Prospects walk-off Bulls in opener
By Dale Woodard on July 2, 2021.
The heat was already searing Thursday afternoon as the Lethbridge Bulls faced the Edmonton Prospects at Spitz Stadium.
Then the Prospects cranked it up further in their half of the ninth inning on their way to a 6-5 win in the first game of a Western Canadian Baseball League Canada Day double header.
Trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth as the home team the first game, the Prospects rallied with one out and cashed in on an error to Bulls second baseman Jack Ray that could have potentially been a game-ending double play.
Dion Wintjes then completed the comeback with a two-out single up the middle off Bulls reliever John Vulcano that scored Conor Bronson easily from third.
The Bulls had gone up 5-3 in the top of the ninth on a Carlin Dick double to left field that scored Ray.
As of press time Thursday night, the Bulls and Prospects were playing the evening portion of the double header at Spitz Stadium.
The loss puts the Bulls at 3-3 and spoiled a solid start by Lethbridge’s Flynn Ridley, who went five innings, giving up two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out 10.
Vulcano was tagged for the loss, while Prospects pitcher Kole Jessamine picked up the win, tossing the last three-and-a-third innings, surrendering two runs on five hits, giving up no walks and striking out five.
“We got a pretty good start from Flynn and the bullpen did a pretty good job.” said Bulls head coach Chance Wheatley. “We just need to make a couple more plays.”
The Bulls grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Ty Penner singled with one out and scored when Dalton Demers reached on an error to second.
The Prospects took a 2-1 lead after three innings when Jean-Luc Bussieres and Luciano Letteri drew walks and eventually scored.
Lethbridge tied it at 2-2 in the fourth inning as Liam Vulcano scored on a double from Ray and went up 3-2 in the sixth when Ray hit for his second RBI of the game that scored Evan Symons.
The Bulls doubled their lead in the eighth when Ty Wever singled to score Symons, but the Prospects closed it back to one in their half of the eighth when Jonny McGill walked and reached second on a passed ball. He eventually scored on a single from McCoy Pearce to make it 4-3.
Lethbridge restored their two-run lead in the top of the ninth on Dick’s double, but the visitors cued their comeback in the bottom on the inning.
With Bulls reliever Ardan Berg on the mound, Stephen Horner singled with one out and reached second on a passed ball and crossed on a single from Matty Reyes to pull Edmonton to within one.
With Reyes on first, Bronson looked like he might hit into a double play, but the ball bounced off Ray’s glove and into the outfield as Reyes advanced to third, putting runners on the corners.
Luther singled to score Reyes as Vulcano came on in relief for Berg.
Vulcano was able to send McGill down on strikes, but with two out, Wintjes delivered the walk-off winner.
With the second game hours away Thursday night, Wheatley stressed a quick turnaround after the tough loss.
“Just forget about it, we have another one coming up in two hours. Just forget about it.”
The heat wave blanketing all of western Canada didn’t let up throughout the afternoon game as both sides dealt with the blistering conditions.
“You just make sure everyone is drinking a ton of water, staying in the shade as best as they can and cooling off whenever possible, said Wheatley. “It’s tough though, for sure.”
The teams were back on the field Thursday night for the Canada Day wrapup and a capacity crowd as Alberta headed into the first day of Stage 3 of the COVID reopening.
“Everyone is really excited for this second game,” said Wheatley Thursday afternoon. “It’s very exciting to have the full capacity and it should be a really good crowd for the second game.”
The Prospects outhit the Bulls 10-7.
Ray had the sole multi-hit game for Lethbridge, batting 3-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI. Dick’s RBI double gives him six RBI this season.
For the Prospects, Luther was 2-for-5 hitting leadoff with one RBI, while Horner was 2-for-4 with one run scored.
Reyes batted 2-for-2 with one run scored and one RBI.
The Bulls and Prospects are back at it tonight at 7:05 p.m. and complete their weekend series Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
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It’s Ty Wevers, not Wever!