SPRINGFIELD - The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth and twice more in the home half of the eighth to take a 7-2 win over the Alton River Dragons in a Prospect League baseball game Tuesday evening at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield's Lanphier Park.
The River Dragons opened their second season in the Prospect League, a midwestern-based wood bat league for college players, with six straight wins, four of them by one run, before losing back-to-back games, then won their next two games before dropping three in a row, including Tuesday's game at Springfield, formerly known as the Sliders, changing their nickname to Lucky Horseshoes prior to the season.
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Alton jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the second, but Springfield tied the game in the home half of the fourth with a single run, then scored four times in the fifth on a grand slam homer by Jacob Compton, with the River Dragons scoring a single run in the top of the eighth before a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning by Jake Curtis gave the Horseshoes the 7-2 win.
Daniel Contreras led Alton with three hits, while Blake Guerin had a hit and the team's only RBI on the night, with Blake Stenger, Marcus Heusohn, Alton's Robby Taul and Chris Andrews also having hits in the game.
Starting pitcher Colton Huntt struck out five in the game, while Collin Salter fanned two and Carson Richardson struck out one.
The River Dragons are now 8-5 overall, 6-3 in the Western Conference, leading the Prairie Land Division by a game-and-a-half over the defending league champion Cape Catfish of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and open a three-game home stand Wednesday at Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park against the Clinton, Ia., Lumberkings, then host the Catfish on Thursday night and the Horseshoes Friday night, with all games starting at 6:35 p.m., then return to Springfield for a game Saturday night at 6:30 p.m., then ends the week with a Father's Day game against Clinton at home, with a 2 p.m. start.
