River Bandits’ Rallies Fall Short in Series-Evening Defeat

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits (65-54, 35-21) erased a pair of three-run deficits Friday, but dropped their second-straight ballgame to the Beloit Sky Carp (63-60, 36-22) 7-6 at Modern Woodmen Park.

Quad Cities’ first three-run hole emerged in the opening frame, with Max Williams’ solo homer, Carter Johnson’s RBI-triple, and a run on a Kendry Chourio wild pitch putting the Sky Carp up 3-0 before the Bandits ever stepped to the plate.

Jose Cerice’s two-run single trimmed the margin to one in the bottom of the first, but Beloit starter Emmett Olson stranded the tying run at third to end the opening frame. Cerice’s knock extended his on-base streak to 44 games, officially the longest in the Midwest League this season.

After his initial struggles, Chourio finished his start in a groove, retiring the final seven hitters he faced including three of his night’s four strikeouts.

Quad Cities eventually erased Beloit’s first three-run lead in the third when Erick Torres drove in his third run of the series with an RBI-groundout to tie the game 3-3.

Beloit immediately jumped back in front in the fourth against Rob Hensey, as Chase Jaworsky pulled an RBI-double down the left-field line to plate Johnson.

One inning later, the Sky Carp got to the Bandits’ southpaw again, extending their lead to 6-3 with RBI-singles from Esmil Valencia and Jaworsky.

Hensey finished off his 3.0-inning relief outing with a scoreless top of the sixth, his line showing three runs on season-highs of six hits and four walks, plus three strikeouts.

Nolan Sailors’ two-out RBI-single kicked off Quad Cities’ second comeback in the sixth, the only run allowed by Peyton Fosher who was first out of Beloit’s bullpen. Another two-out swing tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, as Ben North took Justin Storm deep with a two-run blast, knotting the game 6-6 with his fifth home run in eight games.

After Kamden Edge totaled four strikeouts over a perfect seventh and eighth, Yimi Presinal took over on the mound for the Bandits in the top of the ninth. The right-hander retired Cam Clayton to start the frame, but surrendered a solo shot to Dillon Head.

Trailing 7-6, Bandits’ catcher Blake Mitchell drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth—his High-A-leading 109th of the season—and stole third with two outs, but Michael Perez secured his first Sky Carp save, striking out Derlin Figueroa to end the game and strand Mitchell 90 feet away.

Quad Cities’ loss evened the Bandits’ and Sky Carp’s six-game set at two wins apiece through the week’s first four and brought Beloit within four one-hundredths of a win percentage point of the Bandits’ division lead.

QC returns to Modern Woodmen Park for the series’ fifth game tomorrow night and sends David Shields (10-5, 3.97) to the mound opposite Sky Carp right-hander Carson Laws (2-6, 6.24). First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.