The Redlegs met up with the 1st place Slammers at Bellbrook High School and turned in two customarily close games, though the Slammers used late rallies to notch two come from behind wins and take the season series winning 3 games out of 4.
Game 1 featured two of the best pitchers in the league squaring off in the Slammers Jeff Beal and the Redlegs Aaron Carmack. The two lived up to the hype, as neither team was able to score through the first 3 innings. Carmack got a little help from his catcher Joey Watson in the first inning as Slammers speedster Dan Barhorst singled to start the game, but Watson erased Barhorst on a steal attempt at 2nd base.
The Redlegs were finally able to break through on Beal in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Hartman started the inning with a single and later came around to score on a base hit by Brandon Howard.
Meanwhile Carmack kept right on cruising, blanking the Slammers through the first 5 innings.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the 6th, the Slammers finally broke through. Scoring 4 times to take a 4-1 lead. They added an insurance run in the 7th making it 5-1. That was all the run support Beal would need as he sat down the final 9 Redleg batters of the game.
The Redlegs lost grip on another lead in game 2, though they had to work a little harder to get on top early on. The Slammers put up a run in the first and two more in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. Ryan Gross was able to help limit the damage as he nailed two runners trying to steal in the 2nd inning. He got Austin Dozier for the first out in the inning and Dan Barhorst for the 3rd out, limiting the damage to two runs.
Luke Campbell then came on in relief and pitched well over the next 4 frames, allowing only 2 earned to the high-powered Slammers offense. Meanwhile, the Redlegs rallied around Campbell and dropped a 5 spot in the top of the 4th inning. Adam Parks and Jared Bradley each walked to start the inning, and both then scored on double by Jacob Robinson. After the next two batters were retired, Joey Watson drove Robinson home with a two-out single. Saige Micomonaco then singled before Brandon Howard and James Robinson delivered back to back RBI base hits.
The Slammers later would score twice in the 5th inning, knotting things up at 5. The score stood at 5 going into the bottom of the 7th, setting the stage for a walk-off grand slam by Austin Dozier.