By: Braeden Jones
FLORENCE, KY – In an extremely competitive series-closer, the Joliet Slammers (26-42) had comeback attempt after comeback attempt smothered by the Florence Y’alls (38-30) before a walkoff home run finally sealed a 13-10 win for the home team on Thursday.
The Slammers would get a quick run on the board in the top of the 1st inning. After Patrick Ward was walked, a single from Peyton Carr would advance Ward to third base. Ward would then score once Blake Berry got a single of his own. That started the game off with Joliet ahead 1-0.
The Y’alls would respond with a quick run of their own in the bottom of the 1st. After both Tyler Shaneyfelt and Brett Blomquist got singles to start off the half-inning, Zade Richardson hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Shaneyfelt. That tied the game at 1-1 after one inning.
A tie wouldn’t be good enough for the home team as the Y’alls would run through eight batters in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Milo Rushford would hit a single and Dillon Baker would be walked to set up a 2-RBI double from Kyle Harbison. Shaneyfelt would follow that up with a single to set up a 2-RBI single for Blomquist. Florence came into this half-inning tied and left with a big lead, now with a 5-1 advantage.
The Slammers looked to respond in the top of the 4th inning. Kadon Morton would hit a single and Ivan Dahlberg would be walked to set up baserunners for Joliet. The Slammers would then have two straight RBI singles, one from Ian Battipaglia to score Morton and one from Ward to score Dahlberg. Joliet couldn’t get the lead back yet but had brought the game closer at 5-3.
The Y’alls got one of those lost runs back in the bottom of the 4th. Harbison was walked to start off this half-inning, and he would step on home plate when Hank Zeisler hit an RBI double. That put Florence at double the runs of the visiting team as they now led 6-3.
The Slammers lost yesterday’s game by a 6-3 score, so they quickly escaped that total when the top of the 6th inning rolled around. Morton would start it off by getting walked and advance to third base off a single from Dahlberg. A single from Battipaglia would finally score Morton and move Dahlberg to second. Two straight walks on Ward and Carr let Dahlberg come home for free, and a wild pitch let Battipaglia rush to home plate. All that scoring tied the game at 6-6.
The Y’alls were at risk of losing a lead for the first time this series, so they picked up a run in the bottom of the 6th. Shaneyfelt started things off with a single and a stolen base to make it to second. He would come home once again when Zeisler skied an RBI sacrifice fly, giving Florence the lead back at 7-6.
That lead would prove too small for the Y’alls, so they would extend it in the bottom of the 7th inning. Rushford would lead it off with a solo homer that brought momentum upon Florence. A walk on Harbison and another single for Shaneyfelt set up a 2-RBI double for Blomquist. The Y’alls were now at double-digit runs, up 10-6 after seven innings.
That lead wouldn’t hold for long when the Slammers were back up in the top of the 8th inning. Battipaglia started with a double and a stolen base to make it to third, followed by a walk on Ward. Berry knocked in an RBI single that scored Battipaglia and a 2-RBI double from Tyler Cerny scored Ward and Berry. Joliet had brought this game within one run once again, now only down 10-9 to Florence.
The Slammers found enough to tie this game when the top of the 9th inning arrived. Dahlberg became the tying run once he was hit by a pitch that put him on first base. He would indeed be the tying run of this game after a walk on Ward moved Dahlberg to second, and an RBI single from Carr finally brought him home. Ward stood at third base and watched as his hopes of giving Joliet the lead vanished when the last two outs of the half-inning were turned with no chance of advancement. The Slammers had forced one final hitting cycle for the Y’alls tied at 10-10.
The bottom of the 9th inning started on the right foot for Florence. The leadoff hitter this half-inning in Baker got a single and was now three bases away from winning this game. A sacrifice bunt from Harbison moved Baker to second base, and a single from Jackson Tucker put the winning run at third. Blomquist was then caught out on a fly ball, bringing Zeisler up to the plate with two outs. With the game on the line, Zeisler didn’t hit a ball that dropped in the field. He hit a silencing shot that traveled over the outfield wall, winning this game with a 3-run walkoff homer. In the closest game of this series, the Y’alls still found a way to win by exactly three runs, getting the 13-10 walkoff victory at home.
After getting swept this series along with having a few wins vacated due to unintentionally having too many veteran players on their roster, the Slammers now find themselves at a much lower record than they had when this series started. They will look to rebound for a home series against the New York Boulders starting Friday. Now having picked up three more wins in a series sweep at home, the Y’alls will stay in Florence to face the Gateway Grizzlies starting Friday.
