Sermo’s Blast Downs Railroaders

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Aug. 14, 2021) – Jose Sermo hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Sioux City Explorers a 3-1 win over the Cleburne Railroaders on Saturday night at Lewis and Clark Park.

With two outs and a runner at first base, Cleburne elected to bring on right-hander Daniel James for a matchup with Sermo, who drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in straightaway left for the tiebreaking blast. It was Sermo’s team-leading 25th home run of the season.

Cleburne (42-36) went down quietly in the top of the ninth against Brandon Brosher (2-2), who picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief.

For the second straight night it was the Railroaders who struck first, grabbing a run in the top of the third inning when John Nester slammed a leadoff triple to centerfield and scored a batter later on Alay Lago’s groundout to second base. That run proved to be the only one that Cleburne could muster against Sioux City starter Brett Adcock, who tossed seven innings and allowed only five hits on the night. 

Railroaders hurler Kody Bullard matched Adcock pitch for pitch, flipping 5.2 strong innings in a no-decision. The rookie left-hander struck out three, walked two, and allowed only four hits and one run on the Sermo sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.

Landon Holifield fired 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three, but Michael Krauza (1-2) was ultimately saddled with the loss after allowing two hits over 0.2 innings in the eighth.

The Railroaders and Explorers conclude the series on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 PM. Right-hander Jheyson Manzueta (6-3, 3.52) gets the start for the Railroaders, while Sioux City counters with fellow righty Michael Slaten (0-0, 0.00).

For information on partnerships, season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Railroaders main office at (817) 945-8705, or visit the Railroaders official website at www.railroaderbaseball.com.