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WINNIPEG, Man. (June 7, 2019) – The Cleburne Railroaders committed four errors over the final two innings, allowing a 6-2 lead to slip away in an 8-6 loss to the Winnipeg Goldeyes on Friday night at Shaw Park.

The Goldeyes rally began in the bottom of the seventh, as Dominic Ficociello reached on an error by first baseman Jonathan Rodriguez to start the inning. After a wild pitch moved Ficociello to second, Alex Perez singled up the middle. Zach Nehrir bobbled the ball in center, allowing Ficociello to come into score and allowing Perez to move to second, cutting Cleburne’s lead to 6-3. Kevin Garcia followed with a two-run homer to right, slicing the lead down to just a single run.

After Cleburne (10-11) went down in order in the top of the eighth, the Goldeyes moved in front in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff walk, a passed ball, and a wild pitch put Willy Garcia at third with one out; he came in to score when Reggie Abercrombie chopped an RBI single over a drawn-in infield to tie the game 6-6. A walk to Perez set the stage for Garcia, who slapped a ground ball to the left side of the infield that K.C. Huth smothered with a dive, but threw wildly to first. The miscue allowed Abercrombie to score the go-ahead run, then Rodriguez threw the ball into left field to bring Perez to the plate.

All told, the Goldeyes (14-7) scored their six late runs on just four hits.

Cleburne jumped out to the sizeable lead thanks to the long ball, as John Nester and Huth connected for solo homers in the second and third innings. A two-out RBI single in the third from Kenny Meimerstorf made it 3-0 Railroaders, then Huth added his second home run of the day in the sixth to make it 6-1.

Charlie Gillies pitched well for Cleburne, but ultimately had to settle for a no-decision. The righty allowed five runs on ten hits over six innings of work, striking out four without issuing a walk.

Marcus Crescentini (2-0) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning for Winnipeg, while Victor Capellan nailed down his eighth save with a scoreless ninth. It was Capellan’s 37th career save, tying him atop the Goldeyes career leaderboard.

The Railroaders and Goldeyes continue their series on Saturday night at 6:00. Right-hander Jesus Sanchez (2-2, 4.88) starts for Cleburne, while Winnipeg will go with lefty Ryan Johnson (1-0, 0.71).

For information on partnerships, season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Railroaders main office at (817) 945-8705, or visit the Railroaders official website at www.railroaderbaseball.com.

Photo Credit: Dave Mahussier/1812 Photography