Royals Minor League Report (7/12): Storm Chasers Cruise, River Bandits Outlast Peoria

[Kevin O'Brien]

 

Omaha beat Louisville 7-2 behind Mitch Spence, who struck out five over 5 2/3 innings, and three hits from Brett Squires. Quad Cities drew eight walks and topped Peoria 8-6, with Erick Torres going 3-for-3 and Tyson Guerrero striking out four in two perfect innings. Ryan McDonagh threw three scoreless innings, but Columbia lost 8-4 to Salem in 10 innings. Carson Roccaforte tripled and scored, but Northwest Arkansas fell 8-5 at Wichita.

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Squires, Drury Lead Storm Chasers Past Louisville

The Omaha Storm Chasers collected 14 hits and beat the Louisville Bats 7-2 on Saturday.

Squires went 3-for-5 with two doubles and scored twice, Brandon Drury doubled, drove in two runs, and walked three times, and Drew Waters went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Omaha took the lead in the second inning when Luca Tresh singled, moved up, and scored on a Waters double.

 

 

Louisville tied it in the third, but the Storm Chasers answered with three runs in the fourth. Tresh walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Velazquez, and Matthew Lugo followed with a two-run double that brought home Drury and Waters for a 4-1 lead.

 

 

Former first-round pick Gavin Cross added an RBI single in the fifth, and Drury capped the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth that scored Squires and Cross.

Spence started and turned in a strong outing, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

 

 

 

Oscar Rayo recorded the final out of the sixth. Vince Velasquez, making his Omaha Storm Chasers debut, allowed one run over two innings with two strikeouts, and former Twins reliever Justin Topa worked around two hits and a walk in a scoreless ninth.

Omaha drew five walks and left 11 runners on base. They went 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position. They head into the All-Star Break with a 40-52 record. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Matthew Lugo	5	0	1	2	0	1
John Rave	5	0	2	0	0	0
Abraham Toro	5	0	2	0	0	1
Brett Squires	5	2	3	0	0	1
Luca Tresh	4	2	1	0	1	2
Gavin Cross	5	1	2	1	0	2
Brandon Drury	2	1	1	2	3	0
Drew Waters	4	1	2	1	0	1
Rudy Martin Jr.	0	0	0	0	1	0
Andrew Velazquez	4	0	0	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Mitch Spence	5 2/3	5	1	1	2	5	0
Oscar Rayo	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vince Velasquez	2	3	1	1	0	2	0
Justin Topa	1	2	0	0	1	0	0

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Naturals Fall Behind Early, Drop 8-5 Decision At Wichita

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals lost 8-5 to the Wichita Wind Surge on Saturday despite a three-hit night from Jack Pineda, who went 3-for-5.

Roccaforte, the Royals' No. 8 prospect, led off the game with a triple and came around to score on a fielding error by the right fielder.

 

 

Wichita answered with a run in the first and two in the second, one scoring on a throwing error by catcher Canyon Brown. The Naturals tied it at 3-3 in the third, when Spencer Nivens doubled home Pineda, and Daniel Vazquez, the Royals' No. 18 prospect, brought in Sam Kulasingam with a groundout.

The Wind Surge pulled away from there, unfortunately. 

Two solo home runs in the fourth made it 5-3, and Wichita added two more in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and a steal of home. Northwest Arkansas got two back in the sixth, with Vazquez scoring on an Alberto Rodriguez forceout and Colton Becker scoring on a Brown sacrifice fly, but Wichita answered with a run on a passed ball in the bottom half.

 

 

Hunter Owen started and allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits with one walk, four strikeouts, and two home runs over four innings. Anthony Simonelli allowed two runs in an inning of work. Chase Jessee allowed an unearned run with two strikeouts. Frank Mozzicato and Augusto Mendieta each threw a scoreless inning.

Northwest Arkansas left eight runners on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They fall to 36-49 after the loss. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Carson Roccaforte	5	1	1	0	0	1
Jack Pineda	5	1	3	0	0	1
Sam Kulasingam	4	1	1	0	1	0
Spencer Nivens	5	0	1	1	0	2
Daniel Vazquez	3	1	1	1	1	1
Colton Becker	3	1	0	0	1	2
Omar Hernandez	2	0	1	0	1	1
Alberto Rodriguez	4	0	0	1	0	1
Canyon Brown	3	0	0	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Hunter Owen	4	7	5	4	1	4	2
Anthony Simonelli	1	1	2	2	1	1	0
Chase Jessee	1	1	1	0	1	2	0
Frank Mozzicato	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Augusto Mendieta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Torres Collects Three Hits As River Bandits Outlast Peoria

The Quad Cities River Bandits drew eight walks and beat the Peoria Chiefs 8-6 on Saturday. Erick Torres went 3-for-3 with two RBI and scored twice, Nolan Sailors went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, and Diego Guzman walked three times and scored twice.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, Quad Cities loaded the bases on a Jose Cerice hit-by-pitch, a Tyriq Kemp walk, and a Torres single. After a flyout, Guzman walked to reload the bases, and Sailors drew a bases-loaded walk to score Kemp. Torres then scored on a wild pitch, and No. 9 prospect Asbel Gonzalez singled home Guzman to give the River Bandits a 3-1 lead.

