The ThunderBolts fought back from a seven run deficit, but fell just short against the Washington Wild Things at Standard Bank Stadium in a 7-5 loss Saturday night.
Washington began their scoring in the second inning with two runs on three hits including an RBI double from Denny Duron, with Adam Amar’s groundout bringing in the other run. After that, Ryan Quigley was very effective in the third and fourth innings, but the Wild Things broke the game open in the fifth. They sent ten batters to the plate in a five-run inning that chased Quigley from the contest. The biggest hit in the inning was a John Delaney double that scored two runs.
The ThunderBolts bats struggled against Jeff Sonnenberg who came into the game winless, but they finally got to him in the seventh. Ryne White walked and Mike Torres singled to put two men on with no outs. Two batters later, Guillermo Martinez roped his fifth double of the season to drive them both in.
Then, in the ninth, the Bolts made it interesting. Torres started the rally with one out, singling for the third time. Tim Jobe followed him with a single, the rookie’s first professional hit and Martinez picked up his third RBI on a base hit of his own. After Jobe scored on a wild pitch, Kent Gerst tripled to left to make it a 7-5 game. Eryk McConnell, the Washington closer, came on and got Zach Aakhus to pop out, but Gilberto Mejia walked putting the tying run on base. Ryan Basham came up and worked a 3-1 count, but lined out to second to end the game. Sonnenberg (1-4) picked up his first professional win while Quigley (2-2) took the loss and McConnell earned his fifth save.
Game two between the ThunderBolts and Wild Things is Sunday at 6:05 at Standard Bank Stadium. Joe Scumaci (0-3) makes his third start for the Bolts while Zach Rosenbaum (0-3) makes the start for Washington. The gates open at 5:00 and the game can be heard on sportsjuice.com.
