GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2022
Contact: Ryan Zimmerman
Phone: 219-882-2255
[email protected]  

RailCats Rallies Fall Short Against Railroaders 

Gary, IN – The Gary SouthShore RailCats kept themselves around in the late stages, but the Cleburne Railroaders finished strong to secure a 3-2 win in a series-opening pitcher’s duel. 

Through the early stages, the RailCats held the Railroaders off the scoreboard thanks to John Sheaks’ heroics on the mound.  Cleburne managed runners on second and third with just one out, putting themselves in prime position to take the lead in the top of the third.  However, Sheaks coaxed a foul pop out and a strike out to hold the Railroaders at bay.  

From that point forward, Sheaks began a stretch where he set down eight straight Railroaders to take a scoreless game into the bottom of the fifth. 

At that point, the RailCats got their bats going and plated the contest’s first run.  Daniel Lingua and Michael Woodworth both got hit by pitches to lead off the inning, and Jesus Marriaga singled two batters later to bring Lingua home, placing the ‘Cats ahead 1-0. 

However, that advantage did not last long.  The first two batters in the top of the sixth produced a walk and a double, immediately tying the score at one.  After a lineout resulted in the first out, a ground rule double enabled the Railroaders to pull ahead 2-1.  A walk, infield single, and hit batsman soon followed, adding one more run to Cleburne’s tally. 

With the bases loaded and one out, Aaron Phillips emerged to hold Cleburne to just a two-run edge.  He worked a strikeout and a lineout over the course of the next two hitters to keep the RailCats in the game. 

In the bottom of the seventh, the RailCats offense re-emerged to pull one run closer.  Tom Walraven walked, and both Marriaga and Victor Nova singled to load the bases.  LG Castillo lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Walraven, and the next hitter, Sherman Graves, came off the bench and re-loaded the bases on a four-pitch walk.  

Though the tying run stood on third base, the ‘Cats could not bring him home.  A foul pop out got the Railroaders out of the inning with their 3-2 lead intact. 

Jack Eisenbarger navigated around a runner on third base in the top of the eighth and Reyson Santos pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the RailCats within a run, and they gave themselves a chance to equalize in the bottom of the ninth.  Marriaga walked and promptly moved up to second base on a wild pitch before a groundout advanced him another 90 feet, positioning the game-tying run on third base once again with two outs.   Nevertheless, Gary SouthShore could get no further.  The next batter flew out to right field, sealing a Railroader victory. 

The RailCats return to The Steel Yard tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. for game two of their pivotal midweek series against the Railroaders.  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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