ALTON - Seventh-inning RBI doubles by Evan Evola and Bryce Zupan of Civic Memorial gave the Alton River Dragons a comeback 7-6 win over the Jackson, Tenn,. Rockabillys in a Prospect League baseball game Wednesday night at Lloyd Hopkins Field in Gordon Moore Park, having trailed 6-1 after the top of the fourth inning.
The River Dragons continued their current four-game home stand with their second straight win and third in their last four games, evening their second half record in the Prairie Land Division of the Western Conference to 5-5, remaining three-and-a-half games behind the Thrillviille Thrillbillies of Marion and a half-game behind first-half division champions Cape Catfish of Cape Girardeau, Mo. Alton's overall record is now 14-22.
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The Rockabillys jumped out to an early lead as in the opening inning, Mason Krzarich singled home Brandon Valdez to put Jackson up 1-0, but Wesley Mann was thrown out at the plate. In the third inning, Mann singled home a second run, Valdez scored on a passed ball and Mann scored on a wild pitch to give the Thrillbillys a 4-0 lead. Alton began chipping away at the lead in the bottom of the third when R.J. LaRocco doubled home Kaden Byrne to cut the lead to 4-1.
Jackson extended its lead once again in the top of the fourth when Tyler Macon scored on another wild pitch and a RBI ground out to shortstop by Valdez scored Griffin Cameron to make it 6-1 for the Rockabillys. The River Dragons started their rally in the bottom of the fourth with a RBI single by Chase Bloomer that scored Civic Memorial's Bryer Arview to make it 6-2. In the home half of the fifth, a RBI triple by LaRocca scored Dominic Decker and a sacrifice fly to left by Evola scored LaRocca to cut the lead to 6-4.
In the fateful seventh inning, Evola's RBI double scored Victor Heredia to make it 6-5 and Zupan delivered a two-run double that scored both LaRocca and Zupan with the winning runs as Alton shut down Jackson the rest of the way to earn the 7-6 win.
LaRocca led the River Dragons with three hits and two RBIs, while Bloomer had two hits and a RBI, Eli Hoerner had a pair of hits, both Evola and Zupan had a hit and two RBIs each and both Decker and Arview had a hit each. Luigi Albano-Dito got the start on the mound and pitched three innings, allowing four runs, one earned, on six hits while walking three and striking out five, Kyle Dixon pitched two innings, giving up two runs on two hits, walking four and fanning two, Scott Detweiler picked up the win by going three innings, striking out three and Dimitri Ivetic got his second save of the year, pitching the ninth, walking one and fanning two.
The River Dragons continue their home stand on Thursday with a key game against the Catfish Thursday night, then conclude the home stand on Friday against the Clinton, Ia., LumberKings, with both games starting at 6:35 p.m. Alton then plays a three-game series agains the O'Fallon, Mo., Hoots, playing a doubleheader on Saturday at CarShield Field, with the two games starting at 5:35 and 8 p.m., then playing a return game at Lloyd Hopkins Field Sunday at 5:35 p.m. Alton then hosts the Catfish again Monday night at 6:35 p.m., then travels to Marion for another key game against the Thrillbillies Tuesday night at 6:45 p.m. and play the Catfish in Cape Girardeau July 19 and 21, with the Wednesday game starting at 3:05 p.m. and the Friday game beginning at 6:35 p.m.
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