River Bandits Spoil Home Opener, Sweep Doubleheader

PEORIA, IL – After rain delayed Opening Night by nearly 24 hours, the Quad Cities River Bandits swept a doubleheader from the Chiefs on Saturday, besting Peoria 6-2 in the opener and 8-6 in the nightcap.

GAME ONE:

A Carson Roccaforte power surge led the River Bandits past Peoria in game one, a 6-2 Quad Cities win.

Roccaforte, a top 30 prospect in the Kansas City Royals system, worked a long at-bat against Chiefs starter Gerardo Salas before homering on the ninth pitch he saw to stake Quad Cities to a 1-0 lead.

The Peoria offense was stymied for much of the contest, but the Chiefs responded right away in the home half of the first. After Miguel Villarroel doubled to lead off the frame, an error by left fielder Bryan Gonzalez allowed Villarroel to score.

With the Quad Cities lead at 2-1 in the fifth, it was Roccaforte again. This time, a two-run blast bolstered the Quad Cities advantage to 4-1 and provided some cushion. Later in the inning, a Carter Frederick single made it 5-1.

River Bandits starter Frank Mozzicato kept Peoria hitters off balance to earn the win. Mozzicato, who went 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA in four starts against the Chiefs a season ago, did not surrender another hit after Villarroel’s double. He punched out three in the victory.

Quad Cities added an insurance run in the sixth when Callan Moss singled into center.

An RBI groundout from Jon Jon Gazdar, who made his High-A debut on Saturday, completed the scoring to create the final margin.

The Chiefs were looking to start the season 1-0 for the second consecutive season. Saturday’s contest marked the first time since 2015 that the Chiefs opened the year with Quad Cities, despite the River Bandits being Peoria’s closest neighbor geographically.

GAME TWO:

After jumping out to a big lead early, Quad Cities held off a furious Chiefs rally late to sweep the pair of contests, winning 8-6 in eight innings.

The River Bandits jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. A single to right field by Carter Frederick scored Daniel Vazquez to make it 1-0. After Frederick stole second and third, a walk to Sam Kulasingam set up a double steal attempt that brought in Frederick, extending the lead to 2-0.

In the third inning, Quad Cities extended their lead. A single by Callan Moss scored Trevor Werner to make it 3-0. A passed ball by catcher Grayson Tarlow allowed another run to score, increasing the lead to 4-0.

Quad Cities tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning, as Sam Kulasingam hit an RBI double with two men aboard to grow the lead to 6-0.

The Chiefs got their bats going in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff single by Ian Petrutz, followed by a double from Brayden Jobert and a walk to Joshua Baez, loaded the bases with no outs. The next batter, Miguel Ugueto, singled to center field, bringing in Petrutz and Jobert to make it 6-2. Johnfrank Salazar followed with a single to right field that scored Baez, closing the gap to 6-3. River Bandits starter Drew Beam retired the next batter, then Grayson Tarlow reached on a fielding error, allowing another run to score and making it 6-4. A couple of batters later, an RBI double by Miguel Villarroel scored two more runs, tying the game at 6-6.

With the 6-6 deadlock venturing into the seventh, both clubs had chances to win it. In the top of the seventh, Quad Cities had runners at second and third with two outs, but a Benjamin Arias strikeout of Daniel Vazquez ended the threat. In the home half of the frame, Brayden Jobert led off the inning with a double. Quad Cities reliever A.J. Causey buckled down to retire the next two batters, before Salazar dunked a single into right. Frederick, who reached four times and swiped five bags offensively, retired Jobert at the plate on a bang-bang play to extend the game to extra innings. Salazar finished with three hits for Peoria to pace the Chiefs.

In the eighth inning, with two aboard and one out, a single through the right side by Kulasingam scored Werner, giving Quad Cities a 7-6 lead. The next batter, Callan Moss, singled on a ground ball to the shortstop to add another run and extend the River Bandits' lead to 8-6. In the bottom half of the inning, Peoria loaded the bases with no outs but was unable to push any runs across, falling 8-6.

Quad Cities will look to sweep the three-game series on Sunday. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. from Dozer Park.