Press Releases

RailCats swept by Wingnuts in Semifinals with Game 3 11-3 defeat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (September 9, 2017)
Contact: Jared Shlensky
[email protected]

Box Score

WICHITA, Kan. — The Gary SouthShore RailCats had their season officially come to an end on Saturday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium after falling to the Wichita Wingnuts, 11-3, in Game 3 of the American Association Semifinals. 2017 marked the RailCats first postseason appearance since 2013 and their second consecutive 50+ win season.

Wichita (61-38, 3-0) took the opening lead of the series for the third straight time with a six-run third. Martin Medina delivered the first run of the game with an RBI single before TJ Mittelstaedt made it 2-0 with an RBI single of his own. Matt Chavez, who led the American Association with 84 RBIs in the regular season, increased the Wingnuts lead to 3-0 with an RBI groundout. Back-to-back RBI hits from Richard Prigatano and Brennen Salgado made it 5-0 before Leo Vargas brought in the final run of the inning with an RBI single.

The Winguts extended their lead to 8-0 with a pair of runs in the fourth. With runners on second and third, Prigatano shot a two-run triple down the right field line for the second of his two triples on the night.

Gary (57-43, 0-3) got on the board with a pair of runs in the fifth. Chase Harris brought home Ryan Fitzgerald with a sacrifice fly to left-center before Alex Crosby scored Andy De Jesus with an RBI groundout, cutting the Wingnuts lead to six.

The RailCats trimmed Wingnuts lead to 8-3 with their final run of the season in the top of the sixth. Kris Goodman reached second on a throwing error from the shortstop Vargas before moving up to third on Colin Willis’ groundout to second. Wilfredo Gimenez followed with his second extra-base of the game, an RBI double, bringing around Goodman to score from second.

Wichita added the final three runs of the series in the bottom of the sixth. Prigatano recorded his game-high fourth RBI of the night after getting hit with the bases loaded before Salgado increased their lead back up to eight on Salgado’s two-run single.

Daniel Minor (0-1) was charged with the loss in his American Association postseason debut. The right-handed allowed a career-high seven runs (five earned) on nine hits, a walk and three strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Eddie Medina (1-0) recorded the win after allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits, a walk and two strikeouts over six innings.

Wichita plays the winner of Lincoln and Winnipeg in the American Association Championship Series starting on Wednesday. Wichita returns to the Championship Series for the second consecutive season and for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Fans can purchase tickets for RailCats home games for the 2018 season by calling (219) 882-BALL or online at railcatsbaseball.com. The RailCats box office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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