Slammers Take 11 to Tame Wild Things

Josh Flores drove in Brad Netzel with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Joliet Slammers knocked off the Washington Wild Things by a final score of 5-4 Tuesday night.

For the second straight night it was the Wild Things taking the early lead. Scott Lawson drew a lead-off walk and one out later Chris Sidick hit one to Joliet Central High School for a two-run shot. The Wild Things got back-to-back singles after that but Jason Jarvis was able to get out of the jam with no further damage.

Joliet responded in the bottom half of the frame. With two outs Flores showed off his speed as he tripled to left-center. Erik Lis followed with his team-leading 17th RBI as he smacked a double down the right field line.  

Things looked bad for Jarvis in the second as the first two batters reached on errors. But he was able to get out of the jam thanks to a 3-6-3 double play and a grounder to third.

The Slammers grabbed the lead in the second as Sean Estand got the ball rolling with a single. One out later Ben Hewett hit a slow roller to third that Kevyn Feiner threw a way and the Slammers had runners on second and third. After Ben Ferrell struck-out, Bobby Leeper drew a walk.

Netzel came up huge as he singled to right. Two runs scored and Netzel got in a rundown between first and second.

Leeper tried to take advantage and score but the Wild Things threw him out at the plate. Nonetheless the Slammers had the 3-2 edge.

It wouldn’t last very long as Washington scored two of their own in the fourth. Doug Thennis drew a lead-off base-on-balls and Derek Perren doubled him to third. Blake Ochoa hit a RBI grounder to tie the game at three. Then with two away, and Scott Lawson at the plate, Jarvis uncorked a wild pitch. Perren came in to score and Washington was up 4-3.

The Slammers couldn’t get much offense after the second inning against Washington starter Justin Edwards. However they would break through in the seventh off reliever Davis Bilardello. Ben Ferrell blooped a single to left and advanced to second on a passed ball. Leeper put down a nice bunt and Bilardello threw it away. Ferrell scored to tie the game and Leeper advanced to second on the play.

After that it was a game of missed opportunities, especially in the ninth when the Slammers loaded the bases with one out but did not score.

Luckily the Slammers’ bullpen was up to the task. They threw five shutout innings as Kyle Kriech, Brian Smith, and Chuck Lukanen combined to shut down Washington.

In the 11th Netzel doubled with one away. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and Flores secured the first walk-off win in team history with a sacrifice fly to deep right. Flores was mobbed at first base as the team celebrated the win. The first walk-off win in Slammers’ history also comes in the first extra innings game in Slammers history.

For Joliet it’s their fifth straight victory at home. They remain in second place in the East Division, one game back of the Windy City ThunderBolts. The Slammers will look for their second sweep of the year Wednesday night as Andrew Moss (1-1, 3.38 ERA) takes the mound against Justin Hall (3-2, 4.20 ERA). First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. CST and if the Slammers win the game everyone in attendance gets a free ticket to the next Wednesday home game.