Peoria, IL – Despite giving up a six-run lead and trailing 8-6 in the eighth inning, the Peoria Chiefs walked off the Beloit Snappers 10-8 on Ryan McCarvel’s two-run home run on Tuesday afternoon. The win improves the Chiefs to 5-1 in the second half and 35-40 overall as they host Beloit for game three of the series on Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch.
The Chiefs got on the board first against Beloit starter Kyle Twomey to take a two run lead after one inning. Shane Billings tripled off the wall in left center to lead off and scored a batter later on Stefan Trosclair’s RBI single to make it 1-0. Danny Hudzina doubled down the left field line with two outs to score Trosclair and give Peoria a 2-0 lead, but Hudzina was called out at second to end the inning.
Peoria added two more runs in the third inning. Trosclair drew a leadoff walk and stole both second and third base. Ryan McCarvel drove in Trosclair with a sac fly to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead. The Chiefs weren’t done as Hudzina recorded his second double of the game and scored on Juan Yepez’s RBI single, which made the lead 4-0.
The Chiefs added a pair of insurance runs off Twomey in the fourth. Martinez doubled with one out and advanced to third on a Billings single. Billings stole his team-leading 14th base of the year to put two runners in scoring position. Trosclair brought both runners home with an RBI single to give Peoria a 6-0 lead but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double for the second out of the inning.
The Snappers tied the Chiefs with six runs, all of which were unearned, in the sixth inning off Chiefs relievers Bryan Dobzanski and Dewin Perez. Beloit didn’t have a base hit until the sixth breaking up a collective perfect game bid between Chiefs starter Evan Kruczynski and Dobzanski with Jason Goldstein’s one-out single. JaVon Shelby drew a walk in the next at bat to put runners on first and second. With two outs, Eric Marinez hit a ground ball to third, but Hudzina’s throwing error allowed Goldstein to score and make it a 6-1 Chiefs lead. Luke Persico singled to center to drive in Shelby and Marinez and cut the lead to 6-3. Miguel Mercedes drew a walk and Persico stole third to put runners on the corners for Beloit. Kyle Nowlin singled to center and scored Persico to trim the Peoria lead down to 6-4. That ended the outing for Dobzanski, and Perez entered for the Chiefs out of the bullpen. He hit Luis Barrera, the first batter he faced, before allowing a two-RBI single to J.C. Rodriguez that plated both Mercedes and Nowlin and tied the game at 6-6. Barrera was thrown out at home on the play to end the inning.
Beloit took its first lead of the game in the eighth inning off Perez and Eric Carter. Perez issued a pair of walks to Mercedes and Nowlin, the first two batters of the inning. After striking out Barrera, Perez was taken out and Carter came in from the bullpen. Rodriguez doubled to the wall in left field to bring in pinch-runner Edwin Diaz and give the Snappers a 7-6 lead. Goldstein drove in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly that scored Nowlin to make the Beloit lead 8-6.
The Chiefs wasted no time tying it back up in the bottom of the eighth against Beloit reliever Jesus Zambrano. Hudzina homered on the first pitch of the inning to left-center field to make it an 8-7 lead for the Snappers. Dylan Carlson singled with one out and was brought home on a double from Vince Jackson to knot the ballgame up at 8-8. Martinez walked, which put runners on first and second, and Billings advanced both runners on a ground out to first. Trosclair popped out to second to end the inning.
The Chiefs walked off the Snappers in the bottom of the ninth on McCarvel’s two-run home run, his eighth homer of the season, against Yordys Alejo. Matt Fiedler singled up the middle and advanced to second on a fielding error and came home a batter later on McCarvel’s walk off home run
Kruczynski tossed four perfect innings retiring all 12 batters he faced in his professional debut with a pair of strikeouts. Dobzanski allowed six runs, all of which were unearned, on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. Perez allowed a pair of runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three over 1 2/3 innings. Carter (3-1) earned the win allowing just one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings with a trio of strikeouts.
Mick Lite served for 12 years in the military and is now an entrepreneur and photographer. Has worked as the official scorer and social media manager for the River City Rascals, Statistician for the Missouri Monsters and St. Louis Attack arena football teams, and as the Team Photographer and social media consultant for the St. Charles Chill, SLU Hockey, St. Louis Slam, and Gateway Grizzlies.
