GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2022
Contact: Ryan Zimmerman
Phone: 219-882-2255
[email protected]
Cardiac ‘Cats Strike Again in Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls, SD – Though they fell behind early and trailed late, the Gary SouthShore RailCats refused to fold to the Sioux Falls Canaries. They battled back from a 5-2 deficit to storm away with a 9-5 win in the series opener.
The RailCats offense found a way to break through against Sioux Falls pitching in the late innings, as six of their seven tallies in the final three frames came with two outs as their bats continue to heat up in the month of June.
At the start, it looked like the Canaries would turn this contest into a rout. Though the RailCats plated the opening run when Michael Woodworth came home on a Michael Cruz single and a Sioux Falls error in the first inning, they struck back right away for five runs in their first turn at-bat. Five hits, including a three-run Trey Michalczewksi home run, gave the Canaries a sizeable 5-1 lead in the early stages.
Despite the rough start, starting pitcher John Sheaks quickly shook it off and shut the opposing lineup down. He put up five consecutive zeros following the five-run outburst on five hits, striking out four as well.
Sam Abbott set the comeback in motion in the second inning. He connected for his fourth home run of the season, a towering blast to center field, to lower the Gary SouthShore deficit to three.
It took a while for the RailCats lineup to restart, but they regained their form in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs, Daniel Lingua connected on a home run to right field, and Cruz and Zach Racusin immediately produced back-to-back doubles. As the tying run stood on second base, Alec Olund blooped an opposite-field single to bring Gary SouthShore level at five.
Sheaks got the first two outs of the seventh inning before manager Lamarr Rogers entrusted Josh Vincent to pick up the third in relief. As the go-ahead run stood on second base, it took just two pitches for him to retire American Association co-home run leader Jabari Henry out to keep the two teams tied.
That momentum propelled the RailCats into the top of the eighth. Jesus Marriaga and Tom Walraven both walked to put the go-ahead runs on base. Despite the Sioux Falls bullpen fanning two batters and taking Gary SouthShore to their final strike of the frame, Woodworth made sure the opportunity did not pass him by. He blasted a three-run home run to left field to complete the comeback, putting the ‘Cats up 8-5.
They tacked on one more in the very next inning to pull further away from the Canaries. A single and two walks loaded the bases with no outs before Marriaga recorded a sacrifice fly which provided a four-run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Even as the Canaries got the tying run into the on-deck circle, Vincent held firm on the mound. He finished off the night by blanking Sioux Falls for the eighth consecutive frame to seal the victory.
The RailCats and Canaries do battle once again tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. as Nick Garcia (2-0, 4.24 ERA) takes on Neil Lang (1-1, 4.90 ERA) at Sioux Falls Stadium. All the action can be streamed on aabaseball.tv, 95.9 WEFM, and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network through the Mixlr app.
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