Frontier League: Game Recaps, Notes, News and Transactions — May 31, 2021

Do you know how much fun I’m having getting up early in the morning to read the game recaps, analyse the stats and prepare the Game Notes?

Another instalment of “Game Talk” was released yesterday, this time to talk New Jersey Jackals baseball with their Broadcaster and Media Relations Coordinator, Reed Keller. Always a pleasure to talk baseball with him.

Later today, check out the first installment of “The Frontier League Beat”, a weekly column about what’s happening in the league, but also the place to see the latest Power Rankings of the Frontier League!

TRANSACTIONS

FLORENCE Y’ALLS

May 30: Placed OF Connor Crane on the 7-day injured list. Signed OF Mitch Piatnik, a player they released in the last days of camp, a tough decision since he had performed well. He was immediately put into CF Sunday and proceeded to hit a double and made two putouts.

STANDINGS

GAME RECAPS and NOTES

Washington news release: AVON, Ohio (May 30) — It took four games, but the Washington Wild Things have entered the win column behind a dominant pitching performance from the pitching staff against Lake Erie. The homestanding Crushers managed just one hit in the third inning of the game while Washington took advantage of a wild pitch to plate its only run in the sixth and held on to win 1–0.

Keven Pimentel earned the win with six strong innings of work. He walked three and hit a batter, but had 10 punchouts in his first Frontier League and Wild Things debut. The hit came from Shawon Dunston Jr. in the third inning of the contest. After Pimentel’s day finished, BJ Sabol and Jesus Balaguer tossed scoreless innings and Zach Strecker earned his first save of the year and 53rd of his career with a one-two-three ninth. The save puts Strecker one behind 5th place in Frontier League history in the category.

Bralin Jackson scored the lone run for the Things in the win, scoring on a wild pitch in the sixth. Derek Reddy had two of the four Washington hits in the win, a game that not only saw great pitching from Washington’s staff, but Lake Erie’s too. Sean Johnson took a tough-luck loss after six innings of one-run ball. The run was unearned.

The victory is also the first for manager Tom Vaeth of his career as a skipper.

Frontier League Journal Game Notes

• What a performance by both pitching staff, allowing only 5 singles, no extra-base hits.
• Another game under the two and a half hour mark.
• The Lake Erie Crushers have yet to homer in 2021, but they decided to push for offense by stealing four bases, including two by RF Dylan Jones.
• Wild Things closer Zach Strecker needed only 8 pitches (7 of them strikes) to complete the save, only one less than his counterpart in the 9th for the Crushers, Aaron Glicksetin. Both have been in two games so far this season and have yet to allow a run to score.

Windy City news release: CRESTWOOD, IL — The ThunderBolts built a big early lead, then withstood a late rally from the Joliet Slammers on their way to a 9–8 victory at Ozinga Field Sunday afternoon. The win gave the Bolts three in the four-game season-opening series with the Slammers.

Jake Fisher got the start for Windy City (3–1), his first in a ThunderBolts uniform since September of 2017, and struck out the side in the first inning.

The Bolts followed that by taking an immediate lead on a Rob Calabrese RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

A Braxton Davidson home run put Joliet (1–3) on the board and tied the score but the ThunderBolts answered with seven straight runs. Dan Robinson and Jamey Smart picked up RBI hits in a four-run second inning and Peyton Isaacson opened the game up with a two-run homer in the fifth. Jairus Richards’s RBI single the next inning made it 8–1.

Fisher cruised through the first six innings but with two outs in the seventh, the Slammers bats got hot. Lane Baremore hit a two-run single and Brylie Ware followed with a three-run homer that brought them within two runs.

Brynn Martinez tripled in the bottom of the inning and scored on a Zac Taylor single to provide a big insurance run for the ThunderBolts and they needed it as Joliet mounted another two-out rally in the top of the ninth. Brian Parreira’s two-run double made it a one-run game, but with the tying run at third base, Jose Layer made a sliding play at second base to record the final out and deliver the ThunderBolts a 9–8 win.

Fisher (1–0) passed Dustin Williams to become the franchise’s all-time wins leader, earning his 30th career victory with the ThunderBolts. Austin Shea (0–1) lasted only 1.1 innings and took the loss.

The Bolts hit the road for the next five games, starting with a two-game series at Gateway. Tyler Thornton (1–0, 0.00) will make his second start of the year in the series opener Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 from Sauget, Illinois.

