Baseball: Union City takes dramatic walk off win in game one, Quincy holds on for game two

UNION CITY – One week ago, the Quincy Orioles played host to the Union City Chargers for a night of Big 8 baseball action.

Game one of the planned doubleheader ended with the Chargers taking a slim 2-1 win before the skies opened up and game two was postponed. That game two was postponed until this past Thursday when it was Quincy doing the traveling, making the trip to Alumni Field to finish out their Big 8 Conference schedule in game one, followed by a scheduled non-conference contest in game two.

Any time these two rivals meet on the diamond it promises to be an exciting show, and Thursday was no exception. The two quality teams battled for 14 full innings, trading hits and runs again and again, as the teams played to a pair of exciting one run games.

In the scheduled conference game on Friday, it was Union City making a dramatic late inning comeback to tie the score, forcing extra innings where Union City won in walk-off fashion by the score of 7-6.

Quincy gradually pulled away during the early stages of the game, scoring a run in the second, three in the fourth and one each in the fifth and sixth to build a 6-0 lead.

Union City came back with a run in the sixth inning, closing the score to 6-1 with one inning left.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Chargers started their comeback with a Ryan Zweng triple, followed quickly by a Carson Liles single to score Zweng, cutting the lead to 6-2 with one out. After a single by Owen Jackson put two runners on the Orioles quickly notched the second out, meaning the Chargers only had one out left to complete the dramatic comeback.

Union City’s Reed Goodwin went on to draw a walk to load the bases with two outs thanks to great patience at the plate for the junior. With two outs it was another junior doing his job, as Rick Austin drew a bases load walk, closing the score to 6-3. Next stepping to the plate for the Chargers was junior Alex Boyer and boy did he ever deliver. On a 2-0 count Boyer smoked a line drive to left field for a double, clearing the bases on one swing of the bat, tying the score at 6-6 in a heartbeat. Union City’s next batter struck out, so it was on to extra innings we went.

Quincy got two baserunners on in the top of the eighth but could do nothing more, giving the Chargers a chance to finish their come from behind win.

With one out in the contest, a Zweng single to left field put a runner on, which was followed quickly by a Carson Liles bunt single, putting runners at first and second with one out. Senior Owen Jackson then stepped to the plate and proceeded to single on a hard ground ball to centerfield, allowing Zweng to score and giving Union City the dramatic walk-off win.

Ethan Neveraski took the win on the mound for Union City, throwing two thirds of an inning in relief, striking out one.

Ryan Zweng led the way for the Charger offense, finishing 4-for-5 with a double and a triple and two runs scored.

Carson Liles and Owen Jackosn each notched three hits, an RBI and a run scored while Alex Boyer finished 2-for-4 with a double and runs batted in, including the game winner.

Ryan Kempter took the heartbreaking loss on the mound for Quincy after throwing an inning in relief, allowing four hits and three runs to go with two walks and two strikeouts.

Kempter led the Quincy offense, going 2-for-2 with a double while Ethan Copas added two singles, one RBi and two runs scored. Alex Barry drove in two runs while Grant Holroyd, Copas, and Mason Graves all had RBIs.

In the second game of the night, Quincy raced out to an 8-4 lead after three g inning's; however, the Chargers battled back, putting up a single run in the fifth and sixth to close to 8-7. Union City would get no closer as the Quincy pitching staff buckled down for the final out, giving Quincy the 8-7 win.

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Copas, Holroyd, Barry and Maynard all pitched for Quincy in the win while the offense was led by Graves who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored while Alex Barry added two hits, an RBI and two runs scored.

Ethan Neveraski took the loss on the mound for Union City after throwing two innings in the start, allowing four hits and three runs with two walks.

Ryan Zweng continued to swing the hot bat for Union City, finishing 2-for-4 with a home run and a double with two RBIs and a run scored. Owen Jackson added a single and a triple with a run scored to aid in the Charger effort.

With the split Union City now sits at 16-16 on the year while Quincy now sits at 15-11 on the season.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Union City and Quincy baseball split