Frontier League Game Recaps, Notes, News & Transactions — June 9, 2021
There are a lot of fascinating projects happening for the Frontier League Journal and I’d like to take a second to thank everyone following us and making things happen.
Yesterday, we introduced a new stat, OPSR, that we think can add a little to the existing OPS by taking into consideration a batter / runner’s aptitude to take the extra base. Here is the graph we prepared for all teams since the beginning of the season:
We also released the new Frontier League Power Rankings and they look like this. The methodology has also been released and you can consult it here.
Last, but not least, I released a new “Game Talk” interview on IGTV and our YouTube Channel.
The Schaumburg Boomers have a good start to the season and the pitching staff is certainly one of the reasons for that. We talk to Pitching Coach Connor Reed about my stupidity, their approach, his career as a pitcher, injuries and how I jinxed Quincy Nieporte at the plate, Sunday.
NEWS
TRANSACTIONS
ÉQUIPE QUÉBEC
June 8: Released RHP Stephen Knapp and INF Dane Tofteland.
June 8: Activated INF Jesse Hodges from the inactive list. He is back from the Olympics tournament with Team Canada and, as manager Patrick Scalabrini told us before, he is a leader on that team. He’ll be the new regular third baseman, starting yesterday, when he got on base four time: 2 singles, a double and a walk.
FLORENCE Y’ALLS
June 8: released Yoshi Hamazaki.
EVANSVILLE OTTERS
June 8: Signed RHP Samson Abernathy, a relief pitcher drafted by the Pirates in the 27th round of the 2019 amateur draft. He was actually very good in 17 appearances and here is what Rum Bunter had to say about him a year ago:
When I had a chance to pick former Bristol Pitching coach Eric Minshall’s brain about Abernathy, he said, “he is very mature. This young man knows his place in this world.” Not every 23-year-old kid is a leader or a “gym rat,” but not Abernathy says, Minshall. “He’s a fierce competitor the epitome of lead by example. Gaining every edge, he could experimenting during side sessions and collaborating with teammates.”
His pitching repertoire features a fastball, slider, and change up. The official scouting report according to Minshall, “good fastball had some run with good command. His slider was the go-to out pitch he could spot it every time. He worked very hard to make his change up a weapon.” Now about that drive and will to win, Minshall noted, “always took the ball wanted it more!! Became our closer towards the end. His teammates would tell me that they knew the game was over once we handed him the ball.”
June 7: Received RHP Samson Abernathy from the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association for a player to be named later.
June 7: Placed RHP Tim Holdgrafer on the 7-day injured list.
June 7: Released catcher Joe Sullivan.
GATEWAY GRIZZLIES
June 8: Signed RHP Colton Easterwood, out of the University of the Cumberlands and that’s pretty much everything I could find on him.
June 7: Placed INF Connor Owings on the 7-day injured list.
JOLIET SLAMMERS
June 8: Released INF David Kyriacou.
June 7: Signed RHP Riley Ottensen, a former 5th round pick of the Dodgers in 2017, but he struggled greatly with command in 3 seasons with them. From LA Dodger Talk:
He perhaps could have used another year of college ball but his college coach felt for sure he would be drafted in the 2017 June Draft citing his work ethic and arm strength as two of his strongest assets. That is what scouts noticed.
“He’s got arm speed. You can’t teach that,” said one former professional scout who has watched Ottesen pitch since high school. “A guy is just born with that arm speed. And you know what? Everybody is looking for power arms, and he’s a power arm. I saw him his last outing against Arizona State, and he was 94 to 95 [mph] in the seventh inning and he was right close to 100 pitches. The other thing that shows that he has arm strength is he’s 94, 95 out of the stretch.”
SCHAUMBURG BOOMERS
June 8: Signed INF/OF Matt Bottcher, a left-handed batter who made his pro debut yesterday as the team’s left fielder and singled twice, walked and was hit by a pitch. The Illinois native seems to have figured out something in his swing, as he’s shown a power resurgence this year with the UIC Flames, recording a .601 slugging after an improvement seen in 2019 at .485.
SUSSEX COUNTY MINERS
June 8: Placed LHP Tyler Alexander on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to June 5. Hopefully for the team he won’t we gone for long, as he is the ace of the staff and was off to a good start (1.88 ERA)
TRI-CITY VALLEYCATS
June 8: Released LHP Onas Farfan, RHP Steven Figueroa and 1B Francis Martinez.
June 7: Sold the contract of LHP Samuel Perez to the Minnesota Twins.
June 7: Signed OF Colton Whitehouse, a left-handed pitcher out of Northwestern Oklahoma State. He can play the corners in the outfield / 1B and at the plate can do it all: contact, get on base and he’s got pop. The question is whether he can take his game to pro ball where the competition will be greater.
WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS
June 8: Sold the contract of Cole Bellair to Minnesota Twins.
LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS
June 7: Sold the contract of RHP Matt Muelenbach to the Minnesota Twins.
NEW JERSEY JACKALS
June 7: Transferred RHP Christian Tessitori to the 14-day injured list.
June 7: Placed INF Justin Wylie on the 7-day injured list.
STANDINGS
GAME RECAPS & NOTES
Game postponed: New York Boulders vs Tri-City ValleyCats
Schaumburg news release:
ARJONA AND BOOMERS BLANK JOLIET
SCHAUMBURG, IL — Kyle Arjona shut down the Joliet Slammers, throwing the first complete game shutout of the year in the league as the Schaumburg Boomers opened a three-game mid-week series with an 8–0 win.
Arjona, the opening night starter for the Boomers, allowed only three hits and five total baserunners in the contest. Joliet did not record a hit until the fifth inning against the right-hander. Angelo Gumbs gave Arjona all the support he would need with a monster homer leading off the fourth inning. Schaumburg would stretch the lead to 3–0 when Matt Bottcher, signed before the game, recorded a two-run single in his pro debut. Alec Craig singled home a run in the seventh before the Boomers put the game out of reach with four runs in the eighth. Luke Becker, Chase Dawson and Gumbs drove home runs while another scored on a wild pitch.
Arjona did not reach 100 pitches in the shutout, which came in just his fourth career start. The Florida native walked one and struck out four while trusting his defense with two double plays and 13 groundball outs. Bottcher reached base in all four of his plate appearances, totaling two hits. Becker and Brett Milazzo also added two hits.
The Boomers (6–6) continue the series on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. LHP Andrew Dean (1–1, 4.09) starts for the Boomers against LHP Tyler Jandron (0–0, 2.46).
Lake Erie news release:
CRUSHERS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT
AVON, Ohio — The Crushers opened up a three-game set with a win against the Gateway Grizzlies Tuesday night.
An offensive explosion from the visiting Crushers propelled them to the victory.
Jay Prather opened the scoring for Gateway in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run.
The third inning was the first time Lake Erie had a runner cross home plate. Steven Kraft paved the path for Steve Passatempo to score with an RBI single.
Sebastian Kessay pitched three and two-thirds innings as the starter for Gateway. His six strikeouts paired with one run on four hits was a decent performance in the short-lengthed start.
Axel Johnson gave the Grizzlies a 2–1 lead on a single that scored Prather in the bottom of the third.
Run support came for the Crushers in the fifth inning. A double off the bat of Shawon Dunston Jr. allowed Javier Betancourt to score from second base. Two batters later, Connor Oliver smacked a ground-rule double, scoring Dunston Jr. Brody Wofford got in on the action with a single, as Oliver was able to touch home. The Crushers beheld a 4–2 lead after the half-inning.
Gateway did not allow Lake Erie to gain control of the game. Chase Vallot brought Prather home on a single. To tie the ballgame, Johnson grounded out; however, Ty Moore dashed home to even the score at 4–4 after five innings.
Lake Erie starter Tyson Cronin allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out five. Those numbers were through five innings of work.
The Grizzlies gained the advantage in the bottom of the sixth by adding a pair. Abdiel Diaz scored Jose Rosario on a single, taking the lead. An insurance run was added off the lumber of Moore. Dustin Woodcock reached home safely on Moore’s single.
The Crushers stormed back and then some in the top of the seventh inning. Trevor Achenbach delivered a two-run homer to tie the score at 6–6. Lake Erie would not look back. A Bryan De La Rosa double gave way to Wofford scoring. De La Rosa eventually tallied a run statistic on a hit by Betancourt. The Crushers added two more runs from two errors committed by the Grizzlies. To polish off the seven-run inning for Lake Erie, Oliver launched a ball over the fence.
The 11–6 lead for the Crushers would hold the rest of the distance.
Taylor Sugg was assigned the win. Two runs on five hits and three strikeouts over two innings were his stats on the night.
Cody Thompson received the loss in a massive struggle during the seventh inning. In two-thirds of an inning, Thompson allowed seven runs (four earned), six hits, and a single strikeout.
The Crushers have won three straight games to excel to 4–7. The loss for the Grizzlies drops them to 4–7 overall.
Game two of the series is Wednesday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:45 pm ET.
Evansville news release:
FLORENCE, Ky. — The Evansville Otters slugged their way to an 11–7 victory over the Florence Y’alls Tuesday night in the first of a three-game set from Y’alls Ballpark.
With the win, the Otters moved into a two-way tie with the Y’alls for first place in the West Division in the early going of the 2021 Frontier League regular season.
The scoring opened in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run from Y’alls third baseman Taylor Bryant.
The Otters answered right back in the top of the second, when Riley Krane hit his third home run of the season to lead off the inning and tie the game at 1–1.
