Vradenberg Upends Chiefs on Thursday

BELOIT, WI – The Beloit Sky Carp recorded 14 hits and Brock Vradenburg drove in five runs in a 6-2 win over the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday.

Vradenberg got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer to right center to give Beloit a 2-0 edge.

In the top of the fourth, the Chiefs got in on the home run party. Cardinals 2023 first-round pick Chase Davis launched a long home run to right field, cutting the deficit in half. For Davis, it was second High-A homer and his 10th on the year between Single-A Palm Beach and Peoria.

The Davis blast was the lone blemish on the line of Beloit starter Thomas White, the top prospect in the Miami Marlins system per MLB Pipeline. White scattered just two hits over five innings. He punched out seven Chiefs batters. The southpaw topped out at 99 MPH on the radar gun.

Chiefs starter Hancel Rincon labored early but gave his team a chance to win. The MWL-leader in innings pitched, Rincon again worked into the sixth inning. With two outs in the sixth, Vradenberg blooped a double into shallow right to grow the Beloit lead to 3-1. Rincon gave up 10 hits on Thursday but allowed just three runs over six innings to turn in his team-leading 10th quality start of the year.

The Chiefs scored a run in the top of the eighth inning, as they tried to score their second consecutive late rally in the series. Beloit, however, had other ideas, plating three key insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Yiddi Cappe singled past a diving Michael Curialle to extend the lead to 4-2. Then, Vradenberg put the exclamation point on his huge night. The first baseman smashed his second homer of the night to make it a 6-2 game. Vradenberg finished 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs. He was a triple shy of the cycle.

With a Quad Cities win over Wisconsin on Thursday, the Chiefs are now two games back of the River Bandits for a second-half playoff spot.

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Chiefs continue their series in Beloit on Friday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.