Break out the brooms! In another thrilling comeback win, the RailCats swept the Sioux City Explorers. In this game, the offense should have exploded for more runs but got the hits and runs when they mattered most. Here are nine things I saw in last night’s win.
1st Inning – In the second inning, the RailCats got on the board first. It was the first time in this series that they scored first. Jake Guenther hit a double with one out, and with two outs, Cooper Edwards singled to drive in Guenther and give the RailCats a 1–0 lead.
2nd Inning – In the top of the fourth inning, the RailCats extended their lead to 3–0. Frank Podkul hit his fourth home run of the season to lead off the inning; it was a no-doubter to left field. With two outs, Cooper Edwards doubled, and Korry Howell singled to score Edwards.
3rd Inning – In the bottom of the fourth, the Explorers tied the game with three runs of their own. Henry George started things off with a single and a stolen base. Austin Davis hit a double to score George, Brualio Vasquez tripled to score Davis, and Zac Vooletich grounded a ball to Nick Podkul, who fired it home to try to get Vasquez at the plate. However, Vasquez just got his foot to home plate before Cooper Edwards was able to apply the tag. This play could have gone either way—that’s how close it was.
4th Inning – Just like they did all series, whenever the Explorers scored, the RailCats answered right back. In the top of the fifth inning, Julio Rosario came in relief for Hunter Cashero. Rosario walked the first three batters he faced—Weiss, Peralta, and Suozzi—to load the bases. Camryn Williams singled to score Weiss and retake the lead. Jake Guenther then singled to score Peralta, making it a 5–3 game.
One thing I noticed was how conservatively Manager Jeff Isom managed that inning. On Jake Guenther’s hit, the momentum was all RailCats. I understand Joe Suozzi isn’t the fastest runner, but the Explorers were in panic mode, and the more pressure you put on them, the more likely they were to crack wide open.
5th Inning – In the top of the eighth inning, Frank Plesac came on for his fourth inning in relief of J.C. Flowers. In the previous three innings, he had given up only one hit. Plesac gave up a leadoff double to Henry George, then got Austin Davis to fly out. Braulio Vasquez hit a ball deep in the hole between Williams and Peralta. Peralta made a strong throw to first, but he air-mailed it, and George scored from second to make the final score 5–4.
6th Inning – With the usage of Denson Hull, Dawson Lane, and Jacob Coats in the previous two games, it was time for other pitchers in the bullpen to step up and for someone to close the game and earn the save. That pitcher was Joan Valdez. He came in relief of Frank Plesac, who pitched 3.1 innings, gave up three hits, one run, and struck out three. Valdez did not allow a baserunner, pitching 1.2 innings and striking out one to earn his first save of the season.
7th Inning – Back in the seventh inning, Korry Howell almost cleared the bases with a three-run triple with the bases loaded. He hit a fly ball down the first-base line that was called foul. It was hard for me to see if it actually landed foul; at first glance, I thought it hit the white line, which would have made it a fair ball. Andrew Mild said after watching the replay that the ball was fair and that it landed right in front of the RailCats bullpen, where they were up in arms over the foul call. Howell later walked.
8th Inning – Also in the seventh inning, Scout Knotts singled to left field with Frank Podkul on second. Podkul isn’t someone I would send home from second on a ball hit straight to left fielder Henry George, and George threw him out by a good distance. I think Jeff was trying to be aggressive instead of playing station-to-station like he did in the fifth.
9th Inning – In the official scoring, the RailCats left 13 on base and had the bases loaded twice, scoring two runs in those situations. They had 11 hits and eight walks. This game was close, but it should have had a much higher score.
Extra Inning – With this series being tight the entire time, the RailCats will need to capitalize on their opportunities as they go up against the Kansas City Monarchs, who have a +26 run differential. The Monarchs are also coming off a sweep of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and are sitting at the top of the West Division. This will be a good measuring-stick series for the RailCats.
219 ‘Cat Player of the Game: For the second game in a row, Jake Guenther gets the honor. It was between him and Cooper Edwards. Here are their stats, and I’ll tell you why I ultimately went with Jake Guenther. Cooper Edwards went 3-5 with a run scored and an RBI, and he struck out once. He also gunned down two runners trying to steal; he was 2-4 in that category. Jake Guenther went 2-3 with one run scored and one RBI (which ended up being the game-winning RBI), walked once, and was hit by a pitch. It came down to the winning RBI and getting on base four times in the game, which is why I gave it to Jake Guenther.
219 'Cats 
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