The Niagara Falls Americans fell to the Auburn Doubledays for the second night in a row, by a score of 6-3. Strong pitching performances by Auburn determined the outcome of both games. The Americans fall to 6-2 on the season, while Auburn reaches above .500, improving to 4-3-1. Niagara Falls will have to wait nearly a month to attempt to tally a win in the season series, with the next and only regular season rematch scheduled for July 10th.
On another down offensive day for Niagara Falls, Tommy Mathay, Paul Dulanto, and Grant Moore led the way. Mathay went 1-of-2 on the day, walking twice, scoring once, and tallying three stolen bases. Dulanto also went 1-of-2 with one run and two walks. Moore tallied one RBI on a triple, his only hit in three at bats.
Keegan Bazinet was the first of three pitchers the Americans used. Bazinet, the game’s losing pitcher, pitched the first 5.0 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, and striking out four. After walking the first two batters to start the 6th inning, Hudson Boring entered in relief. Boring walked his first batter faced, and then gave up a sacrifice fly, a groundout, and a single before being pulled. Czaja pitched the final 2.1 innings for Niagara Falls, allowing two earned runs, and striking out four.
The Doubledays’ 10-run offensive night was led by Tommy Kirwan, Adam Sullivan, and Parker Schwake. Kirwan hit two singles, walked once, and stole two bases, allowing him to score two runs. Sullivan went 2-for-4 at the plate, driving in one run. Schwake tallied two hits in three at bats, scoring once, walking once, and stealing one bag.
Auburn turned in three impressive pitching performances on the night. Their starter, Hunter Lefkus, pitched the first 5.0 innings, allowing three hits and three walks, leading to two runs, only one earned. He would strikeout seven of his 23 batters faced. Estyn Elkouh entered to pitch the full 6th inning, and would be credited with the win. Elkouh walked three batters and struck out one, but allowed no runs. Tyler ViVacqua would pitch the final 3.0 innings for Auburn in his two-way performance. ViVacqua allowed only two hits, one walk, and one earned runs in his three full innings. He struck out four and earned his first save of the season.
Neither team came out to early offensive play, as the first run would be scored in the bottom of the 3rd. Both teams combined to have four baserunners in the first five half-innings. After recording the first two batters faced out to start the bottom of the 3rd, an error by the third baseman allowed B. Haarde to reach 1st and advance to second base. After a walk and single for the next two batters, the Americans found the bases loaded with two outs. A single through the left side by Adam Sullivan allowed Haarde to score the first run of the game. The inning ended on the same play, as Tyler ViVacqua would be tagged out at home trying to score a second run.
After both teams achieved only one single in the 4th, The Americans scored their first runs of the inning in the top of the 5th. After the first two batters faced were retired, Tommy Mathay reached on a walk. A steal attempt advanced him to 2nd base. The next batter, Carmen Panaro, worked a walk and Mathay attempted to steal 3rd on the final pitch of the at bat. An high throw by the catcher allowed Mathay to score, tying the game. With two outs and a batter on 1st, Grant Moore hit a triple that drove in Panaro to give the Americans the lead. Despite Evan Kohr reaching on a hit by pitch and stealing second, the inning ended with no more runs for the Americans.
Auburn scored next in the 6th inning. After walks on the first two batters of the inning for Bazinet, Niagara Falls turned to Hudson Boring. Boring walked his first batter faced to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Michael GiMartino drove in Schwake to re-tie the game. The Doubledays next run happened during the next at bat, when Tommy Kirwan stole second. With the Paul Dulanto attempting to throw out the stealing runner at second, the baserunner at 3rd base, Max Fishbein, ran to home, and the throw back did not come in time, giving Auburn the lead. After a groundout moved Kirwan to third, a single by Sam Meyer drove Kirwan in, scoring the third and final run of the inning, as well as what would become the winning run.
The Americans chipped away at the Doubledays’ lead in the 8th inning. The first two batters faced, Dulanto and Ian Huang, walked and then hit a double, putting runners on first and second with no outs. After a strikeout, a sacrifice fly by Jake Hollins drove in Dulanto, who scored the final run of the game for the Americans. The Doubledays shut down this momentum quickly, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 8th. Kirwan and GiMartino would both score on seperate wild pitches, giving Auburn their fifth and sixth runs of the day, that would stand for the 6-3 final score.
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Catch the next Americans home game tomorrow, June 14th, when we host the Niagara Ironbacks in a contest scheduled to start at 6:30pm. It is Guaranteed Win Night! We guarantee a win, or else you will be given a ticket to another Americans game! To purchase single-game or season tickets, call 716-215-6161 or visit niagarafallsamericans.com for more information. Season tickets start as low as $99! If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the Americans, or organizing a group outing to an Americans game, please contact General Manager Marc Witt at mwitt.canusa@gmail.com.
