Texas League logjam
Northwest Arkansas’ 4-3 victory against Arkansas on Sunday coupled with Tulsa’s victory over Springfield make for the possibility of a three-way tie in the first half in the North Division of the Texas League.
SPRINGDALE — The first-half champion of the North Division of the Texas League will be decided on the final day of play — maybe.
Erick Mejia singled sharply with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to earn Northwest Arkansas a 4-3 victory against Arkansas before 3,642 at Arvest Ballpark on Sunday.
The victory by the Naturals (34-35) over the Travelers (35-34) as well as a victory by Tulsa (34-35) over Springfield make for the possibility of a three-way tie in the first half.
“My hat’s off to them,” Naturals Manager Mike Rojas said about his team, which started the season 7-16 but finished the first half by going 27-19. “They never quit. They kept grinding it out. The pitching was so-so, and they picked it up. Our offense and our defense has been tremendous all year. They battled every game.”
Northwest Arkansas will start Scott Blewett today against the Travs after winning Sunday in its final at-bat.
“There’s momentum,” Rojas said. “They battled, too. They’re a pretty good ballclub. We’ve got the big dog on the mound, Blewett. He’s been pitching very well. Hopefully, he gives us a chance to score some runs and holds them in check, and tie it all up and see what happens the following day. It’s huge.”
Naturals’ relievers Yunior Marte, Gabe Speier, Walker Sheller and Jake Newberry held Arkansas to one run Sunday. Along with starter Zach Lovvorn, Northwest Arkansas held the top three hitters in the order to two hits.
“That was tremendous,”
Rojas said. “They stepped up again today and gave us a chance tomorrow.”
Those four relievers recorded the final 11 outs after Marte entered for Lovvorn with an out in the sixth and two runners on.
“It played itself out, mix and match,” Rojas said. “It gave us a chance to win the ballgame.”
The Northwest Arkansas pitching staff also pitched around Eric Filia, who was walked twice intentionally
with a runner on second.
“Filia’s a good hitter,” Rojas said. “I’m not going to give him an opportunity with runners in scoring position to get a base hit or a double or a home run. Our guys did a great job with the other guys.”
Tied at 2-2, Nicky Lopez hit a home run for the Naturals in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Arkansas tied it up in the top of the ninth.
Yonathan Mendoza led off with a liner past Naturals’ first baseman Alex Liddi with one out. After a fly ball, Mendoza scored all the way from first on Chuck Taylor’s single to the gap in right center. Mendoza, running on the hit, scored ahead of second baseman Mejia’s low throw to the plate that Nathan Esposito couldn’t handle.
In the bottom of the inning, Liddi doubled to deep center to lead off. Esposito walked and Brandon Downes sacrificed pinch-runner John Brontsema and Esposito up a base.
With the infield drawn in, second baseman Donnie Walton handled Donnie Dewees’ infield chopper and threw Brontsema out at home, but Mejia followed with a hard groundball into left field to score Esposito.