Rangers eclipse 200 franchise wins

        The Dayton Rangers escaped Carleton Davidson stadium with a doubleheader sweep of the South Dayton Slammers on Sunday, July 26. The Rangers edged the Slammers in extra innings in game one, scoring 6 times in the 8th inning of a 12-6 final. The Rangers won the nightcap 10-5. With the wins, the Dayton Rangers stand at 201 franchise victories.

        In game 1, Jonathan Silverman improved to 4-0 on his abbreviated rookie campaign, striking out seven in eight innings of work. The Slammers got on the board first in the bottom of the second on a sac fly from Josh Jaynes, scoring Andrew Verrett. The Rangers took the lead in the top of the third as Brandon Howard led off the inning with his 3rd home run of the season. Shane Fallen followed with a single and scored on Jacob Robinson’s triple to right-center. Jacob scored on a groundout to make it a 3-1 Rangers lead. The Slammers tied the game at three on RBIs from Matt Owens and Verrett. The Rangers regained the lead in the fourth. Clint doubled to start the inning and Jake Kingsolver launched a home run to left center for a 5-3 lead. The Slammers cut the lead to one with an RBI single from Owens, scoring PJ Dixon from second. Clint Wolf went ‘oppo’ for his fifth home run of the season. A costly throwing mistake and a Deane Grandfield two-run single with two outs in the sixth allowed the Slammers to tie the game at six apiece. The Slammers threatened to win it in the bottom of the seventh as Kevin Ashworth singled to start the inning. A couple of wild pitches/passed balls later, Ashworth stood at third with nobody out. Silverman buckled down and struck out Owens. With a drawn-in infield, Silverman got Verrett to ground to third and Brad Clark threw the runner out at the plate and ultimately ending the threat. In the extra frame, Jacob, Steve, and Jonmarc Lippincott singled in succession. And after Clint reached on a fielding error, Jake Kingsolver smacked a grand slam to left field, his league-leading 7th home run of the season. One out later, Jelani Arnold went deep to right field for his second home run of the year. Silverman finished off the eighth unscathed as the Rangers won 12-6.

        Brad Clark picked up his fifth win of the season in a 10-5 win in game 2. Clark gave up 5 hits, walked 5, and struck out 5. The Rangers plated five runs in the bottom of the first on the heels of five walks. Brad Clark had a two-run single, and Jelani Arnold singled in a run as well.  The Slammers’ Josh Jaynes doubled to deep left-center to drive in Justin Dunlap to make it a 5-1 score. The Rangers got the run back in the bottom of the second as Jacob Robinson led off with a double and scored on Clint Wolf’s triple. Matt Owens singled in a run and Dunlap tripled in two more to cut the lead to 6-4. Shane Fallen added a sac fly in the bottom of the third for a 7-4 Rangers’ advantage. Steve Marshall contributed with a two-run triple in the fourth for a 9-4 score. Both team traded runs in the fifth for the final tally of 10-5.

         Offensive highlights: Jacob Robinson 4-for-5, 5 runs, RBI, double, triple; Clint Wolf 3-for-5, 4 runs, 2RBI, HR, double, triple, 2 walks; Jake Kingsolver 2-for-6, 2 runs, 7 RBI, 2 HRs, sac; Steve Marshall 2-for-6, 2 runs, 4RBI, triple; Brandon Howard 2-for-5, 3 runs, HR, 2 walks; Jelani Arnold 2-for-5, 2RBI, HR

        Historical notes: Jonmarc dribbled back to the pitcher in his 1000th career official at-bat in the league, and is 5 runs shy of 300 career in the MVABL. Jake Kingsolver tied a Rangers’ record (equaled by Jonmarc and Clint) for the most multi-homer games (4). Kingsolver had a career high 6 RBIs in game 1. Jake finished the month of July with 14 RBIs, which is the 4th highest monthly total in team history. Jake is also 10 hits shy of 200 for his career. Clint Wolf is 6 RBIs away from 200 in league play and 1 double shy of 50 in MVABL play. Clint has now hit in 18 straight games, second highest in team history behind Jonmarc’s 24-game streak a long time ago. Jelani Arnold is 3 hits shy of 100 league hits. Jonathan Silverman’s 35 strikeouts in July is the 2nd highest monthly total in team history.  The team needs 13 more runs scored to record the franchise’s 3000th run.