Trois-Rivières, QC—The Empire State Greys (4-9) defeatedTrois-Rivières (5-9) 16-6 in game two of the three game set and got contributions from the whole team.
Once again it appeared as if the Aigles and Greys would be in a back-and-forth battle. Both clubs drove in two runs in the second to open up the scoring. A Mike Gulino fielder’s choice and Steve Barkamkian single drove in the first two runs for Empire State, however, Trois-Rivières immediately responded with a Canice Ejoh 2-run homer off of Greys starter Zach Gettys in the bottom half of the inning.
After both clubs scored a run in the third, the Greys turned on the gas in the fourth and fifth. Zak Whalin led off the fourth inning with a solo shot off of Sam Pollquin (L, 0-2) to give the Greys the lead in which they wouldn’t let up. Two batters later, Mike Gulino followed up his homerun from last night with a 2-run blast. In the fifth, John Mead delivered a 3-run home run giving the Greys a 10-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The middle innings were highlighted by Greys relief pitcherWilber Perez (W, 2-0). Coming off earning the save last night, Perez was excellent throwing the sixth and seventh innings. Over the course of the two innings, Wilber struck out three and allowed just one hit and one walk.
Empire State rallied once again, scoring six runs across the seventh and eighth innings. Trois-Rivières attempted a comeback in the eighth, scoring two on two-out Nate Scantlin triple that narrowed the deficit to 16-6. Following the triple, the Aigles offense could not get anything going. Tanner Propst shut the door in the ninth throwing a 1-2-3 inning.
An additional story for the Greys tonight comes from Zach Gettys. Gettys, who typically works in relief for the Greys, was not intended to start tonight’s game. Down two starters and two relievers, the Greys needed somebody to step up and Zach rose to the occasion. He kept the club in the game by throwing a strong four innings and allowed just three runs in the unfamiliar role.
Ryan Sandberg will take the bump for the Greys at 1:05 tomorrow afternoon and will look to sweep the series in Trois-Rivières.