Royals Minor League Report (9/3): Beam And Williams Set The Tone On The Farm

[Kevin O'Brien]

 

Drew Beam struck out nine over eight innings as Northwest Arkansas beat Arkansas 4-1, and Zachary Cawyer added a scoreless inning for the save. Henry Williams matched him with six scoreless innings in Omaha's 7-1 win, backed by home runs from Gavin Cross, Brett Squires, and Carson Roccaforte. David Shields allowed three runs in four innings as Quad Cities fell 5-3 despite Jose Cerice's two-run homer. Connor Rasmussen homered for Columbia, which lost 5-1 at Myrtle Beach.

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Three Homers And Four Unearned Runs Carry Omaha Past St. Paul

The Omaha Storm Chasers hit three home runs and took advantage of three St. Paul errors in a 7-1 win.

Squires opened the scoring with a solo home run, his 25th, in the first.

 

 

The third inning turned on defense. Luca Tresh singled, Omar Hernandez reached on a fielding error, and Cross hit into a fielder's choice that a throwing error by the shortstop turned into two runs. Roccaforte added a solo home run, his fourth, in the fourth.

 

 

Omaha built the lead again in the fifth. Hernandez singled, Cross doubled him to third, and Alejo Lopez reached on a fielder's choice on which the shortstop threw the ball away again, scoring Hernandez. Squires drove in Cross with a sacrifice fly. Cross closed the scoring with his 17th home run in the seventh.

 

 

Cross finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs, and one strikeout. Squires went 1-for-3 with two runs batted in. Hernandez was 1-for-3 and scored twice. Roccaforte went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Omaha left four runners on base and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Williams, our August Pitcher of the Month for Omaha at Royals Keep, handled the start, working six scoreless innings on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts for a quality start.

 

 

Luke Little gave up a solo home run in his inning of work, allowing one hit and one walk with a strikeout. Lucas Erceg allowed a hit and a walk without a run and struck out one. Ben Sears allowed one hit and one walk and did not give up a run.

The Storm Chasers are now 60-72. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Gavin Cross	4	2	2	1	0	1
Alejo Lopez	4	0	0	0	0	2
Brett Squires	3	1	1	2	0	0
Abraham Toro	3	0	0	0	1	0
Carson Roccaforte	4	1	1	1	0	3
Peyton Wilson	4	0	1	0	0	1
Jacob Berry	4	0	0	0	0	0
Luca Tresh	4	1	1	0	0	0
Omar Hernandez	3	2	1	0	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Henry Williams	6	4	0	0	1	7	0
Luke Little	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lucas Erceg	1	1	0	0	1	1	0
Ben Sears	1	1	0	0	1	0	0

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Beam's Nine Strikeouts Carry Northwest Arkansas To A 4-1 Win

Beam gave the Northwest Arkansas Naturals eight innings and the bullpen only three outs to get in a 4-1 win at Arkansas.

The Naturals scored first in the fourth. Sam Kulasingam singled, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a Daniel Vazquez sacrifice fly.

The sixth was the decisive inning. Luke Pelzer singled to open it and stole second. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on a Vazquez double.

 

 

Justin Johnson followed with a run-scoring single, and Northwest Arkansas led 3-1.

The Naturals tacked on in the eighth. Kulasingam doubled, Vazquez reached on a fielding error, and Johnson reached on a throwing error by the third baseman as Kulasingam came home.

Pelzer went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Kulasingam was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs. Vazquez went 1-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in. Johnson was 1-for-4 with a run batted in and two strikeouts. Johnson also flashed some leather at the hot corner.

 

 

Northwest Arkansas struck out 12 times, left five runners on base, and went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Beam allowed three hits and one earned run over eight innings, walked nobody, and struck out nine. The only damage against him was a solo home run, and the outing qualified as a quality start.

 

 

Cawyer finished it with a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one for his sixth save.

With the win, the Naturals improved to 54-73 this season. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Luke Pelzer	4	1	2	0	0	1
Sam Kulasingam	4	2	2	0	0	1
Spencer Nivens	4	0	0	0	0	1
Daniel Vazquez	3	1	1	2	0	0
Justin Johnson	4	0	1	1	0	2
Connor Scott	4	0	0	0	0	1
Canyon Brown	4	0	0	0	0	1
Alberto Rodriguez	3	0	0	0	1	3
Angel Acosta	4	0	0	0	0	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Drew Beam	8	3	1	1	0	9	1
Zachary Cawyer	1	0	0	0	1	1	0

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Cerice's Two-Run Homer Not Enough For Quad Cities At Peoria

The Quad Cities River Bandits managed three hits in a 5-3 loss at Peoria.

 

 

Quad Cities struck first in the fourth. Blake Mitchell was hit by a pitch, and Jose Cerice followed with a two-run home run, his sixth.

