Written By: Alex Brophy
LAFAYETTE, IN – Lafayette continues to ride the win streak, extending it to four after a 7-1 victory over the Champion City Kings on Superhero night. A hard-fought game at the plate ended up caving in on the Kings in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lafayette scored four insurance runs.
Champion City scored their first and only run in the top of the first inning. Alex Ryan hit an RBI single that scored Fultz for a 1-0 lead. From then on, Lafayette would dominate on the scoreboard. A combined three runs in two innings gave the Fly Boys a 3-1 lead. A SAC Fly from Jared Harris scored Hatcher in the fifth and Mike Snyder would follow up with another SAC Fly in the sixth. Hatcher also hit an RBI single to drive in Eli Tencza, closing out the sixth inning.
The 3-1 lead was comfortable enough for Lafayette to walk away with a win, but in the eighth inning relief pitcher, Nathan Jendraszkiewicz, would lose control of his pitches and gave up four consecutive free bases. He hit Snyder and walked Hatcher, Harris, and Hondras in four consecutive batters. All four would score including an exciting play from Hondras to score on an error from the King’s first baseman, Patrick Fultz.
By night’s end, Lafayette would rack up just five hits. However, three runs driven in on top of seven stolen bases allowed the Aviators to maintain momentum and control of the game. Starting pitcher, Drew Switzer, earned his first win of the season (1-1) and was the only pitcher to give up a hit. All Aviator pitchers combined for 14 punchouts, with six coming from Judson Schaper.
Lafayette inches closer to .500 on the season (22-26) with one final home game tomorrow, July 24th, against the West Virginia Miners. Lafayette is now 17-8 inside Loeb Stadium and began their four-game win streak by sweeping the Miners in a doubleheader this past Thursday. The two squads will face off at 3:00 p.m. EST with the game available for streaming on Prospect League TV.
