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Chiefs Comeback Bid Falls Short in 9-8 Loss Friday

Five-run eighth inning not enough on Friday
June 17, 2022

Peoria, IL – The Chiefs fell behind early in the ballgame on Friday night and their last ditch comeback effort fell just a bit short, as West Michigan held on for their third win of the series by a final of 9-8. A Trei Cruz RBI single opened the scoring

Peoria, IL – The Chiefs fell behind early in the ballgame on Friday night and their last ditch comeback effort fell just a bit short, as West Michigan held on for their third win of the series by a final of 9-8.

A Trei Cruz RBI single opened the scoring in the top of the second frame against Peoria starter Wilfredo Pereira, who entered Friday with a 1.20 ERA in three starts this season. In the Whitecaps next trip to the plate, they sent two more runs in thanks to Bryant Packard and Josh Crouch who each delivered with RBI singles to make it a 3-0 visitors lead after three innings.

It appeared West Michigan was headed for a convincing win when they again struck for a pair of runs in the fourth. An RBI triple from Carlos Mendoza made it 4-0. The next batter, Daniel Cabrera, rolled a ground ball to first that sent Mendoza to the plate to make it 5-0.

In the bottom of the frame, the Chiefs got in on the scoring. A hit by pitch brought up Francisco Hernandez who deposited his third home run of the campaign over the wall in right-center field to bring the Chiefs to within three.

Pereira kept the Whitecaps off the board in the fifth, fanning the side in his final inning of the evening. Upon the bottom of the fifth, the Chiefs continued their middle inning surge, adding another tally when Mike Antico rocketed a double down the left field line to plate Tommy Jew that made it a 5-3 contest.

The score held through the sixth inning before the Whitecaps returned to the scoreboard. After two quick outs, a two-out single brought up Bryant Packard who clobbered a home run that made it a four-run game again at 7-3. Then, one inning later in the eighth, an Elezier Alfonzo knock scored another couple of West Michigan runs to up the score to 9-3.

It appeared as if the game was slipping away, but Peoria uncorked a massive eighth inning, to turn the blowout into a nail-biter. Todd Lott was plunked to begin the inning, then Aaron Antonini singled to set up Francisco Hernandez. The man of the hour delivered again with a base hit to score Lott to make it 9-4. Ramon Mendoza then worked a walk to load the bases for Noah Mendlinger, who chopped one to first base. In an attempt to turn a double play, an error on the return throw to first allowed both Antonini and Hernandez to score to cut the deficit to 9-6. Two batters later it was Mike Antico who had an opportunity and delivered. His two-run double into the alley in left-center plated yet another pair to cut the deficit down to 9-8.

With the middle part of the order due in the bottom of the ninth, Peoria had hopes of a fourth walk-off win this season but came up empty after an Aaron Antonini liner fell just short of the wall and West Michigan survived, winning it by a 9-8 score.

The two squads will meet again tomorrow night with first pitch coming at 6:35 p.m., with postgame fireworks set to follow the contest. The Chiefs send southpaw John Beller to the bump, while West Michigan features right-hander Carlos Guzman.