Double-A
EASTERN LEAGUE
Akron’s Ivan Castillo – Photo by Gabe Rodriguez/Legends On Deck
Akron RubberDucks 6, Trenton Thunder 3
The Eastern League finals got underway on Tuesday night in Akron. The RubberDucks took game one of the best-of-five series at Canal Park 6-3. Eric Haase hit a grand slam in the fifth inning which gave the RubberDucks the lead for good. Solid starting pitching by Akron’s Michael Peoples (1-1, 4.15) and even better relief pitching secured the win setting up game two on Wednesday night. Trenton did get on the board first with a quick two-run lead, but just couldn’t hang on. Ronald Herrera picked up the loss of the Thunder going just 4.1 innings giving up all six Akron runs.
Top Performers
RubberDucks
Yan Gomes – 2 for 4, 2B, R, RBI
Eric Haase – 2 for 3, 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI
Ivan Castillo – 2 for 4, 2B, R
Thunder
Mike Ford – 2 for 3, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI
Billy McKinney – 2 for 3, 2 2B, RBI
Wednesday Probable Pitchers
Will Carter (TRE) vs Rob Kaminsky (AKR)
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Jackson Generals 2, Mississippi Braves 0
The Jackson Generals took a commanding 2-0 lead in the Southern League’s best-of-five Championship finals Tuesday by defeating the Mississippi Braves 2-0. Brett Ash picked up his second win of the postseason in dominating fashion going seven innings allowing just five hits with four strikeouts. Ryne Harper came in and sealed the deal with two hitless innings of relief with four strikeouts of his own for Jackson. Adam Law‘s fifth inning solo home runs was all the Generals needed to secure the win. For good measure they added an insurance run in the sixth inning on a RBI double by Tyler Marlette. Sean Newcomb had a tough go of it for Mississippi allowing 11 Generals to reach base in his six innings of work. The series shifts to Mississippi on Thursday night as the Braves look to hang on, while the Generals look to end it all.
Top Performers
Generals
Adam Law – 1 for 3, R, HR, RBI
Tyler Marlette – 2 for 4, 2B, RBI
Brett Ash – 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Ryne Harper – 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Braves
Joey Meneses – 1 for 4, 2B
Dylan Moore – 2 for 3
Thursday Probable Pitchers
Paul Blackburn (JAC) vs Patrick Weigel (MIS)
TEXAS LEAGUE
Midland RockHounds 5, NW Arkansas Naturals 4
After a couple of singles by Midland and a fielding miscue by NW Arkansas, the RockHounds took the lead for good in the sixth inning and held on for dear life as the Texas League Championship got underway. The Naturals would pick up one run in the bottom of the ninth, but would just fall short in the opener. Joel Seddon started the game for Midland and picked up his second win of the postseason. He was effective through his six innings of work and was helped by the bullpen. Yender Caramo wasn’t as lucky for the Naturals as he had to battle his way through five allowing nine hits and walking two surrendering all of the RockHounds runs.
Top Performers
RockHounds
Max Schrock – 2 for 5, 2 R, 2B
Tyler Marincov – 3 for 5, R, RBI
Yairo Munoz – 1 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI
Naturals
Ryan O’Hearn – 1 for 3, R, 2B, RBI
Mauricio Ramos – 1 for 4, R, 2B, RBI
Samir Duenez – 2 for 4, R, HR, 2 RBI
Wednesday Probable Pitchers
Corey Walter (MID) vs Eric Skoglund (NWA)
John Ginder
John has recently graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in History and is currently finishing his Master's Degree there as well in secondary education. After being away from school for over two decades he decided to go back and work towards his dream of becoming a social studies teacher.
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