LATE ERROR COSTS RAILROADERS IN 10-8 LOSS TO RAILCATS
CLEBURNE, TEXAS (July 26, 2022) – The Railroaders brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in the form of Kacy Clemens but were unable to cash in as the RailCats took game one of the six-game series at The Depot in Cleburne Station by a final score of 10-8 on a hot and dry Tuesday evening on July 26.
Gary SouthShore got on the board first in the top of the inaugural frame off Railroaders’ starter Kevin Hilton. Michael Woodworth reached with a one-out triple and came home to score on a double-steal that was brilliantly executed by the RailCats to quickly capture a 1-0 lead.
Chase Simpson and Cleburne, however, weren’t satisfied with that deficit, as Simpson turned on a 1-1 pitch on the inside corner and drove it over the wall in right field to score him and Zach Nehrir to give Cleburne their only lead of the night at 2-1.
The top of the second saw Gary SouthShore recapture the advantage after a Sam Abbott three-run home run to give the RailCats a two-run lead at 4-2.
There wouldn’t be any more scoring until the top of the fourth when Thomas Walraven hit a moon shot over the left field wall off Hilton to add on to the cushion for Gary SouthShore to bring it to 5-2.
Cleburne was able to cut into that 5-2 score with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Hector Sanchez led off the inning with a double that ate up Nate Scantlin in center field. The error enabled Sanchez to scamper over to third, where he would later come in to score off an RBI single off the bat of Nick Shumpert. The score was now 5-3.
Gary SouthShore promptly responded with another run in the top of the sixth when Walraven launched his second home run of the night and the third of the evening off Hilton to give the RailCats their three-run lead back.
The back-and-forth continued in the bottom of that frame when Clemens grounded out to Jack Eisenbarger on the mound to bring home Chuck Taylor to bring it back to a two-run game.
Josh Lucas came in to pitch in the seventh for the Railroaders and gave up two runs. He hit Scantlin who then scored on Woodworth’s second triple of the game to make it 7-4. He then came home on a Victor Nova single to left field to make it 8-4.
The Railroaders did not back down, however, and continued to put up good at-bats and get runs home. In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Shumpert to cut into the lead a bit. With the score at 8-5 after the end of the seventh, the Railroaders and manager Logan Watkins turned the ball over to their best reliever to date, Hunter Cervenka.
Cervenka retired the first two batters he faced before walking both Abbott and Chris Burgess to put runners on first and second with two away. Jackson Smith then came to the plate and hit a ground ball to Simpson who let the ball trickle under his glove and into right field. The error scored both Abbott and Burgess to give Gary some more insurance and a five-run lead.
That brought things to the bottom of the ninth, where the RailCats brought in Jared Price to attempt to shut things down. Price, who has not been able to solve the Cleburne Railroaders this season, struggled against the team from the Lone Star State once again. He walked Eddie Hernandez to lead off the inning. After forcing Shumpert to ground out and advance Hernandez to second, Edwin Arroyo laced a grounder into left field for a double that brought Hernandez home to bring the score to 10-6. Taylor then singled home Arroyo to make it 10-7. That brought Nehrir to the dish and he lined one into right field to put runners at the corners with just one away.
The RailCats had seen enough, as Price was pulled, and Yeison Medina was brought in to shut things down. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Simpson that scored Taylor. With the tying run at the plate in the form of Clemens, Medina buckled down and got the University of Texas alum to end the ball game and get the victory.
Hilton was handed the loss for the Railroaders. He went six innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits while walking two and striking out five. Edward Cuello picked up his second win of the year for Gary. He went an impressive five innings, only giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and four strikeouts.
The loss for Cleburne makes the game tomorrow ever important as Gary SouthShore now sits just half a game out of fourth place in the East Division.
Cleburne continues the six-game set tomorrow with game two against the RailCats from The Depot at Cleburne Station at 7:06 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. on AABaseball.tv and the Railroader Radio Network.