GARY SOUTHSHORE RAILCATS MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2022
Contact: Ryan Zimmerman
Phone: 219-882-2255
[email protected]
RailCats Shut DockHounds Down on First Trip to Oconomowoc
Oconomowoc, WI – The Gary SouthShore RailCats made sure their first-ever trip to Wisconsin Brewing Company Park would be one to remember. They took advantage of early offense and superior pitching pushed them to a 3-2 win over the Lake Country DockHounds in their inaugural series at the league’s newest ballpark.
Three different arms combined to shut down a DockHounds offense that ranks in the top five in the American Association in most offensive categories while the offense did just enough to secure the result.
In the very first inning, RailCats bats pounced on Lake Country’s rookie starting pitcher Devin Beckley. Leadoff hitter Zach Welz worked a walk and Michael Woodworth brought him home one batter later as he belted a home run over the left-field fence to give Gary SouthShore a 2-0 edge.
The DockHounds struck back with two outs in the bottom of the first inning as two hits placed two runners in scoring position and had them in prime position to level the score right away. However, RailCats starter Nick Garcia stood firm and struck out the next batter he faced to escape the jam.
Both lineups went dormant until the fourth inning when Lake Country sprung to life. A one-out walk and double got runners on second and third base to set up a run-scoring groundout. But, as the tying run stood on third, Garcia coaxed another groundout to keep the RailCats in front 2-1.
On the day, Garcia threw five innings and allowed just one run on five hits, walking one and striking out four in his time on the mound. His dominant effort resulted in his second win of the year and improved his record to 2-0.
With just one run separating the two teams, Gary SouthShore provided an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Welz singled and advanced to third on a Woodworth base hit before Daniel Lingua scored him on a sacrifice fly.
Unfortunately, though, Lake Country fought back in their next turn at-bat. A Gio Brusa solo home run neutralized the RailCats tally to bring their lead back down to one run at 3-2.
For the next three innings, pitching took center stage. Reliever Josh Vincent retired seven straight DockHounds from the sixth through eighth innings to preserve the Gary SouthShore advantage. Though the tying run reached base on a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning, he immediately induced a pop out to strand the equalizing run on base.
In order to get the game’s final three outs, manager Lamar Rogers turned to Carlos Vega to shut the door. He tossed a perfect ninth inning which included two punchouts to earn his second save and put the finishing touches on an impressive team victory.
The RailCats head back to Wisconsin Brewing Company Park for game two of this four-game series in Lake Country tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. as Harrison Francis (0-1, 5.19 ERA) takes the mound against Alex McRae (1-0, 3.00 ERA). 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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