By: Braeden Jones
JOLIET, IL – In yet another long game at Slammers Stadium, the Joliet Slammers (22-29) had just enough life in them to close out this game against the Mississippi Mud Monsters (23-30) in extra innings, pulling out the 11-10 win.
The Slammers would find early success when leadoff hitter Ian Battipaglia hit a double to start the bottom of the 1st inning. A sacrifice fly out from Blake Berry would bring Battipaglia home to score, putting Joliet in the early 1-0 lead.
The Mud Monsters quickly responded in the top of the 2nd. AJ Fritz would hit a double and score off a sacrifice fly out from Tevis Payne II, and Joshua Shelly got a double and came home from an RBI single from Nathan Rose. That gave Mississippi their first lead of the day at 2-1.
That lead wouldn’t last once the Slammers came back up to bat in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Jackson Beaman would be walked in his first appearance of the day, and a strong double from Kadon Morton would let his teammate step on home plate. That tied the game at 2-2 after just two innings.
The Mud Monsters took their lead right back in the top of the 3rd. Singles from Kyle Booker and Travis Holt would put them at third and first base, respectively. Fritz would get a single to bring Booker home, and Kasten Furr hit a single to score Holt. Fritz got to add to the tally with his legs when he scored off another sacrifice fly out from Payne. That put Mississippi ahead once again, this time at a 5-2 score.
The Mud Monsters have seen the Slammers come back against them before, so they wanted to extend their lead a bit, just to be safe. That extension came from just one man in the top of the 4th inning. Booker stepped up to the plate and hit a solo homer as his third hit of the day. That moved the score to 6-2.
The Slammers got that run back in the bottom of the 4th with a home run of their own. Beaman’s second appearance of the day was a solo shot, and while that still kept the visiting team in the lead, that brought the score to 6-3.
For the Slammers, three runs behind was close enough for them to make their move in the bottom of the 6th inning. Jackson Valera hit a double, Tyler Cerny got a single, and Cam Suto was walked to load the bases with no outs. After the Mud Monsters forced a strikeout, Morton came up to bat and cleared the bases with a grand slam to give his team their first lead since the first inning. Joliet left the inning with a 7-6 advantage.
The Mud Monsters responded once the top of the 8th inning rolled around. Payne was walked to start the half-inning and he made it to third base off a wild pitch shortly after. He then tied up the game for his team when Shelly had a sacrifice fly out. While three more walks would load the bases soon after, the Slammers snuck out of the half-inning with no further damage. The game was now tied at 7-7.
Mississippi retook the lead once again in the top of the 9th inning. Fritz hit a double to open the half-inning, and a wild pitch would let him come in to score. While that was all the scoring the Mud Monsters had to offer, that still put them in the lead at 8-7.
The Slammers had one last chance to respond in the bottom of the 9th inning, and they did just that. With two outs already in the books, Berry hit a double and then went to the bench to watch Spencer Rich pinch run for him. That decision paid off as Rich would score thanks to a Valera double to tie the ballgame. Valera was subbed out at second base for Peyton Carr, now acting as the winning run for Joliet. Carr made it to third base, but a fly out would end the inning as Carr was rushing home. The score was left at 8-8, meaning this game was going to extra innings.
The Mud Monsters found a second wind in the top of the 10th inning. Rose would start at second base for Mississippi and would remain there as Booker would be walked. Holt was next up, and he would hit a double that was good enough to score Rose and Booker. That is where the half-inning ended, but the Mud Monsters had done enough to be up 10-8.
For the second straight inning, the Slammers were down with one more opportunity to get some runs on the board. Cerny started at second base for Joliet and would move to third when Suto hit a single. Beaman then came up to the plate, now representing the winning run, and winning is exactly what he did. He hit a 3-run beamer to the scoreboard in left field that ended the game right then and there. The Slammers had found just enough to pull out the 11-10 victory at home.
After losing the first game of this series in sudden death before winning this one in extras, the Slammers aim to win this series against the Mud Monsters on Thursday. With both games now exceeding the normal nine innings in this series, Mississippi might need one more of those to win on Thursday against Joliet at Slammers Stadium.
