The Gary SouthShore RailCats are known around the league for using “small ball” over home runs to win games, but on Sunday afternoon, they benefited from a pair of home runs to beat the St. Paul Saints, 3-1.
This was the final game at CHS Field for the Saints until June 8.
The RailCats kicked off the scoring in the fourth inning when Colin Willis led off with a solo shot to right field. Garrett Copeland followed it up with a walk and advanced around the bases to score on a single to left field off the bat of DK Carey.
The Saints had an opportunity to break the game open in the fifth inning when they had bases loaded and one out but were only able to score one run, which came when Richard Prigatano hit a ground ball to the shortstop who bobbled the ball allowing all runners to advance a base.
A strikeout and a fly out to left field ended the inning without any further runs.
Gary extended the lead in the sixth thanks to Wilfredo Gimenez, who hit a one-out home run into the Saints bullpen in left field. Reggie Wilson tried to keep the inning going, reaching on a base hit but was thrown out at the plate after trying to score from third base on a flyout by Cole Fabio.
The Saints inched slightly closer in the bottom of the eighth inning when Brady Shoemaker hit a two-out single to center field. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when Jayce Boyd singled to left-center field.
The inning came to an end when Noah Perio Jr. lined out sharply to the first baseman.
The RailCats went back to their small ball ways in the top of the ninth inning after Wilson reached on an error by the first baseman. Carey advanced him one base on a sacrifice bunt, while Fabio grounded out to second to put Wilson on third for Alex Crosby, who was unable to get the job done, as he flew out to left field to end the inning.
The Saints attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, thanks to Dante Bichette Jr. reaching on an error to start the inning.
Unfortunately, the bottom of the Saints order was unable to come through, as Justin O’Conner picked up his fourth strikeout of the game while Kes Carter flew out to deep left field. The final hope for the Saints was Josh Allen but he grounded out to third base to end the game.
The Saints will now take to the road for a nine-game road trip that will take them to Grand Prairie and Cleburne — both in Texas — as well as Wichita, Kan.
The road trip is an annual tradition for the Saints to accommodate the Minnesota State High School League baseball championships that will be held at CHS Field over the next week and a half.
Notes
- The Saints did not attempt to steal a base on Sunday so they remain perfect in stolen bases with eight.
- The RailCats win on Saturday was the 700th career win for manager Greg Tagert during his time with the RailCats.
- The RailCats are now 3-3 this season against the Saints, with seven games left. The next time the two teams will play will be July 20-22 in Gary. They will then play four games at CHS Field on August 9-12 to wrap up their head to head schedule.
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