Frontier League Journal Notes:

• I was watching that game and I’m always reminded of how amazing baseball is when I see that a game, even with a very comfortable lead, is NEVER over.
• Jake Fisher’s pitching line is not representative of how the majority of his game went, changing speed and throwing his breaking stuff in any count to keep the batters unbalanced. With 10 Ks and a walk in close to seven innings of work, he was dominant, but just couldn’t close the door on that last inning.
• You won’t often see the Bolts right-handed reliever Dylan Prohoroff struggle like this. He is usually lights out and a great bet when the manager Brian Smith needs an arm in high-leverage situation. When the closer Colby Blueberg returns to the roster, it will be an even more scary bullpen to compete with.
• I’m back with him again today, because C Rob Calabrese can’t be stopped right now and even though he has yet to hit for extra-bases, he still hits (.429), gets on base (.529) and steals bases on top of handling the pitching staff. Trying to reach him to talk baseball for a few minutes, today.
• Bolts 1B Jamey Smart finally got a hit in 2021 and took it jokingly by trying to get the ball after he hit a single in the 2nd inning. Don’t worry, that guy won’t remember it when he looks at his impressive stats at the end of the season.
• With their three stolen bases, the ‘Bolts now share the Frontier League lead with the Y’alls with 10. It really was a team win with only two players getting 2 hits (LF Zac Taylor and SS Brynn Martinez), but walks, SBs and just smart baseball to make up for it. By the way, I had not realized how imposing RF Dan Robinson is! Jesus…
• The left side of the Slammers’ infield is making the most out of their start to the season at the plate. SS Lane Baremore (.375 avg) and 3B Brylie Ware (.438 avg) each went 3-for-5. I’m getting to know this team a little more each day and there are a lot of interesting players to follow in the coming days / weeks.
• Slammers starter Austin Shea put himself into trouble in the 1st inning by loading the bases, but got out with only minimal damage. In the 2nd inning, he was not as lucky and was just not controlling the strike zone and commanding his slider as he knows he can. Kipp Rollings relieved him for 2.2 innings and kept the team in the game, but left-handed Mario Samuel had another tough outing (less than 47% of his pitches were strikes) that proved too much for the potent Joliet bats to come back from.

Southern Illinois news release: The Southern Illinois Miners used a three-run sixth inning to take the lead on Sunday night against the Florence Y’Alls, but again saw the home team come back to win late, with Harrison DiNicola’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning being the difference in a 4–3 loss at Y’Alls Ballpark in Florence.

Neither team was able to get their offense going in the first four innings of the game as Florence starter Jonaiker Villalobos and the Miners’ combination of Justin Ferrell and Kaleb Schmidt strung together scoreless frames. The Y’Alls took the lead thanks to a pair of seeing-eye singles in the bottom of the fifth inning, with an RBI hit by Will Baker breaking up the pitcher’s duel and putting them up 1–0.

Southern Illinois responded by not only tying the score right away, but taking the lead in the top of the sixth. Craig Massey led off by reaching base, then stole second base and moved to third on a subsequent error by catcher Jackson Pritchard. With two outs in the inning, Ryan Stacy then beat out an infield hit to score Massey and tie the game at 1–1. One pitch later, Luke Mangieri gave the Miners the lead with his second home run of the series, a two-run jack that made it 3–1 Southern Illinois.

Yet again, Florence responded against Schmidt in the bottom of the frame, but only got one run back as the Miners held a 3–2 lead after six innings. After Southern Illinois worked around a leadoff double for a scoreless seventh, however, the Y’Alls were able to make the winning rally against Mitchell Walters (0–1) in the eighth.

Luis Pintor led off by getting hit by a pitch and stole second base. Walters then struck out the next two batters he faced, but after Jose Brizuela reached on a walk, DiNicola hit a fly ball to shallow center field that just barely eluded the gloves of both Massey and Anthony Brocato for the eventual game-winning single. The Miners got the tying run on base in the ninth, but could not tie the score in losing in their Y’Alls’ last turn at bat for the second straight night.

Southern Illinois will close out their season-opening road trip with a Memorial Day contest in the series finale against Florence. Tyler Brown will take the ball for the Miners against Florence right-hander Kevin Hahn as they look to avoid a series sweep.

