SPRINGFIELD, OH – After falling 3-2 in the previous game, fans were treated to more offense as the Champion City Kings knocked off the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes 9-8. The go-ahead run scored on a long debate that eventually upheld a wild pitch to score Blake Buzzeo (Stow, OH; Miami University.)
Kyle Kesel (Hilliard, OH; Hillard Darby High School) made the start, allowing five earned runs in 4.1 innings with seven hits and four walks allowed, striking out five. After a night where the bullpen threw shutout ball in nearly five innings, the relief core would get the job done again. With the exception of one pitch leaving the yard for three runs, the Kings bullpen kept close with Springfield. Andrew DeWitt (Springfield, OH; Clark State College) threw the next 2.2 innings, allowing three earned runs off of three hits and one home run, walking one and striking out one. Daewin Spence (Portsmouth, OH; University of Rio Grande) threw a scoreless eighth with one punchout. Cole Agemy (Macomb, MI; Marshall University) got his first save with one hit, no walks and runs, and one strikeout in the ninth.
Down 5-1 halfway through, the Kings got four runs in the fifth inning and the last four runs in the last two innings. Eric Fouraker (Bryceville, FL; University of North Florida) picked up his first home run in the second inning and also his second RBI on the night in the fifth to score Tyler Cox (Westbury, NY; West Virginia University.) Calin Smith (Peachtree City, GA; Marshall University) doubled in two runs in the fifth, and eventually scored on Lucas Day (Dayton, OH; Oakland University) reaching on an error.
Nikolas Pereira (Palmetto Bay, FL; Florida Southwest State College) singled in a run in the seventh to pull the Kings within two. Then came the eighth inning, as Evan Lorey (Howell, MI; Spring Arbor University) singled to score Tyler Cox. Calin Smith brought in Lorey to tie the game up, with Smith coming home during Pereira’s at-bat. A long conversation eventually kept the wild pitch ruling to score the go-ahead run. The Kings won 9-8.