DAVENPORT, IOWA (April 27, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits waited a long time to play their first home game of 2019. The conclusion to their home-opener turned out to be well worth the wait as Alex Holderbach’s walk-off two-run home-run in the bottom of the 12th-inning gave the River Bandits a 7-6 victory over the Clinton LumberKings on Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park.
The River Bandits (11-9) entered the bottom of the final inning trailing 6-4 after Clinton scored a pair of runs in the top of the twelfth on a two-RBI double down the third base-line by Jerar Encarnacion. The LumberKings eventually loaded the bases with no outs, but Devin Conn worked out of trouble to keep the deficit at two.
That set the stage for Holderbach’s heroics. With Enmanuel Valdez beginning the frame at second base, David Hensley scored him with an RBI single to center to pull the Bandits within one. In the next at back, Holderbach hammered an offering from reliever Tyler Mitzel onto the berm behind the left-field wall to spark a wild celebration at home-plate. The home-run was the catcher’s first of the season.
Clinton (11-9) needed their own dramatic long-ball to force extra-innings in the first place. The River Bandits owned a 3-2 advantage entering the ninth inning as Humberto Castellanos entered from the bullpen looking to close out the game. Thomas Jones quickly did away with those thoughts by lining the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence to tie the game. Neither team was able to push across a run in the 10th inning and both teams scored one in the eleventh.
The Bandits had built an early 3-0 lead with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first and an RBI single by Austin Dennis in the third. Clinton pulled within one in the fourth by virtue of a Ricardo Cespedes two-run single.
Marty Costed led the Bandits with three hits. Scott Schreiber and Holderbach also tallied multiple hits, finishing with two each. Cespedes led the LumberKings with three hits and three RBI.
Four River Bandits pitchers combined to compile a season-high 21 strikeouts. That total pushed the team back into the Midwest League lead in that category. The River Bandits also set their previous high of 20 against Clinton. The Bandits have now reached double-digit strikeouts in 18 of their 20 games this season.
The series continues with a day/night doubleheader on Saturday with the first game beginning at 12PM and the nightcap scheduled for 5PM. Both games are slated to be seven innings in length. The Bandits will hand the ball to RHP Luis Garcia (0-0, 3.46) in game one and RHP Brett Daniels (0-1, 3.86) in the second. Clinton has RHP Chris Vallimont (0-1, 1.23) lined for the opener and RHP Albert Guerrero (1-0, 5.25) scheduled for the late game. No admission will be charged for the 12PM game.
Clinton (R-H-E): 6-9-2
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 7-9-2
Win: Conn (1-0)
Loss: Mitzel (1-1)
Save:
HR: Clinton: Thomas Jones (2, 9th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Quad Cities: Alex Holderbach (1, 12th inning, 1 on base)
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
