Ethan S. Smith – 07/24/24
The Johnstown Mill Rats defeated the Champion City Kings 18-8 on Wednesday night at Sargent’s Stadium at The Point, completing a two-game sweep of the Kings while also overtaking the Kings in the Prospect League Northeast Division standings.
The victory was the ninth of the Prospect League second half for Johnstown, who is aiming for their second playoff appearance in the Prospect League in their history.
Catcher Joey Perry and third baseman Randy Carlo IV spearheaded the Mill Rats offensive efforts, collecting a combined eight RBIs on five hits between the duo.
Johnstown was very aggressive on the base paths on Wednesday, swiping 12 stolen bases versus Champion City catcher Salvador Diaz while never being caught stealing.
Starter Ian Korn, who has been impressive all season for the Mill Rats, was impressive once again, tossing four innings with strikeouts and three earned runs allowed.
Champion City starter Bennett LaPalm did not have such luck, allowing four earned runs in just two innings of work.
The fifth inning was the catalyst for the Mill Rats offense, seeing Johnstown drive in five runs on four free passes and two hits, including RBI hits from Perry and catcher Garrett Pancione.
Johnstown didn’t slow down there, scoring five more runs in the fourth and fifth innings off of Champion City relievers Josh Heitert and Matt Ritter, headlined by a two-run no-doubt homer by Carlo IV that scored left-fielder Colton Ayres.
Right-fielder Max Humphrey joined in on the offensive onslaught in the sixth inning, collecting an RBI-single off of Champion City reliever Evan Ables to score second baseman Landon Meyer. Center fielder Carter Rust followed suit with a sacrifice-fly to score Humphrey, pushing Johnstown’s lead to 10 to set up the mercy rule in the top of the seventh.
Mill Rats reliever Jack Newman came on in the seventh inning looking to shut the door, but Diaz launched a grand slam over the screen monster in left field to keep the game alive for Champion City.
Johnstown found a way to collect a mercy rule victory in the bottom of the seventh, as Ayres scored the game sealing run with an RBI-single.
The win pushed Johnstown to 9-11 in the Prospect League second half, placing them in second place in the Northeast division. Champion City falls to 8-12 with the loss, placing them in third place behind Johnstown for the second Northeast division playoff spot.
Johnstown wraps up their final home-stand of the 2024 Prospect League campaign with a three-game series versus the Lafayette Aviators, a crucial series that could decide who stays in the playoff race and who has to dig themselves out of a steep hole.
Game one of the series versus Lafayette is on Thursday at Sargent’s Stadium at The Point at 7pm.