Nate’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh gave Shady Characters their second consecutive walk-off win and an 11-10 victory over Cheap Goats
In one of the best games of the 2024 season, Shady Characters continued to rule their regular season series with Cheap Goats, holding off a late-game comeback and winning in extra-innings when Nate led off the the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off homer, the second walk-off win in a row for Shady Characters. Cheap Goats trailed 9-5 in the top of the sixth before scoring five runs to take a 10-5 lead, only to see Shady Characters tie the game in the bottom of the sixth and win the game in the bottom of the seventh. Nate led the way, going 5-for-7 with a single, a triple, three home runs, five runs scored, and five RBI.
Lucas started for Shady Characters, and after retiring Joey to start the game, he allowed a one-out single to Courtlen. Christian followed with a single, scoring Courtlen, but Christian was caught out trying to extend the hit to a double, ending the inning with the score 1-0.
Christian took the mound for Cheap Goats, and he retired the side in order in the top of the first, sending Tom and Nate down consecutively.
Dinger led off the top of the second with a single, and two batters later, Joey hit a one-out double to put runners on second and third. Lucas escaped the threat, however, retiring Courtlen to strand both runners, ending the inning, and the score remained 1-0.
Christian was once again effective in the bottom of the second, retiring Thomas and Lucas in order, maintaining the one-run lead.
Christian doubled to start the top of the third, and two batters later, Kevin hit an RBI single to score him, putting Cheap Goats ahead 2-0. Joey followed with a double, putting runners on second and third with one out, but Lucas once again avoided significant damage, retiring Courtlen to strand both runners, ending the inning.
Shady Characters evened up the score in the bottom of the third. Tom led off with a double, and Nate followed with a two-run homer, tying the game at 2-2. Two batters later, Lucas hit a one-out double, but Christian stranded him, retiring Tom to end the inning with the score tied at 2-2.
Dinger hit a one-out double in the top of the fourth, but Lucas stranded another Cheap Goats runner, retiring Kevin to end the inning.
Shady Characters opened up their first lead in the bottom of the fourth. Nate singled, and Thomas followed with a two-run homer, putting Shady Characters in front 4-2. Two batters later, with one out, Tom hit a solo shot, and the score was 5-2. Nate tripled, and Thomas hit his second two-run homer of the inning, extending the Shady Characters lead to 7-2. Christian was chased from the mound, and Cheap Goats brought in Dinger from the bullpen. He retired the first batter he faced, Lucas, to end the inning, and Cheap Goats trailed by five runs.
Thomas continued to set the pace for power in the EWL, hitting two two-run homers in the fourth inning
Cheap Goats responded in the top of the fifth. Joey led off with a double, and he scored from second when Courtlen followed with an RBI single, cutting the deficit to 7-3. Christian followed with a two-run homer, cutting the score to 7-5. Two batters later, Kevin hit a one-out single, and Joey followed with a double, but fell down when rounding second base, and was caught out, ending the inning and the Cheap Goats rally.
Shady Characters built on their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Tom led off with a double, and Nate followed with a two-run homer, pushing the score to 9-5. Dinger retired Thomas and Lucas to end the inning, and Cheap Goats would need four runs in the top of the sixth.
Courtlen led off the top of the sixth with a double, and Christian followed with his second two-run homer of the game, cutting the score to 9-7. Two batters later, Kevin hit a one-out single, and Joey followed with a single, putting runners on first and second. Shady Characters opted to intentionally walk Courtlen, loading the bases for Christian, who had homered in his last two at-bats. He delivered with an RBI single, scoring Kevin and Joey, tying the game at 9-9. Dinger followed with an RBI double, scoring Courtlen, and Cheap Goats had scored five runs in the top of the sixth to take a 10-9 lead. Cheap Goats had two runners on and a chance to take a bigger lead, but Lucas escaped further damage, retiring Kevin to end the inning, and Shady Characters trailed by a run heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Christian went 5-for-6 with two singles, a double, two home runs, three runs scored, and seven RBI in the Cheap Goats loss
Tom immediately extended the game, leading off the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer that tied the score at 10-10. Dinger retired Nate for the first out of the inning, and Cheap Goats intentionally walked Thomas to get to Lucas. With the winning run on first base, Lucas singled, pushing the winning run to second. Tom came to the plate with two runners on and a chance to end the game, but Dinger got him to ground out to left, ending the inning and sending the game to extra innings.
Cheap Goats had the top of the order up in the seventh, but Lucas retired Joey and Courtlen in order, and the score remained tied at 10-10.
After tying the game immediately in the bottom of the sixth, Shady Characters immediately ended the game in the bottom of the seventh. Cheap Goats brought Christian back into the game because Dinger had reached his innings limit for the week, and the pitching change was not effective. The first batter of the inning, Nate, led off with his third homer of the game, a solo walk-off homer, ending the game and giving Shady Characters a dramatic 11-10 victory.
The win moved Shady Characters to 9-5, in sole possession of first place in the standings, and the loss dropped Cheap Goats into last place at 5-9.
W: Lucas (3-2)
L: Christian (3-5)
Game Notes:
– Lucas pitched the complete game win for Shady Characters, allowing ten runs on nineteen hits in seven innings.
– Christian took the loss for Cheap Goats, giving up eight runs on nine hits in 3.5 innings.
– Dinger pitched 2.5 innings of relief for Cheap Goats, surrendering three runs on four hits.
– Nate led Shady Characters in the win, going 5-for-7 with a single, a triple, three home runs, five runs scored, and five RBI. The walk-off homer was the second of his career, with the first coming during the 2023 season.
– Tom also went 4-for-7 for Shady Characters with two doubles, two home runs, four runs scored, and two RBI.
– Joey and Christian each had five hits for Cheap Goats in the loss. Joey went 5-for-7 with a single, four doubles, and two runs scored. Christian went 5-for-6 with two singles, a double, two home runs, three runs scored, and seven RBI.