Charlotte Knights 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 8 (10 innings)
The Knights (65-56) struck first in the second inning. Edgar Quero led off with a double, and Caden Connor drove him in for a quick 1-0 edge. Shane Smith, still lost, flooded the basepaths with traffic in the bottom half and let the RailRiders swipe the lead right back. Jairo Iriarte took over in the third and immediately served up a two-run homer. By the fifth, Tanner McDougal was getting shelled for four unearned runs, and Charlotte was buried, 8-1. Ouch.
Apparently, though, the Knights offense wasn’t interested in going quietly. Charlotte finally came alive with three runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run bomb from Junior Perez and four walks, before erupting for four more tallies in the ninth. Mario Camilletti delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing double, and Andy Weber added an RBI single to complete the surge and knot things at 8-8. Jaden Woods kept the RailRiders off the board in the ninth to send it to extras, where Rikuu Nishida started at second as the ghost runner. Michael Turner moved him to third with a ground out, and Ryan Galanie brought him home with a sacrifice fly for the 9-8 lead. Garrett Schoenle handled the bottom of the 10th, working around a walk to finish off a remarkable comeback win for the Knights.
MVP
Mario Camilletti: 1-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, 2B
MVP Runners-Up
Ryan Galanie: 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, SF
Edgar Quero: 2-for-3, R, 2B, K
Junior Perez: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 K
Andy Weber: 2-for-5, RBI, K, E
Aidan Anderson: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K
Jaden Woods: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K, W
Garrett Schoenle: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, S
Cold Cat
Jairo Iriarte: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Cold Cat Runners-Up
Shane Smith: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Riley Unroe: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 K
Birmingham Barons 4, Chattanooga Lookouts 3 (11 innings)
Samuel Zavala got things started in the third, unloading a solo shot. Then Dylan Campbell knocked a double, and Anthony DePino cashed him in with a base hit for a quick 2-0 edge. Lucas Gordon gave one back in the bottom half, but the Barons (47-68) clung to the lead until Jake Palisch got dinged for a pair in the fifth, putting the Lookouts ahead, 3-2. The bats went quiet until Campbell decided enough was enough, launching a homer in the eighth to tie it up and drag this one into extras.
Neither side could get its ghost runner home in the 10th, but the Barons got the job done in the 11th. Jordan Sprinkle started the inning at second and moved to third on a Colby Shelton ground out before Ryan Burrowes lifted a sacrifice fly to bring him home for the 4-3 lead. Jackson Kelley made things interesting in the bottom half, striking out the first two batters before issuing an intentional walk and another free pass to load the bases. With the tying run 90 feet away, Kelley buckled down and punched out the final hitter to strand the bases loaded and seal the win.
MVP
Dylan Campbell: 3-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, SB
MVP Runners-Up
Anthony DePino: 3-for-4, RBI
Samuel Zavala: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, HR, 2 K
Morris Austin: 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB
Jonathan Clark: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W
Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, S
Cold Cat
Jake Palisch: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, BB, 2 K
Cold Cat Runners-Up
Caleb Bonemer: 0-for-5, K
Alec Briley: 0-for-4, BB, 2 K
James Taussig: 0-for-5, 4 K
Winston-Salem 7, Greenville Drive 4
The Dash (63-51) came out swinging, stacking three singles, a walk and a ground out into a quick 2-0 lead in the second. They picked up a gift in the third, courtesy of a fielding miscue. Then it was George Wolkow’s turn to put on a show. Big George, not content with his 19 dingers, obliterated a two-run shot in the fifth.
He wasn’t done. Wolkow circled the bases again in the seventh with another two-run missile, his fifth homer in his last five games. The man is on a heater.
Grant Umberger was outstanding on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and three walks and striking out three to earn both the win and a quality start. Things got a little shakier once he departed, with Landen Payne surrendering two runs in the seventh and Seth Keener allowing two more, one earned, in the eighth as the lead shrank to 7-4. Jake Curtis took over in the ninth and worked around a hit to earn the save and secure the W.
