Diamonds in the Rough 6.24

Royals affiliates went 4-2 not including the AZL team whose results came in too late for this article.  HR Roll Call Anthony Seratelli (12) Julio Aparicio (1) Patrick Leonard (4) Jin-Ho Shin (2) Nick DelGuidice (1) 

Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Julio Aparicio 2-3 HR, 3 RBI, BB

Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Kyle Smith 6 Ip 0 H 0 R 1 BB 6 K

Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Oklahoma City Redhawks 2

The Chasers got a solid start from Doug Davis getting 6 shutout innings from the lefty to win his third game for the Chasers.  All four hits allowed by Davis were singles and the soft tossing lefty was able to sneak 6 K’s past Oklahoma City.  A solo home run by Anthony Seratelli in the first gave Omaha the lead followed by an RBI single from Tony Abreu in the 3rd and a triple by David Lough in the fifth that scored Wil Myers and Max Ramirez.  A two run home run off Louis Coleman would trim that 4-0 Omaha lead in half but the Chasers would get a 2 run single by Ramirez to push the lead back to 4 and giving Omaha the eventual winning margin of 6-2.

W: Davis (3-1, 3.08) L: Clemens (8-6, 6.19)
S: Sisk (6)

Arkansas Travelers 2 NW Arkansas Naturals 0

The Naturals couldn’t get much working for the second consecutive day collecting just 4 hits the day after they collected just 1 hit.  All four hits on the day were singles and none came with someone in scoring position resulting in back to back shutout losses.  The pitching of Michael Mariot and Ethan Hollingsworth kept pace for 8 innings working around 8 hits and a walk until the 9th when back to back singles and a wild pitch scored a Travelers run and moved another in scoring position that would later be cashed in.

W: Chaffee (2-1, 2.63) L: Hollingsworth (0-3, 5.90)
S: Johnson (5)

Potomac Nationals 7 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

Chase Boruff’s second start didn’t go too well with 5 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks in 2.1 innings leading the down the road of a 7-1 loss.  The offense put together just 3 hits and a run to drop the Rocks seventh game in a row.

W: Karns (2-2, 3.00) L: Boruff (1-4, 5.93)

Kane County Cougars 4 Clinton LumberKings 3

I’m sure most fans wouldn’t have expected Kyle Smith to live up to the expectations created by a 5 inning 11 K first start he did even more in his first start in Kane County.  The smallish right-hander was on his game working the minimum in his 6 innings getting 6 K’s and not allowing a hit in his second professional start. The only blemish on Smith’s record was a first inning walk that was quickly cleaned up with a line out double play which allowed him to find his groove and retire the last 16 hitters he faced.  The Cougars offense gave Smith a 3-0 lead at the time of his exit with a sac fly by Dean Espy in the 4th that scored Jorge Bonifacio and two more in the 6th on a 2 run single by Julio Aparicio that scored Bonifacio and Michael Antonio.  The bullpen couldn’t match Smith’s performance as Jason Mitchell allowed a 3 run home run in the 7th that allowed Clinton to tie the game up.  The two teams would go scoreless in the 8th but another big hit by Julio Aparicio, this one a lead off home run, would give Kane a 4-3 win.

W: Mitchell (2-4, 4.94) L: Shore (0-1, 3.00)

Burlington Royals 5 Elizabethton Twins 2

Still no Bubba in Burlington but the rest of the crew put together enough hits combined with solid pitching from the bullpen to put together their fourth win of the season.  Starter Patrick Conroy gave the Royals three shutout innings until the fourth when he allowed a pair of solo home runs to put Burlington behind 2-0.  The Royals offense down 2 would get a pair back in the fifth with a run scoring single by Terrance Gore and Chris Elder RBI that drove in Gore following his third stolen base of the year.  The Royals would get 2 more runs in the 6th on a double by Henry Moreno and run scoring single by Cam Connor to drive in Moreno.  The fourth home run of the season by Patrick Leonard would cap off the scoring in the 7th pushing the lead to 5-2 which would be more than enough for Daniel Stumpf and John Walter who finished off the final 3 innings scoreless, Stumpf the Royals 9th round draft pick from San Jacinto Junior College has yet to allow a hit in his 4 innings on the mound.

W: Peterson (1-0, 0.00) L: Boyd (0-2, 4.32)
S: Walter (1)

Idaho Falls Chukars 6 Grand Junction Rockies 4

Losers of three in a row to Grand Junction the Chukars put on a rally late to take their fourth win of the season.  Idaho Fall was down 4-2 after 6 innings but put up a pair of runs in the 7th on a couple walks and an throwing error following Ethan Chapman’s sac bunt.  A home run by Jin-Ho Shin would give the Chukars the lead in the 8th and another by Nick DelGuidice in the 9th would tack on an insurance run.  Reliever Cory Hall worked around a pair of hits and a walk in the final two innings to earn the save.

W: Middendorf (1-0, 1.80) L: Gonzalez (0-1, 4.50)
S: Hall (1)