Loons Walkoff River Bandits, Win 7-6 in 10 innings

MIDLAND, Mich. – A back-and-forth game that featured five lead changes was decided in the bottom of the tenth. A Yunior Garcia single gavethe Great Lakes Loons (13-9) a 7-6 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits (9-12) on an overcast Tuesday morning at Dow Diamond. The contest was the first since 2018 between both teams at Dow Diamond.

Great Lakes jumped out to an early lead. Austin Gauthier swung at the first pitch, plastering it off the left field wall. Dalton Rushing flared the first pitch he saw down the left-field line to make it. The Dodgers 2022 second-round pick has four hits in 10 attempts against left-handed pitchers.

Quad Cities’ Noah Cameron, closed out the first with a double play and then would strike out 11 batters over five innings. The most by a pitcher in a start this season in the Midwest League.

Ben Casparius, the starter for the Loons worked a scoreless first four innings. In the fifth, he got touched up for two home runs. Shervyen Newton and Jack Pineda went back-to-back, giving the River Bandits a 3-1 lead.

The sixth saw Quad Cities bullpen make their first appearance, four pitchers combined to walk six batters from the fifth to the tenth. Marlin Willis hit a batter and walked three, allowing Great Lakes to pull within one. The Loons tacked on the tying run from a bases-loaded base on balls from Taylor Young. Brandon Johnson ended the inning.

Austin Gauthier, who leads the team in hits, would add his first home run. A go-ahead solo blast to lead off the seventh. Jake Vogel walked and moved to third following a Dalton Rushing base knock. Vogel was plated after a 4-6-3 double play.

An error, balk, and walk helped the River Bandits to knot up the score. Cayden Wallace reached on a drop from Yunior Garcia at first base, Carter Jensen walked, and a balk moved the runners who scored on a single from River Town. Both runs were unearned for Christian Suarez.

The bottom of the Great Lakes order put them back on top in the eighth. Yunior Garcia singled and Chris Alleyne doubled, those two were a combined 0-6 with six strikeouts before the frame. Austin Gauthier’s infield single to shortstop, was enough to make it 6-5.

Jake Pilarski was given the ninth and a chance for his eighth save to extend his Minor League Baseball lead. Quad Ciites played spoiler, rallying for two consecutive hits, the second a game-tying RBI double. Pilarski stranded the potential go-ahead runner with a strikeout and groundout.

The Loons 3-4-5 went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Hobbs appeared in his second tenth inning of the season and sat down the River Bandits in order. The Loons needed just one in the tenth and got it with Yunior Garcia's single. Ismael Alcantara came across the plate coming off the bench as a pinch runner.

Great Lakes and Quad Cities square off in game two tomorrow Wednesday, May 3rd. The first pitch is at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday is Paws & Claws Day featuring 50% off White Claws all game long.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.