(Gary, IN) The series came down to the final game between the RailCats and the Kansas City Monarchs. The two had the off day on Saturday and both were hitting the road, but only one team could leave the Steel Yard with a happy bus trip.
The first run scored for the RailCats with the bases loaded in the second inning, Marcos Gonzalez drew a crucial walk to make it 1-0. In the top of the fifth the Monarchs broke out the big bats and hit back-to-back home runs from Herbert Iser and Ross Adolph.
After the fifth inning both managers cleared out their bullpens, and zeros were traded until the bottom of the eighth. Francisco Del Valle led off the inning with a single and would move over to second after a groundball. 2023 all-star, LG Castillo, floated a ball into right center to even the score at two.
Gio Diaz’s third hit was a double into right field in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t score to win the game for the ‘Cats. Off to extra the game went, and after a successful bunt, the go-ahead for Monarchs was positioned at third and Jackson Valera made an incredible play to record an out to keep Josh Bissonette at third. Adolph would strike out to end the threat.
In the bottom of the tenth, the RailCats had Marcos Gonzalez at third base to represent the winning run. Carlos Rincon put the ball on the ground to Cameron Cannon at third, he bounced the throw and it got away from Frankie Tostado to allow the RailCats to win 3-2 in extras.
With the series win the RailCats improve the record to 7-15. Nate Alexander got the win after he pitched two scoreless innings and set the stage for the RailCats to win. The club will take the bus down to Cleburne to begin a series with the Railroaders, the first game is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:06 PM.
On Sunday, June 16th, the RailCats will be at home for Father’s Day where the first 500 fans receive a trucker hat thanks to Xfinity, and a pre-game brunch on the field followed by catch on the field! For tickets visit RailCatsBaseball.com or call 219-882-2255.