‘ROADERS WIN RUBBER MATCH IN GARY OFF TEN-RUN NINTH INNING
GARY, INDIANA (July 21, 2022) – For the second straight game, Cleburne trailed heading into the ninth, and in both instances, the Railroaders found a way to prevail. Powered by a ten-run final frame, Cleburne took down the RailCats to win the rubber match of the three-game set on Thursday, July 21 at the U.S. Steel Yard.
Cleburne got out in front early in the top of the first. Edwin Arroyo led off the inning with a walk and would later score on a Chuck Taylor single. Later in the inning, Kacy Clemens drove in Taylor on a deep sacrifice fly to center field to give the Railroaders a 2-0 lead after one.
The RailCats wouldn’t go down without a fight, as Jesus Marriaga cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with a solo shot over the left field wall off Railroaders’ starter Kody Bullard. In the third, Gary SouthShore took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the frame, highlighted by a Jonathan Engelmann two-RBI double.
Zach Nehrir and the Railroaders immediately responded in the fourth when Nehrir hit a ground ball up the middle that scored Nik Sanchez and Taylor to bring the score level at four.
Gary SouthShore landed the next punch, this time off reliever Kevin McCarthy in the bottom of the sixth. Victor Nova hit a bounding ball to first that skipped off the glove of Clemens that drove in Marriaga to make it 5-4. Nova later came into score off a Chris Burgess single to left field that gave Gary a two-run lead at 6-4.
The Railroaders chipped into that lead in the seventh when Clemens lined a single through the hole and into left field to score Chase Simpson.
Danny Zardon and Hunter Cervenka would then pitch scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth respectively to give Cleburne an opportunity to at least tie the game back up in the ninth.
Cleburne did that and much more as they put a ten spot on the board off Gary closer Jared Price. The inning started off with an error by LG Castillo that allowed Taylor to get on base. Nehrir walked and then Simpson singled home Taylor to tie the game at six.
Not content at just a tie, Clemens drove in Simpson with an RBI single, and then Hill Alexander hit a ground ball up the middle into center field that scored another run. After this initial boat of run scoring, the game was 8-6 and the Railroaders were just getting started.
Eddie Hernandez hit the fourth single in a row for Cleburne to drive in Clemens to make it 9-6. That brought Nick Shumpert to the plate with runners on the corners. Shumpert then delivered the knockout blow when he blasted his fifth home run of the season and his second in as many nights over the high left field wall to bring the score to 12-6.
Arroyo and Taylor then singled to put two more runners aboard. With two outs in the inning, Simpson stood to the plate and hit the ‘Roaders' second three-run bomb of the inning, this one over the right field wall to seal the game at 15-6.
Brendan Bell came in to pitch the ninth and threw a scoreless frame to finalize the victory for Cleburne.
As well as the comeback victory, Cleburne was able to rattle off another impressive record. The Railroaders stole 12 bases over the course of the game, shattering the previous record of nine.
The win further solidifies the Railroaders’ place in the fourth spot in the East Division as they now hold a 1.5-game lead over the RailCats.
Cleburne begins a three-game set with the Chicago Dogs on Friday at 7:00 p.m., with pregame coverage starting a 6:45 p.m. on AABaseball.tv and on the Railroader Radio Network.