The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Lake Erie (Michigan) Monarchs 6-3 in seven innings Monday at a rainy and dark Coral Seymour Memorial Park.
The Oilers finished the four-game series with the Monarchs with two wins and two ties. Peninsula is now 5-1-2 overall, while Lake Erie is 2-6-3.
The Oilers take today off before beginning a four-game series with the Oceanside (California) Waves on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Seymour Park.
If not for a three-run Oilers rally in the bottom of the seventh inning that was assisted by the weather, Peninsula and the Monarchs would have tied for the third time in four days.
With the rain quickening and the light dimming, the Oilers quickly made two outs in the bottom of the seventh with the score tied at 3.
AJ Hernandez started the winning rally with a walk, then Josh Rose singled. Jordan Sanford then beat out a roller down the third-base line to load the bases.
Gabriel Munoz then lofted a fly ball into the watery skies above short left field. The left fielder slipped trying to catch the ball, allowing three runs to score unearned.
The game would be called just two pitches later.
The odd sequence of events made a winner out of Sterling pitcher Mitchel Daugherty, who made his first appearance for the Oilers in the top of the seventh.
Daugherty, who just returned from college at Southwest Oregon, pitched one scoreless and hitless inning while walking one and striking out one.
Tyler Gibson got the start for the Oilers. Gibson pitched five innings and give up eight hits and three earned runs while walking one and striking out five.
Chad Rieser made his Oilers debut on the hill in the sixth, pitching a perfect inning and striking out two of the three he faced.
After the Monarchs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, the Oilers came right back with two runs in the bottom of the second.
Hernandez walked and would score on a sacrifice fly by Ethan McGill, and Sanford singled and would score on a two-out double by Jake Sandlin.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Oilers took a 3-2 lead when Rose and Sanford led off with singles, then Munoz walked. McGill walked to score Rose.
Sanford led the Oilers by going 3 for 4 with two runs, while Rose was 2 for 3.
Caleb Stayton was 3 for 3 for the Monarchs, while JP Maracani was 2 for 4.
Reliever Jimmy Orwick was the hard-luck loser due to the dropped fly ball.
Monday
Oilers 6, Monarchs 3
Monarchs AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI
Rwbm lf 3 0 1 1 Yagi 2b 4 0 0 0
Mlr lf 0 0 0 0 Rbwz ss 4 0 0 0
Mcni cf 4 1 2 0 Pske dh 4 0 0 0
Fla ss 2 0 0 1 Hrdz 3b 1 2 0 0
Sytn 1b 3 0 3 0 Rose rf 3 2 2 0
McIy dh 3 0 0 0 Snfd lf 4 2 3 0
Vsy c 3 1 1 0 Mnz c 2 0 0 3
Clhn rf 3 1 1 0 McGl 1b 1 0 0 2
Hfy 3b 2 0 0 0 Sdln cf 3 0 1 1
Flkns 3b 0 0 0 0 —- — — — —
Jnsn 2b 2 0 0 1 —- — — — —
Totals 25 3 8 3 Totals 26 6 6 6
Lake Erie 020 010 0 —3
Oilers 020 100 3 —6
2B — Rowbottom, Maracani, Sandlin. SF — Fiala, Johnson, McGill. SB — Maracani, Hernandez. CS — Maracani. LOB — Monarchs 6, Oilers 8.
IP H R ER BB SO
Monarchs
Schneider 6 4 3 3 3 6
Orwick, L 2-3 2 3 0 1 1
Oilers
Gibson 5 8 3 3 1 5
Rieser 1 0 0 0 0 2
Daugherty, W 1 0 0 0 1 1
WP — Schneider, Gibson. PB — Munoz. HB — Schneider 3.