Frontier League Journal Game Notes:

• What can you say? Florence approaches the game the right way to begin the season and they have luck / talent on their side. It will be interesting to see how they respond to their eventual and unavoidable struggles, as it will show what kind of team they’ll be in 2021. That being said, they deserve all the accolades these days.
• Miners 1B Luke Mangieri continues his hot hitting with a homer and the only batter for the team with 2 hits or more. His 1.143 OPS leads the team right now.
• The Miners’ Justin Ferrell pitched two good innings before giving way to Kaleb Schmidt. Manager Mike Pinto told me that he’d have every chance out of camp to get a rotation spot, so I wonder if we are seeing some kind of opener role for him early in the season, trying to build up his arm strength. Rookie reliever Mitchell Walters has been stung by walks early on this season (4 in 2.2 IP), so let’s see what impact it has on his usage going forward. We also have to remember that the sample is small.
• The Y’alls are very aggressive on the base paths, again stealing bases in bunches (5 yesterday). They are tied with the Windy City Thunderbolts at 10 SB on the season, but lead the league in getting caught doing it (5).
• 2B Harrison DiNicola has a 1.238 OPS so far and has a hit in every game, including three doubles and a home run.
• The Y’alls are comfortably leading the league in doubles right now with 13.
• As always, full Florence pitchers’ report by Chad Rhoades:

Schaumburg news release: SCHAUMBURG, IL — The Schaumburg Boomers, presented by Wintrust Community Banks, scored six runs in the fourth inning and rode a second straight strong pitching performance to down the Gateway Grizzlies 7–2 at Wintrust Field on Sunday night.

Both teams created plenty of opportunities in the game but the Boomers broke through by sending 11 to the plate in the fourth. Angelo Gumbs led off with a double and scored the first run moments later on a double from Chase Dawson, who was making his first start of the year. Luke Becker doubled home two with the bases loaded to push the margin to 3–0 and Nick Oddo singled home Willy Garcia to make it 4–0. Following a pitching change, Alec Craig coaxed a bases loaded walk to plate the fifth run and Gumbs knocked home the final tally with a fielder’s choice. Garcia hit the first homer of the season in the fifth for the final run, throttling an 0–2 pitch to the scoreboard in left.

Orlando Rodriguez grabbed the win in his first start back with the team. Rodriguez pitched twice for the Boomers in 2019 before being signed by the Reds. Rodriguez fanned nine in 6.2 innings, allowing two runs. Darrell Thompson and Jake Joyce combined to close out the second straight win with both recording a pair of strikeouts as the Boomers struck out 13 in the game. Gumbs and Dawson both tallied two hits and eight of the nine in the lineup reached base in the win.

The Boomers (2–1) conclude the homestand tomorrow afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. Memorial Day contest. LHP Aaron Rozek will make his season debut after leading the team in starts and wins in 2019. Gateway counters with LHP Aaron Ford.

Frontier League Journal Game Notes:

• Grizzlies C Chase Vallot is getting HOT with a 4-for-4 performance, including two doubles, hitting .500 for the season. The guy can really hit, just take the time to watch him on Frontier League TV destroy balls.
• Grizzlies starter Carlos Vega just did not have it on that night, but Clinton Hollon gave the bullpen a chance to breathe by finishing the game. He has allowed only 2 hits in 5.2 IP and now has an ERA of 1.58. Expect him to get in the rotation soon.
• I really like Axel Johnson in the #2 spot of the lineup. He is a player to watch, has a good eye at the plate and can quickly put up numbers in the first inning for his manager, Cameron Roth.
• Guys like INF Jose Rosario and Abdiel Diaz will need to replicate their two-hits night in the coming days to put up runs on the board and less pressure on the pitching staff to be perfect. The offense has produced only 14 runs in 4 games and that lineup can do a LOT more than that.
• Boomers closer Jake Joyce is an interesting pitcher: he misses a lot of bats, but he also allows a lot of walks. Yesterday was no exception (3 BB and 2K), but he ultimately gets the job done.
• That’s now two good starts in a row by the Boomers rotation, this time by Orlando Rodriguez who went into the seventh inning, allowed no bases on balls and struck out 9. Very impressive and just what the Boomers needed.
• The bid addition to the Boomers offense, Willy Garcia, finally got it going after a rough start to the 2021 season. He hit his first homer and walked. They really have a deep and imposing lineup, can’t wait to see what kind of offense they end up producing in the end.
• 2B Angelo Gumbs has a hit in every game and kept it going with a double and a single, yesterday. Quincy Nieporte has also hit in every game and both batters have an average over the magical .300 mark.