-4 at Wisconsin in 15 innings on August 15, 2013Stock has thrown four innings in consecutive outingsCarson Kelly DH'd for the first time since July 9 which is also the last time he and Steve Bean were both in the lineup on the same nightBryan and Ringo both had three hitsRingo is 15-for-41 (.366) against the Bees this seasonBusenitz has three blown saves against the Chiefs this seasonThe series continues Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. as Peoria starts LH Chase Brookshire (3-6, 3.90) against Bees RH Harrison Cooney (8-6, 2.44)The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:15 p.m., on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android. The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App.

Check out the Peoria Chiefs Statistics

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



Midwest League Stories from August 12, 2014


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