Erie SeaWolves 5, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 (box)
Kenny Serwa put together a whale of a start for the SeaWolves, while a game tying home run from his catcher sparked the offense as the Erie SeaWolves advanced to the Eastern League Championship series for the fifth straight season.
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Things didn’t start off well for Tony Cappuccilli’s squad in this one. The Giants first round pick in July, right-hander Jackson Flora, got the ball for two innings and the SeaWolves couldn’t deal with him, striking out four times in two perfect frames. Fortunately, he’s on a strict pitch count. Once he was out of the game, lefty Jacob Bresnahan took over to flip the SeaWolves platooning. The SeaWolves got a single from Izaac Pacheco and a walk to E.J. Exposito to start the third inning. Seth Stephenson advanced them with a sac bunt, but they squandered that chance as Peyton Graham and Zyhir Hope struck out.
Meanwhile, Serwa was cruising in the early innings before trouble struck in the fourth. A one-out single and then a walk set the table for Kaeden Kent, who smoked a three-run shot to right field for a 3-0 lead.
The SeaWolves couldn’t get it going in the fifth, but credit to Cappuccilli for sticking with Serwa, who proceeded to steady the ship and cruise through seven innings with no further trouble.
Finally, in the top of the sixth, Stephenson reached and took second on an error. Graham struck out, but Hope walked, and Thayron Liranzo mashed a three-run homer to tie the game.
They didn’t stop there. Chris Meyers followed with a double. Andrew Jenkins struck out, but Luke Shliger walked. The Squirrels went back to their pen, but Marques Johnson walked Pacheco to load the bases. A passed ball scored Meyers, and it was 4-3 SeaWolves.
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Serwa tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, and Stephenson walked to start the seventh. He stole second, and after Graham made on out on a comebacker to Johnson, a wild pitch got Stephenson to third, and Hope drove a ball out to center field for a sacrifice fly. 5-3 SeaWolves.
Surprisingly, Cappuccilli continued to ride his veteran knuckleballer, and it worked. He gave up a leadoff bunt single, but got a double play ball to face the minimum in the inning. Really good work from Serwa to recover from the homer and pitch deep into this one, especially as the bullpen isn’t exactly stacked with monsters.
Tanner Kohlhepp took over in the eighth, pitching around a two-out walk, and so it was up to hard-throwing sinkerballer Moises Rodriguez. The slender right-hander was 98-99 mph, but with one out, Graham booted a routine ground ball at shortstop, and after getting a fly ball for the second out, Rodriguez walked the next hitter. He bounced back, tying up Zander Darby, who hit a little swinging bunt down the first base line. Rodriguez pounced on it, flipped to Jenkins, and it was party time for the Erie SeaWolves organization.
Congrats to Greg Coleman, Greg Gania, Tony Cappuccilli and his staff and team, and the whole SeaWolves family on reaching their fifth straight Eastern League championship series.
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Liranzo: 2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K
Stephenson: 1-1, 2 R, 2 BB, SB
Meyers: 1-4, R, 2B, K
Serwa (W, 1-0): 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will have two days off until the Eastern League championhip best-of-three series gets underway on Sunday. Game 1 will be held at home at UPMC Park at 5:05 p.m. ET before heading to Reading next Tuesday.
Toledo Mud Hens 5, Louisville Bats 1 (box)
Dylan File threw a good game, and the Hens took advantage of seven walks to beat the Bats again on Thursday.
File was cruising early on and the Hens broke through in the bottom of the third. Max Burt and Trei Cruz walked with one out, and sent the Bats back to their bullpen. The new reliever walked James Outman and Max Anderson both, forcing in a run. Jace Jung lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Cruz, and it was 2-0 Hens.
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File allowed a solo shot in the fifth, but in the bottom half, Jung doubled in Cruz to make it 3-1 Hens.
File wrapped up his day in the sixth, and in the bottom of the seventh, Cruz led off with a single. Outman grounded into a force of Cruz, but Max Anderson singled, and Jung doubled in both runners to make it 5-1.
Enmanuel de Jesus handled the seventh and eighth without much issue. Yilber Diaz walked two and struck out one in closing out the ninth. Hopefully he can get his control dialed in this offseason.
Jung: 2-3, 4 RBI, 2 2B
Cruz: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB
Anderson: 1-3, R, RBI, BB
File (W, 7-1): 6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: The Hens had won six of their last eighth, and are up 3-0 in this series heading into a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday in Toledo.
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