MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

With one strike left to work with, QC snatches victory from jaws of defeat

July 25, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


Jarred Bogany may have started slowly on Saturday night, but he came through when it counted and thrilled a boisterous Saturday night crowd with a two-out, game-tying single in the ninth and a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 11th to lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to a 5-4 win over the Great Lakes Loons at Modern Woodmen Park.

Quad Cities (12-15, 42-55) was down to their final strike when Bogany saved the day in the ninth, and the River Bandits improved to 9-3 in extra-inning games while notching their ninth walk-off win of the year. Great Lakes (14-14, 54-44) will seek revenge during the second game of the series on Sunday, a contest that will be followed by the much-anticipated Mega-Candy Drop promotion in which candy will shower down on the field post-game.

The River Bandits trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth when a one-out error left the door open. There were two away when pinch runner Travis Mitchell stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. That is when Bogany - 0-for-3 with three strikeouts up to that point - lined a full-count pitch up the middle to tie the score, 4-4.

Two innings later, Matt Carpenter led off the bottom of the 11th by poking an 0-2 pitch the other way for a single. A free pass put men at first and second before Mitchell popped up a bunt that was caught by third baseman Anthony Hatch - but the infielder's attempt to double up the runner at first sailed high and both runners advanced on the error. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Bogany came to the plate again and lifted a 2-2 pitch deep to right, scoring Carpenter easily for a 5-4 victory on a walk-off sacrifice fly.

That made a winner out of reliever Dave Carpenter (5-3), who kept the Loons without a hit during the two extra innings while the offense rallied. Luis Garcia (5-2) suffered the blown save and the loss, tossing 2.2 frames and allowing two runs, just one of which was earned.

The dramatic finish was fitting given the exciting and back-and-forth innings during regulation.

Jon Edwards started the scoring with a two-run homer in the second, but Great Lakes rallied for a run in the fourth before Kyle Russell - the Midwest League's home run leader - blasted his 23rd of the year in the fifth and gave the Loons a 3-2 advantage with a two-run shot of his own.

Jack Cawley evened the score at 3-3 with his first professional homer, a solo bomb in the fifth. But in the top of the seventh, the speedy Dee Gordon ripped a one-out triple down the right field line and scored one batter later on a groundout.

The Loons' 4-3 lead appeared to be enough until Bogany's late-game heroics brought Quad Cities a thrilling victory.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics



Midwest League Stories from July 25, 2009


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