BURLINGTON, Ia. - Harry Padden hit a solo home run in the second inning as the Alton River Dragons built a 6-1 lead, only to lose the lead in the eighth and ninth innings, then the game in the 12th as the Burlington, Ia., Bees defeated Alton 7-6 in a Prospects League baseball game Tuesday night at Burlington Community Field.
In was the first extra inning game in the brief history of the River Dragons, with Alton having taken an early lead with three runs in the first and two in the second to go ahead 5-0. The Bees countered with a run of their own in the bottom of the second, but Alton got the run back in the top of the fifth to go up 6-1. Burlington came up with four runs in the home half of the eighth to get back into the game, tied it with a run in the ninth, then scored the winning run in the 12th.
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Mike Hampton of Alton and Nick Niebauer each had two hits and an RBI for the River Dragons, while Blake Burris of Edwardsville had two hits and Padden, Gabe Briones, Zach Carden and Alton's Robby Taul all had a hit and RBI each.
Jake Rivers started on the mound for Alton and pitched two innings, giving up a run on a hit while walking two, Justin Needles went five innings in relief, only allowing a hit while walking one and striking out two, Brandon Hampton of Civic Memorial pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs on four hits, Tyler Bell threw one-third of an inning, giving up a run while walking three and fanning one, Bryce Einstein threw three innings, conceding two hits while walking two and striking out two, and Geoff Withers of Civic Memorial pitched the final two-thirds on an inning, allowing one run on one hit while walking one as he was charged with the loss.
The River Dragons fall to 4-5 on the season and start a three game home stand on Wednesday, hosting the Quincy Gems on both Wednesday and Friday, in between facing the Danville Dans for the first time on Thursday, with all games starting at 6:35 p.m. Alton then plays a doubleheader at the Cape Catfish on Saturday in Cape Girardeau, Mo., with the games starting at 2 p.m. and 7:05 p.m, finishing the three-game set with the Catfish Sunday evening at 7:05 p.m.
