RAILROADERS HOLD ON FOR 10-8 VICTORY
GARY – On a night when the bats were hot for both the Cleburne Railroaders and the Gary SouthShore RailCats, it was the former who took home the 10-8 win.
The scoring got started early for Cleburne. After loading the bases with just one out, Hill Alexander came to the plate and launched a grand slam over the right field fence, giving the Railroaders the early 4-0 lead. The next batter, Guillermo Quintana, then blasted a solo home run to extend that lead to 5-0.
Jose Sermo continued his hot stretch with a solo bomb in the top of the third, making it 6-0.
Cleburne continued to pile on in the top of the fifth. Quintana homered again, this one a three-run shot scoring Zach Nehrir and Alexander, bringing the Railroaders’ total to nine.
In the bottom of the fifth was when the RailCats began their furious comeback attempt off Railroaders’ starter Kody Bullard. Daniel Lingua singled home Jesus Marriaga to get the RailCats on the board. With Michael Woodworth at the plate, a Bullard wild pitch then scored Marco Hernandez.
Gary SouthShore proceeded to plate four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Emmanuel Tapia drove in two with a double. Lingua then drove in his second run of the night to make it 9-5. Finally, Woodworth hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Hernandez.
It wasn’t until the top of the ninth that another run scored. Mark Karaviotis drew a bases-loaded walk, bringing Brian Klein to the plate. It ended up being a much-needed insurance run because in the bottom of the ninth Gary threatened by plating two more runs before closer Joe Shaw could get out of the inning, securing the 10-8 victory.
Bullard picked up the win, with Joan Valdez getting the loss.
The Railroaders continue their six-game series against the RailCats tomorrow on Wednesday, June 7 at 6:45 p.m. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m. on aabaseball.tv and on the Railroader Radio Network.