With only a single hit so far and facing an eight-run deficit in the 7th inning of Friday night’s matchup with the visiting Franklin Duelers, the Hoptown Hoppers looked closer to suffering a double-digit defeat than capturing their third straight victory.
However, the Hoppers twice came from behind over the last three frames to top the Duelers in walk-off fashion and get back to .500 at 15-15.
Franklin’s Jonathan Evans broke a scoreless tie with a solo home run to lead off the 3rd, and the Duelers added two more runs in the frame on RBI singles.
Three more runs in the top of the 6th, including a pair on Hopper wild pitches, put the Duelers up 8-0. However, Hoptown began the comeback with a couple of singles to start the bottom of the 7th, followed by an RBI double by Josh Rodriguez.
Luis Vergara added a three-run homer, tying him for the league lead with eight, to cut the deficit to four. Then, Will Spear singled to bring in a pair of runs, and the Hoppers trimmed the margin to one with Ren Tachioka’s two-out RBI single.
Franklin answered with a two-run double by Mark Castle in the top of the 8th and led by three runs with the Hoppers down to their final at-bat. After back-to-back singles, Anthony Zarlingo doubled to drive in a run, and Tachioka tied the game at 10-10 with a double to bring in Spear and Zarlingo.
The Duelers wanted no part of Vergara with the winning run in scoring position and put him on to bring up Fred Fernandez with one out and runners on 1st and 2nd. Fernandez appeared to have hit into an inning-ending double play, but after getting the first out at 2nd, the throw to 1st got away, allowing Tachioka to come home and give the Hoppers an improbable walk-off victory.
Oakley Albinson earned the win on the mound for the Hoppers, working the last three frames and allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts. Marcus Goodpaster started the game, lasting three innings and giving up three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
Tachioka was 3/5 at the plate with three RBI, Spear had two hits and drove in two runs, and Drew Donaldson and Zarlingo each hit safely twice.
Lassiat took the loss for the Duelers after four earned runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts in two and a third. Evans and Jackson Norris combined for seven of Franklin’s 13 hits, and Castle was 2/4 with three RBI.
The Duelers have lost three in a row to slip to 18-12 and will look to stop the skid when they welcome the Hoppers to Franklin for a rematch on Saturday.
