Dance Halls Win 2018 Battle for the Boot Championship

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Round Rock Dance Halls (32-42) were crowned back-to-back Battle for the Boot Champions on Saturday night after the team used some late-game heroics to capture a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Honky Tonks (33-39) at First Tennessee Park. The win not only means the Boot will reside in Round Rock for another year, but that Central Texas retains its rightful ownership as the real Music City.
With the Dance Halls down to their final out in the top of the ninth, CF Drew Robinson put an end to the Nashville shutout by launching an opposite-field solo shot to left, knotting the score at 1-1. The 'Tonks had held a 1-0 advantage for a majority of the contest after 3B Sheldon Neuse doubled home CF Jake Smolinski in the fourth.
Round Rock reliever LHP Brandon Mann (2-0, 1.91) proceeded to strikeout the side in the bottom half of the 9th inning to send the game to extra innings, eventually earning the win for his effort.
In the top of the tenth, Dance Halls SS Hanser Alberto broke Nashville's heart by delivered the game-winning hit when he drove RF Hunter Cole home from second on a groundball single up the middle.
Nashville's bats made things interesting in the bottom half of the frame when SS Jorge Mateo reached on a bunt single off Round Rock closer R.J. Alvarez to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The next batter, 2B Melvin Mercedes , sent a chopper right back to the mound that Alvarez snagged before firing a strike to the plate to catch Honky Tonks 1B Steve Lombardozzi in a 1-2-5-3 rundown between third and home.
Alvarez went on to lock up his Pacific Coast League-leading 13th save of the season after retiring the next two Nashville batters on a strikeout and a groundout to complete the 2-1 comeback.
Round Rock starter LHP David Hurlbut ended up with a tough no-decision after he tossed 6.0 frames of one-run ball. The 28-year-old punched out six Nashville batters while walking none, allowing just five hits to continue a recent stretch of dominant performances on the mound. Hurlbut has yielded three earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts, good for a 2.95 ERA over 21.1 innings pitched in the month of June.
The Dance Halls will aim to lock up a series win at First Tennessee Park on Sunday night. Round Rock RHP Richelson Peña (0-1, 10.80) is slated to face Honky Tonks RHP Ben Bracewell (0-2, 6.46). First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CDT.
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