MVP
George Wolkow: 2-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR
MVP Runners-Up
Grant Umberger: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W
Ely Brown: 2-for-5, RBI, K
Derek Cerda: 1-for-4, RBI 2 K
Jake Curtis: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, K, S
Cold Cat
Landen Payne: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, BB, K
Cold Cat Runners-Up
Seth Keener: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER)
Kaleb Freeman: 0-for-4, K
Jackson Appel: 0-for-3, BB
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4, Fredericksburg Nationals 1
Gabriel Rodriguez started the contest for Kannapolis (61-54) and spun four innings, allowing just two hits. The only real damage was a solo shot in the third, which sat there as the only run on the board. Finally, in the fifth, Efren Teran got the Ballers offense rolling with a leadoff single, took second on a wild pitch and shuffled to third on a ground out. Grayson Fitzwater came through with the equalizer, an RBI single to tie it at 1-1.
The Ballers grabbed the lead an inning later, using a single, ground out, balk and wild pitch to manufacture the go-ahead run. They gave themselves some breathing room in the seventh when Fitzwater struck again, ripping a two-run double to stretch the advantage to 4-1. The pitching staff made sure that was more than enough. Blaine Wynk followed Rodriguez with three scoreless innings to earn the win, while Ryan Schiefer and Jordan Morales each tossed a scoreless frame to close out an all-around excellent night on the hill for Kannapolis.
MVP
Grayson Fitzwater: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, BB, 2B, K
MVP Runners-Up
Steven Lancia: 2-for-5, R, 3 K
Alexander Albertus: 2-for-4, K
Efren Teran: 2-for-3, R, BB
Blaine Wynk: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K, W
Cold Cat
Clay Burdette: 0-for-4, 2 K
Cold Cat Runners-Up
Stiven Flores: 0-for-4, K
DSL Arizona Black 9, DSL White Sox 3
The DSL White Sox (19-36) wrapped up their season with a whimper. They actually jumped ahead 1-0 in the first when Fernando Graterol legged out a triple, and Hector Paulino knocked him in, but that was the last bit of fun. The D-backs answered with six runs across the next three innings, which would give them more than enough offense to grab the victory. Josiel Veras and Diego Natera chipped in RBI doubles to make it 6-3 in the fourth, but this one never got interesting. The bats went silent after that, with just two more singles the rest of the way, while Arizona tacked on three more tallies in the sixth to tag the Sox with the 9-3 loss.
MVP
Hector Paulino: 3-for-4, RBI, 2B
Cold Cat
Jose Taveras: 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R (3 ER), BB, 2 K, L
DSL Blue Jays Blue 7, DSL White Sox 6 (8 innings)
The Sox dug themselves a five-run crater by the fifth, but finally put together a three-run rally capped by Hector Hernandez’s third triple of the year. Suddenly, it was 5-3, and the Jays looked a little less smug. The sixth brought some textbook small ball from the Sox when Orlando Patino singled, Felix Lebron walked, Samuel Luis bunted, Hector Paulino grounded one home, and Fernando Graterol’s bases-loaded walk tied it up. The Sox had a golden chance to jump ahead in the seventh — Ronald Cardozo led off with a triple, but the bats fizzled. Erick Rosso provided the best work of the day from the mound, tossing two scoreless frames with just one hit and two walks allowed while punching out a pair.
The Jays put up a two-spot in the eighth, and the Sox had one last gasp in extras. With Luis as the ghost runner at second, Paulino wore one to put runners at first and second with nobody out. After a strikeout and fly out, Graterol worked a walk to load the bases. Sebastian Romero followed with a hit-by-pitch to plate Luis, but Diego Natera whiffed to end the threat and the game.
MVP
Hector Hernandez: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 3B, CS
Cold Cat
Enmanuel Rodriguez: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, WP