By: Braeden Jones
TROIS-RIVIERES, CANADA – Like Friday’s matchup, the Joliet Slammers (39-56) struck first but would eventually fall to the Trois-Rivieres Aigles (35-60) on Saturday, as the home team would win the series with a 4-3 victory.
The Slammers would knock on the first run of the game in the top of the 3rd inning. Cam Suto would make it on base with a single and a ground out on Kadon Morton would push Suto to second. Brandon Heidal would bring Suto home with an RBI single to start Joliet in the lead at 1-0.
The Aigles would generate a big response in the bottom of the 6th. Justin Farmer and Isaac Webb would both find themselves on base with singles to start it off. That allowed Jedier Hernandez to lay down a double to score Farmer and push Webb to third base. Gavin Roy would follow that up with a 2-RBI single to clear his teammates off the bases, and a single from Lizandro Rodriguez would advance Roy to second base. Sam Franco would bring Roy home with an RBI single, giving Trois-Rivieres a 4-1 advantage heading out of the sixth inning.
The Slammers would look to rally back in the top of the 8th inning. Kadon Morton would begin the half-inning in the biggest way possible: a solo home run to left field. That would give a bit of momentum to Joliet, as Ian Battipaglia would follow up that deep shot with a near homer of his own that still was enough for a double. Battipaglia would use his speed to come home off a single from Tyler Cerny. That brought the game within one score at 4-3.
The Slammers would have a quick three-batter inning in the 9th that would lead to no baserunners, giving the Aigles the 4-3 victory for yet another one-run win this series.
Still one triumph away from 40 wins on the season, the Slammers will eye that feat for Sunday’s game against the Aigles. Trois-Rivieres will aim for the series sweep against Joliet on Sunday.
