Rafe Perich leads the Hub City Spartanburgers to the SAL Championship series

Heath Criswell

Heath Criswell

— 2 min read
Rafe Perich leads the Hub City Spartanburgers to the SAL Championship series

Hub City 10, Bowling Green (Rays) 5

The Hub City Spartanburgers, second-half champions, defeated the Bowling Green Hot Rods in a thrilling 10-5 extra-innings victory, earning their spot in the SAL Championship Series.

Caden Scarborough, who had a strong season between Low-A Down East (2-5, 2.88 ERA) and High-A Hub City (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 13 IP), got the start. His final line against the Bowling Green Hot Rods was:

  • 3 IP
  • 3 R
  • 4 H
  • 3 BB
  • 2 SO
  • 8 swing & misses
  • 54/32 strikes

A Back-and-Forth Battle

The Spartanburgers took an early lead in the top of the 2nd with three runs. Arturo Disla hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI, followed by a two-run single from Casey Cook that scored Rafe Perich and Disla.

The Hot Rods answered immediately in the bottom of the 2nd with a two-run home run from Daniel Vellojin, making it a 3-2 game.

In the top of the 3rd, Rafe Perich hit a two-out RBI single to extend the Hub City lead to 4-2. Bowling Green chipped away in the bottom of the 4th when Mac Horvath singled, scoring Narciso Polanco to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Hot Rods tied the game in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI single from Blake Robertson, scoring Mac Horvath and evening the score at 4-4. Perich put the Spartanburgers back on top in the 8th with his first home run of the game, a solo shot that made it 5-4.

Extra-Innings Heroics

The game became tied in the bottom of the 9th when Adrian Rodriguez, who had just entered the game in relief of Case Matter, issued a walk to Mac Horvath, who then stole second. After walking Nathan Flewelling, Angel Mateo singled on a ground ball deflected by shortstop Luke Hanson, scoring Horvath to tie the game at 5-5.

The walk-off threat continued as Blake Robertson walked to load the bases with no outs.

Mailon Felix replaced Rodriguez and came up big, preventing the walk-off. He got Narciso Polanco to fly out, struck out Bryan Broecker, and got Carlos Colmenarez to strike out swinging, sending the game to extra innings.

In the 10th inning, the Spartanburgers exploded for five runs. Rafe Perich's second home run of the game, a two-run shot to right-center, scored John Taylor, who had reached on a fielder's choice. Quincy Scott added a two-run double, and Malcolm Moore contributed an RBI single.

Mailon Felix (W) pitched the bottom of the 10th as well, earning the win. He finished with an impressive stat line:

  • 2 IP
  • 0 R
  • 0 H
  • 1 BB
  • 4 SO
  • 27/16 strikes

The 10-5 victory secures the Spartanburgers' spot in the SAL Championship Series in their inaugural season. They will face the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) in Game 1 on Sunday.

Key Performances at the Plate

  • Rafe Perich: 4-for-4 with 2 HR, 4 RBI
  • Luke Hanson: 3-for-3 with a run, 2 SB
  • Quincy Scott: 1-for-1, 2 RBI

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