By: Braeden Jones
JOLIET, IL – After an intense back and forth match, the Joliet Slammers (13-23) took the first game of the series against the Florence Y’alls (20-17) in a 10th inning walk off, winning 6-5 on Friday.
The Y’alls were the first to strike in the top of the 1st inning after two runners quickly got on base, setting up two scores. A sacrifice ground out from Brendan Bobo scored Brett Blomquist, and a single from Zade Richardson brought Hank Zeisler around to home plate. Florence found themselves ahead 2-0 after their first appearance of the night.
The Slammers got a score of their own after leadoff man Ian Battipaglia got a triple to start the bottom of the 1st inning. Jackson Valera eventually brought Battipaglia home with a single, but the Y’alls still led 2-1 after the 1st inning.
Joliet tied up the game their next time up when Jackson Beaman took the first pitch of the top of the 2nd deep to right field for a home run. Tyler Cerny got a single to follow that hit and found himself in a pickle when Battipaglia hit a ball in play. After rounding third base, Cerny was caught in a rundown between third and home plate. He made sure to stay alive until Battipaglia made it to third base, and then Cerny accepted his tag. The Y’alls relaxed after making that play, and Battipaglia took advantage by stealing home before the play on Cerny was fully ruled complete. What went down as a fielder’s choice score for Battipaglia brought the Slammers in front at 3-2 after two innings.
A few hit-by-pitches in the top of the 3rd set up Richardson’s second straight RBI single, as he once again brought Zeisler around to score. That once again tied the game, this time at 3-3.
There was no scoring until the bottom of the 6th inning, when the Slammers snagged the lead once more. Beaman hit a single, and after a double from Cerny got him to third, Beaman would score off a wild pitch. That put Joliet back in front after six innings at a 4-3 score.
Florence immediately responded as Blomquist hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th inning to re-tie this ballgame. There were a few more hits throughout the game, but none that scored a runner. That left the score at 4-4 and forced extra innings.
The Y’alls got their first lead since the 1st inning when Richardson, who was the runner to start at second base for Florence for extras, scored off a wild pitch. That was most of what the Y’alls could do in the top of the 10th inning, so 5-4 was what the score showed heading into the Slammers batting.
The bottom of the 10th started with Battipaglia acting as the runner at second base for Joliet. He quickly came around to score when Valera, who now represented the winning run, got a single. A double from Cam Suto moved Valera to third base, and an intentional walk on Peyton Carr loaded the bases. Beaman came up to the plate looking for his third hit of the night to give his team the win, but it turned out he never needed to swing. Four consecutive balls forced a walk for Beaman, allowing Valera to have a literal walk off win as he sauntered home and gave the Slammers the 6-5 victory.
The Slammers will look to recreate the excitement of this game and win the series on Saturday against the Y’alls. After a rough ending to this ballgame, Florence will try to sleep it off and get their first win at Slammers Stadium this season on Saturday.
