SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – In the second game of the current homestand, the Champion City Kings (3-4, 10-26) took on the Johnstown Mill Rats (2-3, 15-19) for a back-to-back.
Champion City scored five straight runs and hung on for a 6-4 win on Sunday (July 7) afternoon at Carleton Davidson Stadium for their second straight game.
Three straight singles for the Kings in the opening inning gave them the 1-0 lead. James Salvatori (Wheeling, West Virginia / West Liberty) led off with a single and stolen base. Ben Bach (Waconia, Minnesota / USAO) singled and Louis Florida (Wilmette, Illinois / DePauw) singled home Salvatori.
Johnstown responded with two runs in the second inning but Braylen Blomquist (St. Clairsville, Ohio / Wright State) tied the game with a solo shot down the right field line. His second homer of the season made it 2-2 in the second inning.
Blomquist and Evan Houseman (Springfield, Ohio / Bluffton) both coaxed walks in the fourth inning. Salvatori gave the Kings a 3-2 lead with a RBI single.
A three-run sixth inning pushed the lead to four runs for Champion City with the help of some timely hits. Blake Buzzeo (Stow, Ohio / Miami (Ohio)) reached on an error as the leadoff batter. Joe Ricchio (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin / Southern Indiana) singled while Houseman walked for the third time to load the bases. Florida struck again with a RBI infield single before Lucas Day (Dayton, Ohio / Oakland) brought home a pair with a single. Champion City led 6-2 as the game headed to the final third.
Johnstown scored two runs in the top of the ninth but Champion City closed the door, winning 6-4.
The top four hitters in the Kings lineup combined for eight hits with all having two hit games. Salvatori, Bach, Florida and Day totaled five RBI as a group.
Joe Tootle (Powell, Ohio / Ohio Northern) tossed a quality start with two runs allowed in six innings. Billy Nowakowski (Swanton, Ohio / Bluffton) gave up two unearned runs in 2.1 innings before Joe Stone (Waynesville, Ohio / Thomas More) closed the door in the ninth for his fourth save.
The homestand continues on Monday (July 8) with a 6:35 PM start against Johnstown.