The score changed again a half inning later, when Harrison DiNicola led off the frame with another home run for Florence. The two clubs swapped leadoff homers in back-to-back-to-back half innings.
The Y’alls would go on to score three more runs in the second on back-to-back, two-out hits.
Evansville’s J.R. Davis cut the Y’alls’ lead in half in the next inning with a two-out, two-run home run to left field. Davis has now homered in consecutive games.
After a scoreless bottom of the third and a scoreless fourth, the Otters rallied to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Krane drove in his second run with a two-out double before Davis tied the game with another two-out knock.
Evansville took their first lead of the night in the sixth, when Elijah MacNamee walked with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run with two outs.
Dalton Stambaugh settled down after grinding through his first two innings as Tuesday’s starting pitcher to pitch a scoreless third, fourth, and fifth innings. He was lifted with two outs in the sixth after fanning his last batter, Mitch Piatnik.
Overall, Stambaugh went 5.2 innings, giving up five runs — four earned — off seven hits and three walks, and striking out seven.
Tyler Spring came on to finish the sixth. He would end up throwing an inning and a third, striking out three.
The Otters extended their lead with a four-run seventh. Dakota Phillips hit an opposite field, two-run homer — — his second in his last three games.
After an RBI groundout from Josh Henderson, Miles Gordon hit a sac fly to centerfield to score Justin Felix from third, which capped the scoring in the inning. Evansville carried a 10–5 lead into the eighth.
The Otters scored their final run in the top of the eighth on another bases loaded walk, this time to Felix.
Justin Lewis came out of the bullpen to pitch the eighth, allowing one run on two hits and a walk.
Samson Abernathy, who was recently acquired via trade from the Sioux City Explorers, pitched the ninth in his Otters debut. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk.
Davis went 5-for-5 on the night for the Otters, building on his 4-for-4 performance in the second game of the doubleheader Sunday. He has now recorded a base hit in ten consecutive at-bats.
Andy DeJesus, Riley Krane, and Bryce Denton all had muti-hit performances, as well.
The Otters will look to secure another series victory with a win over Florence Wednesday. First pitch will be at 5:31 p.m. CT.
Washington news release:
Czech, Ward Homer in Series Opening Loss
WASHINGTON, Pa (June, 8) — Despite two early home runs, the Washington Wild Things lost 3–2 in a close game against the New Jersey Jackals at the Wild Things Park on Tuesday evening.
McKenzie Mills, who started for the Wild Things, put up a zero in the first inning making way for Nick Ward, who hit a home run off Jackals pitcher Spencer Hereford to give Washington an early lead.
During the second inning, Mills gave up a home run to Jackals player #21 Stanley Espinal to tie the game. Another run came in for New Jersey in the third inning after a two-base error occurred. In the home half, Andrew Czech crushed a home run bringing the score to an even 2–2.
In the top of the fourth, the Jackals scored a run on a base hit and took the lead 3–2.
The Wild Things will play against the New Jersey Jackals tomorrow night for the second game in the three-game series.
Southern Illinois news release:
Miners Pitch Their Way To Win in Windy City
The Southern Illinois Miners got an outstanding performance from Zac Westcott on the mound on Tuesday night, as he pitched eight strong innings to make a first-inning rally stand up in a 3–2 victory over the Windy City ThunderBolts at Ozinga Field in Crestwood.
The Miners took the lead right away in the first inning against ThunderBolts ace Tyler Thornton (2–1), as the right-hander issued back-to-back leadoff walks to Jarrod Watkins and Yeltsin Gudiño before a Luke Mangieri single loaded the bases with no one out. Two batters later, Anthony Brocato drew yet another walk to force in a run and make it 1–0, followed by a hit-by-pitch of Ian Walters to make it 2–0. Jared Mang then beat out a double-play ground ball at first base that would have ended the inning, scoring another runner from third base and making the score 3–0 Southern Illinois.
That ended up being all the offense the Miners needed. Westcott (2–0) allowed leadoff baserunners in each of the first five innings, but worked around the runners to be effective. Windy City got a two-out RBI triple by Rob Calabrese in the third inning to make it 3–1, and then a Calabrese RBI single in the fifth which made the score 3–2 and put the tying run at third base with only one out. But with runners on the corners, Zach Racusin lined into an inning-ending double play to preserve the Miners’ one-run lead.
Westcott then turned it up another notch, as he ended up retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced from that point onward. He finished with eight innings of work, two walks, and five strikeouts to earn his second victory of the season in his first career start against Windy City, with whom he pitched from 2016–18. Joey Pulido then polished off the win with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning for the save as the Miners took the series opener.
The Miners will now go for back-to-back victories against the ThunderBolts in game two of the series on Wednesday, June 9, at 7:05 p.m. Gunnar Kines will make the start for Southern Illinois in another matchup of experienced pitchers against ThunderBolts southpaw Kenny Mathews.
