LAVALLEY DRIVES IN FOUR, BULLPEN SHINES AS BIRDS DOWN SIOUX CITY
Sioux City, IA – Gavin LaValley drove in four runs and the Sioux Falls bullpen tossed four shutout innings to lift the Canaries over rival Sioux City 7-4 on Thursday
LaValley crushed a two-run homerun in the second inning before the Explorers answered with a solo shot in the home half. LaValley and Trey Michalczewski delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the third but Sioux City responded with a game-tying three-run homerun in the bottom portion.
But it was all Sioux Falls the rest of the way as LaValley brought in another run on a fifth inning fielder’s choice to put the Canaries on top for good. The Birds added a pair of insurance runs late, scoring on an error before Shamoy Christopher cracked a solo homerun. Meanwhile Sioux City could managed just one baserunner against the Sioux Falls bullpen, who finished with a combined eight strikeouts.
Ty Culbreth tossed five innings to earn his sixth win, putting him in a five-way tie for the league lead while Riley Ferrell collected his tenth save. Sioux Falls is now 22-31 and will look to clinch the series Friday night at 7:05pm.