 

 

Peoria answered with three runs in the bottom half on a run-scoring double and a two-run home run, then added two more in the sixth on another two-run home run.

The River Bandits got one back in the eighth.

Stone Russell walked, Nolan Sailors reached on a fielder's choice and advanced on a fielding error, and Asbel Gonzalez grounded into a force out that moved Russell to third. Russell scored on a wild pitch during a Mitchell walk. Ramon Ramirez then grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Cerice went 1-for-4 with the home run and two runs batted in. Austin Charles was 1-for-4 with a double. Tyriq Kemp went 1-for-3 with a walk. Mitchell drew two walks and scored a run. Quad Cities drew five walks, struck out 15 times, went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and left six runners on base.

Shields, the Royals' No. 2 prospect, took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits over four innings with no walks and five strikeouts, with a home run accounting for two of the runs. Ethan McElvain gave up two runs on two hits in two innings with three strikeouts and a home run allowed. Yimi Presinal allowed a hit and a walk without a run and struck out one. Jackson Cleveland struck out three in a scoreless inning without allowing a baserunner.

The River Bandits are now 68-56 and sit in second place in the West Division of the Midwest League. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Nolan Sailors	3	0	0	0	1	2
Asbel Gonzalez	4	0	0	0	0	2
Blake Mitchell	1	1	0	0	2	1
Ramon Ramirez	4	0	0	0	0	2
Jose Cerice	4	1	1	2	0	1
Austin Charles	4	0	1	0	0	2
Tyriq Kemp	3	0	1	0	1	1
Erick Torres	3	0	0	0	0	1
Stone Russell	3	1	0	0	1	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
David Shields	4	3	3	3	0	5	1
Ethan McElvain	2	2	2	2	0	3	1
Yimi Presinal	1	1	0	0	1	1	0
Jackson Cleveland	1	0	0	0	0	3	0

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Rasmussen's Home Run Accounts For Columbia's Only Run

The Columbia Fireflies had seven hits and one run in a 5-1 loss at Myrtle Beach.

The third inning decided it. With two outs and nobody on, a single put a runner aboard, a throwing error by third baseman Ivan Sosa put a second runner on, and a three-run home run followed. None of the three runs were earned.

Rasmussen answered in the fourth with a solo home run, his fifth, and that was the extent of the Columbia offense.

 

 

 

Myrtle Beach added a run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk that came home on a wild pitch, and another in the seventh on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

Rasmussen finished 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a run batted in. Gabriel Silva was 1-for-2 with a double. Henry Ramos, JC Vanek, Sean Gamble, and Sosa each had a hit. The Fireflies struck out 12 times, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and left eight runners on base.

Ryan McDonagh took the loss, giving up three unearned runs on two hits over three innings with a walk, two strikeouts, and a home run allowed. Alberto Toribio allowed one run on two hits in three innings, walking two and striking out four.

 

 

Andy Basora gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Grant Fontenot struck out two in a scoreless inning without allowing a hit or a walk.

The Fireflies are back to .500 at 64-64, good for 5th in the South Division of the Carolina League. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Henry Ramos	4	0	1	0	0	1
JC Vanek	3	0	1	0	0	0
Roni Cabrera	1	0	0	0	0	1
Camden Johnson	2	0	0	0	1	1
Sean Gamble	4	0	1	0	0	2
Jhosmmel Zue	2	0	0	0	0	1
Gabriel Silva	2	0	1	0	0	0
Connor Rasmussen	3	1	2	1	1	0
Tyson Moran	4	0	0	0	0	2
Ricson Gonzalez	4	0	0	0	0	2
Ivan Sosa	4	0	1	0	0	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Ryan McDonagh	3	2	3	0	1	2	1
Alberto Toribio	3	2	1	1	2	4	0
Andy Basora	1	2	1	1	0	1	0
Grant Fontenot	1	0	0	0	0	2	0

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Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kendry Chourio: DNP
2. David Shields: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
3. Josh Hammond: DNP
4. Blake Mitchell: 0-for-1, 2 BB, K
5. Sean Gamble: 1-for-4, 2 K
6. Ramon Ramirez: 0-for-4, 2 K
7. Zion Rose: DNP
8. Asbel Gonzalez: 0-for-4, 2 K
9. Carson Roccaforte: 1-for-4, HR, RBI, 3 K
10. Taylor Rabe: DNP
11. Yandel Ricardo: DNP
12. Justin Lamkin: DNP
13. Drew Beam: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
14. Michael Lombardi: DNP
15. Jack Slightom: DNP
16. Felix Arronde: DNP
17. Angeibel Gomez: DNP
18. Ben Kudrna: DNP
19. Steven Zobac: DNP
20. Blake Wolters: DNP

 

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