The Gary SouthShore RailCats and Cleburne Railroaders needed extra innings to determine a winner, but the visitors did just enough at the very end to pull away as 16-13 victors.
At the outset, though, it looked like the RailCats were on their way to another victory against their East Division foe as their offense went to work early. Nate Scantlin and Michael Woodworth drew back-to-back walks to begin their day at the dish before Johnathan Engelmann double plated the game’s first run. Jesus Marriaga grounded out to score Woodworth, and Victor Nova‘s sacrifice fly put the ‘Cats ahead 3-0.
Not to be outdone, Gary SouthShore erupted for four more scores in the bottom of the second. Jackson Smith kicked off the frame by launching his first home run of the season, and though the next two batters both made outs, four consecutive hits ensured that the ‘Cats would grow their lead. Woodworth, Engelmann, and Marriage each registered base hits, and Nova’s two-run double upped the advantage to seven.
Though the Railroaders got on the board through a third-inning solo home run, the ‘Cats quickly responded with another four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Scantlin and Woodworth ripped consecutive singles to reignite the order, and both Marriaga and Nova came through as their singles resulted in two tallies. Smith later came up to bat in a two-out spot, and his line drive resulted in a Railroader error which generated two more runs to extend Gary SouthShore’s advantage to double-digits at 11-1.
However, at that point, Cleburne turned it on at the dish and hit the comeback trail. They scored at least one run in each of their next five turns at bat as they levelled the contest at 11 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Needing just one run to walk off as winners, the RailCats got to work in the bottom of the ninth. Daniel Lingua beat out an infield single and immediately advanced to second base on a Scantlin sacrifice bunt. A Woodworth fly out moved him up to third before Engelmann drew an intentional walk.
As they stared defeat in the face, the Railroaders stood tall and struck out the next batter to force extra innings.
With the momentum at their backs, Cleburne continued to hit the ball well in the top of the tenth inning. Though they could not advance their free runner on second base on a leadoff flyout, a wild pitch advanced him to third base. The next batter did not score him, but a controversial call resulted in two runners in scoring position and only one out, and the Railroaders pounced on the opportunity for five runs to charge ahead 16-13.
The RailCats responded in the bottom of the frame as Sam Abbott clubbed a two-run home run, his 11th of the season, but the Railroaders managed to hold the damage to just that pair as they secured the final three outs to level the series at a game apiece.
The RailCats and Railroaders head back to The Steel Yard tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. for the series finale. All the action will be streamed on www.aabaseball.tv, 95.9 WEFM, and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network through the Mixlr app.
