Grand Slam in the ninth gives Zephyrs 9-8 win over Vikings

The Southland Vikings (10-13) led most of the way but a six-run ninth inning, capped off by a Peter Les grand slam, gave the Chicago Zephyrs (8-16) a surprising road victory.

After Scott Kubo led off the game with a solo home run, the Vikings quickly came back with two runs of their own including RBIs from Chris Stevens and James Dawson. The team expanded their lead in the second with a 3-run home run by Shane Brown and a 2-run single by Dawson to give the Vikings a 7-1 lead.

Brown fueled the Vikings’ offense as he went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs while Dawson went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Chris Stevens also had a good day at the plate as he finished going 3 for 5 with two runs scored and one RBI.

After the Zephyrs scored two runs in the fourth inning thanks to a home run by Josh Camalick, Dan Potempa knocked a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning to make it 8-3.

While the Vikings offense looked strong, Brandon Duplessis (1-1) looked sharp on the mound. He lasted six innings while allowing three earned and five hits as well as striking out eight. Benny Collesano pitched the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a hit.

But in the ninth inning, Tyler Willis struggled for the Vikings and the Zephyrs cut the lead to 8-5. Jim Tucker then came in and after walking Kubo, Les gave the Zephyrs the lead with a grand slam. The Vikings went down in order in the bottom of the ninth and Tucker (0-3) received the loss; Phil Richmond (3-1) of the Zephyrs got the win.

They will look to rebound from this tough loss on Wednesday when they host the Rockford Foresters, who they are 2-1 against this season.