SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Johnstown Mill Rats dropped their eighth consecutive contest after falling to the Champion City Kings 20-3 in seven innings on Tuesday night in a Prospect League matchup.
The Mill Rats fell behind early and never recovered, as the Kings capitalized on eight errors, along with nine walks and five hit batsmen by the Johnstown pitchers.
Champion City scored in every inning except the first, tallying four, four, two, five and five runs, respectively, in the five frames that followed. The Kings needed just 11 hits to cruise to their shortened victory, as of their 20 runs, only 10 were earned.
The Kings led 15-0 through five innings before the Mill Rats got on the board with two runs in the top of the sixth. Andrew Kribbs tallied an RBI single and Jake Casey came home from third on a balk. JD Greeley rounded off Johnstown’s scoring with a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Greeley topped Johnstown offensively, going 2-for-2 with an RBI. Kribbs, Matt Santarelli, Pete Capobianco and Sam Mast each added singles. Starter Christian Hack took the loss on the mound after throwing just 1 ⅔ innings, allowing four runs (zero earned) on two hits. Hack walked two.
Connor Lockwood claimed the win after throwing six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits while walking zero and striking out 10. Tyler Wynkoop closed the door in the seventh by striking out two more batters.
Johnstown (4-9) will look to split its two-game series with Champion City (4-7) on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m.
