River Bandits Best Chiefs in Whacky Series Finale

PEORIA, IL – The Quad Cities River Bandits survived a nearly four-hour affair that featured two Peoria position players on the mound in a 9-7 win at Dozer Park in 12 innings on Sunday.

The scoring began in the third inning for Quad Cities. With a runner aboard, a triple into right field by Carson Roccaforte scored Diego Guzman, giving the River Bandits a 1–0 lead. Daniel Vazquez followed with a groundout to shortstop, bringing home Roccaforte to make it 2–0.

Peoria got on the board in the fifth inning. With two outs, a walk to Zach Levenson loaded the bases. Joshua Baez followed with a single through the left side, scoring two runs and tying the game at two.

The score remained tied into the late innings behind a strong performance from Jose Davila and Zach Showalter, who combined to throw 8.2 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out 12.

In the eighth inning, the Chiefs had a golden opportunity. With runners on first and third and no outs, a ground ball hit by Michael Curialle to third led to Baez being caught in a rundown and tagged out at home. The play advanced Chase Adkison to second. Right-hander Shane Panzini retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

In the ninth inning, a two-out triple from Ryan Campos gave Peoria a chance to walk it off, but Levenson grounded out to end the threat and send the game to extras.

In the top of 10th inning, with the ghost runner at second, a bunt back to the mound allowed Callan Moss to score on a throwing error, putting Quad Cities ahead 3–2. After a pair of walks, a sacrifice fly by Trevor Werner extended the lead to 4–2.

Peoria responded in the bottom half of the 10th inning. A sacrifice fly by Adkison brought home Levenson to cut the deficit to 4-3. Curialle then singled on a grounder to third, The next batter, Miguel Ugeto hit into a force out that brought home Baez from second on a throwing error by shortstop Austin Charles, tying the game at four.

In the 11th, the River Bandits regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by Charles, making it 5–4. The Chiefs answered again in the bottom half of the inning. After Trey Paige advanced to third on a pair of outs, Campos walked to extend the inning. Levenson lifted a high popup that was dropped by Moss at first, allowing Paige to score and tie the game at five.

Quad Cities pulled ahead for good in the 12th. A sacrifice fly by Guzman scored Moss to make it 6–5. A double by Roccaforte put runners on second and third base before Vazquez drove in another run with a sac fly to center. Two batters later, Frederick delivered a two-run double to center, extending the lead to 9–5.

Peoria fought back in the bottom half. Curialle belted a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 9–7. Ugeto followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate, but the next two batters were retired to secure a 9-7 victory for Quad Cities.

The Chiefs hit the road Tuesday to open a six-game series with South Bend at Four Winds Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.