Wingnuts Lose Late Lead as Amarillo Gains Split

Published on September 4, 2015 under American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release


WICHITA, KS - The Wichita Wingnuts owned a 2-0 lead and were four outs away from clinching a share of their fifth straight division championship on Friday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. A Rene Leveret double and two-run home run from Stefan Gartrell with two outs in the eighth inning turned out to be the decisive hits as the Amarillo Thunderheads came back for a 3-2 win.

Wichita (57-40) was the first team to score in a close to the vest pitcher's duel early on. Former Wingnuts' hurler Alex Koronis held them without a run for the first three innings of the contest. That changed in the fourth when John Nester opened the inning with a twisting triple down the right field line. Two batters later, Leo Vargas smashed a ball off the leg of Koronis and through a drawn in defense to plate the catcher and make it 1-0. Vargas, who made it into second with a double on his hit, stole third and scored when Taylor Smart lofted a sacrifice fly into center field.

Wingnuts' right-hander Jon Link made that lead hold up for all six of his innings on the mound. The veteran allowed only two hits while striking out six Thunderheads in his final regular season start. He departed in position for his seventh win of the campaign.

Koronis pitched into the seventh inning, but had to leave in the midst of the second at-bat of the frame with an apparent injury. The 27-year old worked a total of 6.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out seven.

Following Daniel Bennett's scoreless seventh inning, Derek Eitel made his second appearance with Wichita in the eighth. He struck out Jordan Guida to begin the inning and, after a single from Corey Bass, also whiffed Juan Martinez for the second out. Rene Leveret punched a double that one-hopped the fence to put Amarillo (44-53) on the board and move the tying run to second base. Gartrell turned on the first pitch of the following at-bat and hammered it over the left field wall for his 17th home run of the season. The swing put the Thunderheads on top 3-2.

The game entered the final half-inning with the Wingnuts needing one run to tie and two to win. Brent Dean drew a leadoff walk to open the stanza. He quickly stole second and was advanced to third with Harrison Kain's sacrifice bunt. Vargas struck out swinging for the second out, but Smart was hit by a pitch from closer Randy Hamrick (4-3) to put runners on the corners for Nick Van Stratten. The designated hitter fell behind in the count 1-2 before rolling a ball deep in the hole on the right side of the infield. Tyler Urps ranged to his left to make a nice play and end the game.

The Wingnuts ended the game with five hits, none of which came after the fourth inning. Hamrick earned the victory after tossing the final 2.2 innings in relief of Koronis. He struck out five batters.

The final series of the regular season gets underway with a 7:05 p.m. start against the Grand Prairie AirHogs on Saturday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. RHP Tim Brown (9-2) will look for his 10th win of the season in a match-up with the AirHogs RHP Blake Oliver (6-10). For information on season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Wingnuts' main office at (316) 264-NUTS, or visit the Wingnuts' official website at www.wichitawingnuts.com.

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