(Gary, IN) After a day of rain in Northwest Indiana the Gary SouthShore RailCats and the Lake Country DockHounds met at the Steel Yard for a pair of seven-innings games. Deyni Olivero and Dawson Lane slated to start the two games and Lake Country pitched Trey Riley and Jacob Campbell going for the ‘Hounds.
The RailCats were the first team on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a wild pitch scoring Korry Howell. In the top of the fifth with Jake Snider on the move with Dylan LaRue tripled down the right field line and Ripken Reyes gave Lake Country a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth the bases loaded, Ryan Leitch hit a baseball into the wall for a ground-rule double and gave the team the lead. It was Leitch again in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single that made it 4-2. Olivero would log six innings for the RailCats, giving up two runs with one walk and two strikeouts.
All-Stat Closer Jacob Coats would come in for the seventh and retired the side to even the series and give the RailCats a game one victory.
The second game had a quick offensive start. With Dawson Lane walking the bases loaded and getting ahead 0-2 on Peter Zimmerman, Zimmerman hit a ball the opposite way into the seats for a grand slam. Jacob Campbell struggled in the bottom of the first by allowing several free passes and walking Marc Flores with the bases loaded. Kevin Watson Jr and Andy Nelson would hit sacrifice fly’s and it was 4-3 after the first, with a combined one hit between the two.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Anthony Garcia grounded out to Elvis Peralta to get out of the threat and keep it at 4-3. In the bottom of the second, Howell lifted a ball to right field that deflected off the glove of Joshua Mears and into the bullpen to tie the game. Watson used a long ball of his own in the bottom of the third and the RailCats led 5-4.
The RailCats tacked on more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Cole Yearsley crossed the plate on a wild pitch and Marc Flores slashed a two-run single into right field. In the bottom of the fifth, Howell scored in Leitch on a single, Colin Summerhill hit a sacrifice fly and Howell scored on a wild pitch. The score was 11-4 RailCats.
Former Cleveland Guardian and Los Angeles Angels Zach Plesac would pitch the final two innings and the RailCats won their first series against Lake Country since May 2024.
The RailCats end the homestand going 4-2 and winning back-to-back series against the Sioux City Explorers and the DockHounds and will go into the off-day 28-41. The RailCats will head to Milwaukee for a series with the Milwaukee Milkmen with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30.
The RailCats will return home for a weekend series against the Kane County Cougars. Friday will be Union Night, and Sunday will be Sensory Awareness Day, with the RailCats wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off. Tickets are available at Tixr.com/RailCats, and a free livestream of all games can be viewed on AABaseball.tv.