GRIFFITH, Ind. – The Generals had the final out hanging in the air to win the game. Their first win against the Corn Dogs. A strong start to a long stretch. A quality win. And then, disaster struck. The ball dropped. The tying run scored in the top of the ninth. The go-ahead Corn Dog run scored in the top of the tenth. The Generals were robbed of a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth, and one ground ball later, the Generals dropped the heartbreaker of a lifetime by a score of 6-5.
The Generals had to lean on their bullpen to keep their starters fresh for a long stretch, so Alex White was tapped for the start. He delivered a quality start, pitching six innings of three-run ball (two earned) and striking out three batters. He left with a two-run lead and was in position for the win.
The Generals scored all of their runs in a fifth-inning rally that was capped off by a Lucas Winburn two-run single. Winburn was the every-man for the Generals, delivering clutch swings, making diving catches, and even pitching in a save situation. He had the save in hand until disaster struck.
With Winburn coming in from left field to pitch, Diego Lopez was subbed in to take his place. The game-winning catch was sent sky-high to left field off the bat of Kevin Hall. Lopez backpedaled, lost the ball in the sun, and bounced the ball off of his glove. Two runs scored on the play, tying the game at five apiece. The Generals failed to score in the bottom of the ninth and then gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth.
The bottom of the tenth brought the biggest gut punch of all to the Generals. With a runner on first and one out, Lucas Winburn got all of a ball that he sent to left field. The ball had walk-off distance, but Corn Dogs left fielder Adam Walters had other ideas. He climbed over the fence and snatched the ball out of the air to rob Winburn of his second home run of the season. Diego Lopez then had the groundout to shortstop to end the game, rounding out the nightmare ending.
Coach Peter Romsek struggled to find the words to sum up the Generals loss, but he said, “We gave a good effort. Lucas pitched well enough to get us the win, but we had an unfortunate turn of events in the ninth. Then he put one over the wall to have the best catch of the summer. Ball’s just not bouncing our way right now.
Today was the first game out of nine that the Generals will play in eight days. Romsek emphasized that tomorrow is “a new day. Start fresh, move on. I thought we played a competitive baseball game, and we’re gonna try and do the same thing tomorrow.”
The Generals will play a makeup game in Whiting tomorrow against the Northwest Indiana Oilmen at 7:10 p.m.