Rangers Earn Top Playoff Seed

For the first time since 2003, the Dayton Rangers have inched closer to becoming regular season champions in the MVABL again. In a battle for first place, the Rangers knocked off the Warren County Shockers 6-3 and 15-7 in a doubleheader on Sunday, August 16 at Carleton Davidson Stadium. And in doing so, the Rangers’ organization recorded its 3000^th run in team history.

A minor flooding from some overnight sprinkler action forced the start of the game into an hour-and-a-half delay. When play resumed, Brad Clark took the hill, looking for a career-best 6^th victory. The Shockers scored first in the top of the third with the help of a pair of fielding blunders. The Shockers’ Jeff Cherry stymied the Rangers through the first four innings before Jelani Arnold led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and came around to score on a passed ball. The score was 1-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Rangers finally rattled the Shockers’ ace. Steve Marshall led off with a walk. A single by Brandon Howard put runners on the corners. Jake Kingsolver drilled a grounder to third that turned into a throwing error allowing the go-ahead run to score. Brad Clark followed with an RBI single. And after a walk and a strikeout, Jelani put the game away with a bases-clearing triple to left center. A pair of throwing errors by Rangers’ infielders allowed the Shockers to tally two more runs for a final of 6-3. Brad recorded a season-high 6^th win as he allowed 5 hits, no earned runs, no walks, and four strikeouts.

Rookie Jonathan Silverman got the nod for game two for the Rangers, and he got plenty of offensive support. In the first, Steve Marshall reached on a fielding error. After stealing second, Marshall scored on a double to right by Jacob Robinson. Clint Wolf followed with a two-run home run. Robert Riley and Jelani Arnold added RBI singles later in the inning to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead. In the third, Clint Wolf singled and stole second, setting up another Rangers milestone. Jake Kingsolver launched a two-run home run, his 8^th of the season, to left field. His run accounted for the team’s 3000^th career run scored.

In the fifth, Shockers starter Scott Garrett was chased from the game after a Wolf triple, Clark double, Kingsolver double, and Howard double, which gave the Rangers a 10-0 lead. Silverman retired the first 11 batters he faced. Thomas Fluty singled in Taylor Hause in the fifth for the Shockers first run of the game. The Shockers scored twice in the 6^th on a fielder’s choice and triple by Hause. The Rangers piled on five more runs in the 7^th. Clark worked a bases-loaded walk. Kingsolver added a two-run double. Howard had an RBI single and Jelani Arnold added a sac fly. The Shockers put up a four-spot in the bottom of the seventh to close out the scoring and 15-7 victory for the Rangers. Clint Wolf and Jake Kingsolver each had 4 hits in the second game and the 3 through 6 hitters combined to go 11-14 with 11 RBIs in game two. Silverman pitched six innings allowing one earned run, striking out in improving his record to 5-0.

Offensive highlights: Brandon Howard 4-for-6, 2 runs, 2RBI, double, SB; Clint Wolf 4-for-5, 4 runs, 2RBI, triple, HR, SB; Jake Kingsolver 4-for-7, 4 runs, 5RBI, 2 doubles, HR; Jelani Arnold 3-for-6, 1 run, 5RBI, double, triple, sac, SB.

Historical notes: Jake Kingsolver is 6 hits shy of 200 for his career. Clint Wolf is 4 RBIs away from 200 in league play and 1 double shy of 50 in MVABL play. Clint had his hitting streak stop at 18 games when he struck out in pinch-hitting duty in game one. Jelani Arnold is single in the first inning of game one was his 100^th career hit in the MVABL. Jake Kingsolver is two home runs shy of tying the team mark for most home runs in a single season (10). Jonmarc is 5 runs shy of 300 career in the MVABL.