DOTEL HOMERS TWICE AS BIRDS FALL IN SLUGFEST
Sioux Falls, SD – Wellington Dotel‘s pinch-hit homerun in the fourth inning helped Sioux Falls erase an early deficit but Cleburne stormed back to top the Birds 19-12 on Saturday.
The Railraoders plated five first inning runs before Sioux Falls answered with four in the home half. Wyatt Ulrich and Darnell Sweeney opened the frame with back-to-back singles and Ulrich scored on a base hit from Jabari Henry. Mike Hart was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Hunter Clanin drew a walk. Henry scored on a fielder’s choice and Cole Pengilly delivered an RBI single before Cleburne could escape the jam.
The Railroaders struck for four runs in the third inning but Sioux Falls answered with a six-run fourth. Henry, Hart and Clanin produced consecutive RBI base hits before Dotel launched his three-run pinch-hit round-tripper to give the Canaries a 10-9 lead.
Cleburne, though, went back in front for good with a seven-run sixth inning and scored twice more in the seventh. Clanin singled with one out in the home half before Dotel crushed his second homerun of the contest. The Railroaders added an insurance run in the eighth inning and did not allow a baserunner the rest of the way.
Eight different Canaries recorded a hit, led by Ulrich’s three, as Sioux Falls finished with 16 as a team. The squad’s 42 hits through the first three games are the franchise’s most to begin a season since 2010.
The two teams will wrap up their four-game series on Sunday at 12:05pm.
