Sluggers knock off league-leading Locos

SLUGGERS &emsp;&emsp;9 LIMA LOCOS 2 LIMA – Flag City staged three three-run rallies on Friday when the Sluggers combined opportunistic offense with outstanding pitching in posting a 9-2 win over the league-leading Lima Locos in a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League game at Simmons Field. Flag City, after an 0-6 start to the season, has won 13 of 17 games since then and is 13-10 overall. Lima, which had won eight of its last 10 in climbing to the top of the GLSCL North Division standings, is 16-8. Jaxon Brown doubled and Trey Gardner and Brayden Curlis had RBI singles during a three-run fourth inning that put the Sluggers up 3-2. Brown singled and scored during another three-run rally in the sixth, and an infield base hit, an error and a couple of walks fueled another three-run Flag City burst in the eighth. Brown (1B, 2B), Harrison Engskov (2-1B, RBI) and Chris Franks (2-1B, 2 RBI) all had two hits for the Sluggers. Lima pitchers combined to strike out 13 Flag City batters, but six errors by the Locos meant that only three of the Sluggers nine runs were earned. Lima took a 2-0 second-inning lead on Luke Motolla's base hit and Brecken Menuet's RBI double. Flag City's pitching shut the Locos down most of the game, though. Cameron Baker earned the pitching win, allowing five hits and two runs in five innings. Ben Best (2 innings), Ashton Williams and Cooper Ashby then pitched four innings of hitless relief, with Williams and Ashby pitching a perfect 1-2-3 eighth and ninth inning respectively. The Sluggers notched their fifth win in six games on Thursday, erupting for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in their 13-8 win over the Michigan Monarchs. Baker, who doubled in two runs in the first inning, had an RBI single, then scored on the back end of a double steal in the fifth. Ryan Mills, Matt Gardner and Brett Reed added RBI singles in the inning. Engskov had two singles and a double, with Caleb Smith, Baker, Mills and Franks all collecting two hits. Jacob Brandon, the second of five Flag City pitchers, earned the win on the mound. Flag City returns to Simmons Field today (6:05 p.m.) and Sunday (5:05 p.m.) to complete the three-game series with the Locos. FRIDAY'S GAME Sluggers &emsp;&emsp;000 &emsp;&emsp;303 &emsp;&emsp;030—9 11 &emsp;&emsp;1 Lima Locos &emsp;&emsp;020 &emsp;&emsp;000 &emsp;&emsp;000—2 5 &emsp;&emsp;6 WP—Baker. LP—Shapiro. TOP HITTERS: (FC) Reed 1B, RBI; Engskov 2-1B, RBI; Franks 2-1B, 2 RBI; Brown 1B, 2B. (LL) Menuet 2B, RBI. THURSDAY'S GAME Monarchs &emsp;&emsp;030 &emsp;&emsp;001 &emsp;&emsp;400—8 9 &emsp;&emsp;4 Sluggers &emsp;&emsp;301 &emsp;&emsp;161 &emsp;&emsp;01x—13 16 &emsp;&emsp;1 WP—Brandon (1-0). LP—Elsey (0-1). TOP HITTERS: (MM) Epple 2B, 2 RBI; Wilkinson 2-1B; Best 3-1B, 2 RBI. (FC) Reed 2-1B, 2 RBI; Engskov 2-1B, 2B; Ca. Smith 2-1B, 2 RBI; Baker 1B, 2B, 3 RBI; Franks 2-1B; Mills 2-1B, RBI; M. Gardner 1B, RBI. Schedule SATURDAY'S EVENTS GLSCL BASEBALL Flag City at Lima Locos, 6:05 p.m. LEGION BASEBALL Findlay at Cambridge Tournament SUNDAY'S EVENTS GLSCL BASEBALL Flag City at Lima Locos, 5:05 p.m. LEGION BASEBALL Findlay at Cambridge Tournament