It was a very busy Friday night in the Frontier League, as three doubleheaders took place and ten total games were played. Catch up on all the action you may have missed across the league:
The Tri-City ValleyCats split their doubleheader with Équipe Québec. In game one, a continuation of the suspended game from Sunday, July 18, the ValleyCats secured the 3-1 win. Luis Roman hit a two-run home run in the second. A Jesse Hodges solo home run for the visitors made it 2-1 before Tri-City’s Chris Kwitzer added a solo shot to make the final score 3-1. Parker Kelly allowed just one earned run on three hits for the win. Trey Cochran-Gill earned his 14th save to tie the club’s single season and all-time record for saves set by Blake Ford in 2014. In game two, Québec took the 5-3 win. The scoring began in the first on an RBI single from Connor Panas that scored two. After an L.P. Pelletier solo home run in the third, Willy Garcia hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to get Tri-City on the board. Jeffry Parra hit a two-run home run for Québec in the sixth, but Juan Silverio singled home a run, keeping it a three-run deficit at 5-2. The ValleyCats added one more in the seventh after Brad Zunica scored on an error.
The New York Boulders and Washington Wild Things also split their doubleheader. The Wild Things took the opening game 6-3. New York took an early 2-0 lead after a first inning home run by Zach Kirtley. Washington responded with a solo home run by Joe Campagna in the third and a double from Andrew Czech to take the 3-2 lead. The Boulders tied it up in the bottom half when Kevonte Mitchell walked with the bases loaded. In the sixth, Hector Roa broke the tie with a two-run home run, and an insurance run scored in the seventh on a double steal that plated Czech for the 6-3 win. The Boulders took game two by a 2-1 final score. Washington scored first in the first inning when Scotty Dubrule plated a run with a groundout. In the sixth, the Boulders tied it when Phil Caulfield scored on a wild pick off attempt. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ray Hernandez lined his 15th home run of the year to give the Boulders the 2-1 win and the split. Danny Wirchansky struck out six over 6.2 innings and allowed zero earned runs despite receiving the no-decision.
In the third doubleheader of the day the New Jersey Jackals took both games from the Sussex County Miners. Game one finished 6-1 Jackals. They scored first in the third when a two-run single by Santiago Chirino made it 2-0, and a Russ Olive single scored Chirino to make it 3-0. Stanley Espinal followed in the fourth by doubling home a run and Riley Mihalik single him home to extend the lead to five. Chuck Taylor plated the lone run for the Miners in the eighth on an RBI groundout. Russ Olive doubled home the sixth and final run for the Jackals in the ninth. Dylan Brammer earned the win with five scoreless innings of relief and allowed just one hit. Game two finished 7-5 New Jersey. The Miners scored the first runs in the bottom of the first, with a Juan Kelly sacrifice fly and wild pitch scoring Chuck Taylor. In the second, Stanley Espinal hit an RBI double for the Jackals before Josh Rehwaldt hit a three-run home run to give them the 4-2 lead. The Miners answered in the bottom of the second and took a one-run lead after a pair of bases-loaded walks and a sacrifice fly from Kaleo Johnson. The Jackals fought back in front in the third after Russ Olive’s two-run home run and Milton Ramos’ sacrifice fly. Both teams were held scoreless after the third and Sussex County was held to just one hit despite scoring five runs in the game.
The Schaumburg Boomers beat the Lake Erie Crushers 8-2. The Crushers took the early lead when Connor Oliver blasted a home run in the third to put them ahead. Javier Betancourt added an RBI to make it 2-0 and put a cap on the Crushers scoring. It was all Boomers from there. In the fifth inning, Matt McGarry’s RBI double got Schaumburg on the board and Matt Bottcher’s solo home run tied the game. Alberto Schmidt gave them the lead with an RBI single before Clint Hardy knocked in a run in the seventh and Alec Craig launched a three-run home run. Chase Dawson’s RBI double in the eighth concluded the scoring for the Boomers. Ryan Middendorf struck out five and allowed two runs in seven innings for the win.
The Gateway Grizzlies tallied nine runs exclusively from home runs to beat the Evansville Otters 9-7. The Otters went ahead in the second on a Jose Pujols sacrifice fly, but the Grizzlies answered quickly with a Jordan Rathbone three-run home run—his first professional home run. In the third, Evansville gained the lead once again after Riley Krane hit a grand slam and made it 5-3. In the bottom half, Jose Rosario connected on a three-run home run that made it 6-5 Grizzlies. Then in the fourth, Dustin Woodcock hit a two-run shot that made it 8-5 Gateway. Evansville chipped away at the lead, with Elijah MacNamee scoring on a double play, and Andrew Penner scoring on an error in the sixth to make it 8-7. Woodcock hit a solo shot—his second home run of the game—in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach and secure the 9-7 win for the Grizzlies.
In the opener of their three-game set, the Florence Y’alls defeated the Joliet Slammers 4-2. Florence scored in the first on an RBI single by Trevor Craport before Joliet tied it in the third on an RBI hit by J.P. Fullerton—his first professional hit. Chad Sedio broke the tie in the bottom of the third with an RBI groundout to make it 2-1, but the Slammers tied it again in the fifth when Braxton Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk. Rodney Tennie gave the Y’alls the lead for good in the sixth inning, picking up an RBI on a fielder’s choice and later hitting an RBI single in the eighth to give the Y’alls the 4-2 victory. Johnathon Tripp struck out eight in six innings, allowing just two earned runs in the win.
The Windy City ThunderBolts held the Southern Illinois Miners to just three hits in a 4-0 victory for Windy City. They opened the scoring in the first inning on a solo home run by Rob Calabrese to take a 1-0 advantage. Runs scored in the fourth and fifth on an error by Anthony Brocato and an RBI single by Brynn Martinez that made it 3-0. The last insurance run came in the seventh on an RBI single by Zac Taylor. Starter Miguel Ausua struck out seven over six shutout innings in the win.
A bit of a slow-down on Saturday, as just eight games will be played with one doubleheader. You can watch every game LIVE at FrontierLeagueTV.com or in the Frontier League app! For two more days, you can use the promo code “July2021” to receive 50% off your first month of a new monthly subscription!
