Despite a ninth inning comeback from the Elkhart County Miracle, a Randy Seymour walk-off home run over the Brick Monster gave the Oilmen the win. The Northwest Indiana Oilmen almost blew leads in back-to-back games against Elkhart County, but caught fire with one out in the ninth.
Seymour’s blast to left field was the Oilmen’s fourth walk-off this season, two of which were home runs. Entering the final at-bat of the game, Seymour was 0-for-4 until he connected with a fastball giving the Oilmen a 7-5 victory. Seymour’s homer was his 13th extra– base hit this season, and third home run.
“He’s [Seymour] been gone for a week, so it’s nice to get him back and playing shortstop,” Oilmen manager Adam Enright said. “Hopefully that last at-bat is an indication of what’s to come for the remainder of the year.”
Heading into the ninth inning, the Oilmen led 5-2, but gave up a three-run ninth inning, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth. Despite allowing the three runs to score in the ninth, Carlos Canelon was a big help out of the Oilmen bullpen. Canelon went five innings on four hits, striking out six and getting out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the game tied.
“He [Canelon] was electric,” Enright said. “Despite all of the extracurriculars in the ninth, he pitched five really good innings and his patience was much better.”
The Oilmen took the initial lead in the second, scoring four runs and commanding a 4-1 lead early on. Brennan Phillips knocked in an RBI double in the second and finished the night 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Cain Headrick also impressed, going 3-for-5 with an RBI single in the second.
The Oilmen are back home on Wednesday, July 26 at Oil City Stadium to take on the Southland Vikings. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.