Close losses at the upper levels. Cedar Rapids saves the day. A good outing for Jose Berrios.
CHARLOTTE 3, ROCHESTER 2 IN CHARLOTTE
Batting stars: Doug Bernier was 2-for-4. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-for-4 with a walk and a home run, his fifth.
Pitching stars: Cole DeVries pitched five innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and a walk. Virgil Vasquez struck out four in 3.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and a walk.
Opposition stars: Charles Leesman struck out seven in six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks. Jim Gallagher was 2-for-3 with a double and scored once. Josh Phegley was 2-for-4 with a double.
Key inning: The ninth. The Red Wings trailed 2-1 with two out and none on in the ninth when Brian Dinkelman hit a pinch-hit homer to tie the score. In the bottom of the ninth, with Vasquez starting his fourth inning of relief, Carlos Sanchez singled and was sacrificed to second. Michael Tonkin then came in and gave up a game-ending RBI single to Gordon Beckham.
BOWIE 7, NEW BRITAIN 6 IN NEW BRITAIN (11 INNINGS)
Batting stars: Curt Smith was 3-for-5 and scored once. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his fifth. Nate Hanson was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Pitching stars: Matt Hauser pitched two perfect innings. Daniel Turpen gave up on hit in a scoreless inning.
Opposition stars: Niuman Romero was 3-for-6 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one. Ty Kelly was 3-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Clay Schrader struck out three in three shutout innings, allowing two hits.
Key inning: The eleventh. The score was tied at six. Cole Johnson came in to pitch. He walked Brian Ward, who was bunted to second and scored on a double by Romero. In the bottom of the inning, the Rock Cats also got a leadoff walk and bunted the runner to second, but he did not score.
Prospect watch: Trevor May held the Baysox scoreless in four of his five innings. In the other one, the second, he gave up four runs on two doubles, a walk, a single, and another double. His line for the game was five innings, four runs, eight hits, three walks, and five strikeouts.
PALM BEACH 4, FORT MYERS 1 IN PALM BEACH
Batting star: Eddie Rosario was 2-for-4.
Pitching star: Matthew Summers pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk.
Opposition stars: Juan Bautista pitched six innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks. David Popkins was 4-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Matt Williams was 2-for-4.
Key inning: The eighth. The Cardinals led 2-1. Corey Williams came in to pitch and walked the first two men he faced. A wild pitch moved them to second and third. He struck the next two batters out, but Popkins singled to drive in both runners.
CEDAR RAPIDS 5, KANE COUNTY 2 IN KANE COUNTY
Batting stars: Dalton Hicks was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Adam Brett Walker II was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one. Michael Quesada was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Pitching stars: Jose Berrios pitched 5.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks while striking out four. Alex Muren pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.
Opposition stars: Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-for-3 with two walks and scored once. Reggie Golden was 2-for-4 with a double. Brian Smith struck out three in three shutout innings, allowing one hit.
Key inning: The third. Leading 2-1, the Kernels struck for three more. Hicks doubled with one out. With two out, RBI singles by Travis Harrison and J. D. Williams made the score 4-1 and a Quesada double made it 5-1.
TODAY'S TILTS
5:35 Bowie (Zach Clark, 1-3, 9.56) at New Britain (Alex Meyer, 2-3, 3.95)
5:35 Fort Myers (Tom Stuifbergen, 1-3, 3.55) at Palm Beach (Tyler Melling, 1-1, 2.49)
6:15 Rochester (Vance Worley, 1-0, 0.00) at Charlotte (Simon Castro, 0-6, 5.59)
6:30 Cedar Rapids (Brett Lee, 3-3, 4.20) at Kane County (Tayler Scott, 2-1, 3.65)