American Association Insider: July 4th Takeaways

 Happy 250th everyone. You have to say this old country has aged well. I hope everyone got a chance to celebrate in the fashion that you wanted to. With family, friends, coworkers, or at the ballpark. I came across a picture on Facebook from the Saints inaugural season at CHS Field with George Tsamis, Ole Sheldon, Kerry Ligtenberg and the ol' 10th Inning Stretch crew tailgating on the 4th of July. Just another magical moment in a magical Summer. It reminded me how much I truly miss those days. 

Rain interjected itself in Gary SouthShore where the RailCats and Saltdogs will pick up a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning, also in Kane County where the Milkmen and Cougars will try to get two in tomorrow.

Fargo-Moorhead 8 Kansas City 4

Down 4-2 in the last of the seventh, the RedHawks rattled off three runs and added three more in the eighth for good measure as they knock off the West Division leaders once again. Leadoff hitter Jesus Lujano had a four hit day. Rookie Cole Yearsley came up clutch with a huge hit in the eighth to add two insurance runs. Yearsley played at Minnesota State Mankato. Perhaps another Tink Larson recommendation? The top three hitters in the Monarchs batting order have a combined 957 Major League games. Nick Martini, J.D. Davis and Luken Baker form a dangerous top of the order for American Association pitchers to deal with.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Andreachi


Cleburne 6 Lake Country 5

The Railroaders do it again. Trailing 5-4 in the sixth, a two run home run off the bat of Carter Aldrete proved to be the difference. Aldrete along with Caleb McNeely and Frankie Tostado in the middle of the Roaders order each had two hits. Ray Zuberer III homered and drove in three for the DockHounds. With the win the Railroaders get to within 3.5 games of the Milkmen in the East. They will also likely nab the top spot of the next Power Rankings.

Chicago 13 Winnipeg 3

The only game in the Chicagoland area that got a game in, and although it began 30 minutes late, the Dogs made it worth it for the 6517 announced fans in attendance. The Dogs had 20 hits for the night. Zack Stokes, Tyreque Reed and Daniel Harris all had three hits with Harris driving in five runs with the help of a bases loaded double in the eighth inning. Five other Dogs collected two hits apiece. Steven Lacey was the recipient of the run support with a quality six innings pitched, getting his first win since May 26. 

Sioux Falls 5 Sioux City 4

This game had the craziest finish of the night and possibly the season. Tied at two in the eighth, the Canaries scored three times, the Explorers countered with a pair of runs. Mike Hart had three hits to raise his average up to .351 but will be remembered more for the last play of the game. With speedy Austin Davis on second with one out, Hart snared a grounder off the bat of Henry George. George with speed himself caused first baseman Hart to dive into first to retire George. Davis not hesitating made a dash for home. Hart righted himself and threw home to retire Davis to prevent the game from going to OT (inside joke there) ending the game with another Canaries series victory over Sioux City guaranteed. Zane Denton collected three hits for the Explorers. 

Notes:

If the Takeaways are late tomorrow, it's because I went on a one day trip to Duluth to see a game at Historical Wade Stadium, the one time home of the Duluth Superior Dukes. The Dukes were relocated to Kansas City in 2003. Wade Stadium is now home to the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League. High temp is forecasted for 68 degrees on Sunday. Sign me up!!!










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