 

 

The River Bandits added single runs in the third and fifth, both on plays by Torres: a sacrifice fly and an RBI single that each scored Luke Pelzer. Gonzalez singled home Guzman again in the sixth, and Quad Cities tacked on two in the seventh when Kemp scored on a Guzman groundout, and Torres scored on a Sailors single.

 

 

David Shields, the Royals' No. 2 prospect, allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts over three innings. Tyson Guerrero retired all six batters he faced, striking out four over two perfect innings. Aiden Jimenez allowed an unearned run over three innings with three strikeouts, and Yimi Presinal allowed two runs in the ninth while striking out three.

The River Bandits left 10 runners on base and went 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Quad Cities is now 41-42 this season after the victory. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Nolan Sailors	4	0	2	2	1	1
Asbel Gonzalez	5	0	2	2	0	2
Ramon Ramirez	4	0	2	0	1	2
Luke Pelzer	3	2	0	0	2	1
Jose Cerice	2	0	0	0	0	1
Tyriq Kemp	4	2	1	0	1	0
Erick Torres	3	2	3	2	0	0
Trevor Werner	4	0	0	0	0	1
Diego Guzman	1	2	0	1	3	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
David Shields	3	4	3	3	2	4	0
Tyson Guerrero	2	0	0	0	0	4	0
Aiden Jimenez	3	2	1	0	1	3	0
Yimi Presinal	1	3	2	2	0	3	0

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Fireflies Lose Late Lead, Fall To Salem In 10 Innings

The Columbia Fireflies led 3-0 through six innings but lost 8-4 to the Salem RidgeYaks in 10 innings on Saturday, wasting a 14-hit night. Hyungchan Um went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and JC Vanek went 2-for-5 with a triple.

Ivan Sosa opened the scoring with a solo home run in the fifth.

 

 

Later in the inning, No. 10 Royals prospect Yandel Ricardo scored on a double by Um. Roni Cabrera made it 3-0 with a solo home run in the sixth.

 

 

Salem got on the board with a solo home run in the seventh, then tied it with two runs in the ninth on an RBI double and an RBI single.

The game unraveled in the extra innings for the Fireflies (unlike Saturday's win).

Salem's zombie runner scored on a two-run home run, and a three-run home run later in the inning pushed the lead to 8-3.

In the bottom half, Columbia's zombie runner, Um, took third on a Vanek groundout and scored on a Jhosmmel Zue single, but the Fireflies could get no closer. They went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.

 

 

McDonagh started and threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Coleman Picard allowed one run on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings. Brandon Herbold allowed two runs in the ninth. Luis Valdez allowed five runs, four earned, and Randy Ramnarace struck out the only batter he faced.

The Fireflies go into the All-Star Break with a 43-44 record. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Yandel Ricardo	4	1	1	0	1	0
Stone Russell	5	0	1	0	0	0
Hyungchan Um	5	1	3	1	0	1
JC Vanek	5	0	2	0	0	1
Jhosmmel Zue	5	0	2	1	0	0
Connor Rasmussen	3	0	1	0	2	0
Roni Cabrera	5	1	2	1	0	1
Angel Ramirez	4	0	1	0	1	0
Ivan Sosa	3	1	1	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Ryan McDonagh	3	2	0	0	2	4	0
Coleman Picard	5	2	1	1	2	5	1
Brandon Herbold	2/3	2	2	2	1	1	0
Luis Valdez	1	4	5	4	0	0	2
Randy Ramnarace	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	0

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Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kendry Chourio: DNP
2. David Shields: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
3. Josh Hammond: DNP
4. Blake Mitchell: DNP
5. Sean Gamble: DNP
6. Ramon Ramirez: 2-for-4, BB, 2 K
7. Drew Beam: DNP
8. Carson Roccaforte: 1-for-5, 3B, R, K
9. Asbel Gonzalez: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K
10. Yandel Ricardo: 1-for-4, R, BB
11. Michael Lombardi: DNP
12. Ben Kudrna: DNP
13. Justin Lamkin: DNP
14. Felix Arronde: DNP
15. Blake Wolters: DNP
16. Steven Zobac: DNP
17. Austin Charles: DNP
18. Daniel Vazquez: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, K
19. Kamden Edge: DNP
20. Warren Calcano: DNP

 

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