By WJBC Staff
PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs took advantage of a five-run first inning rally and beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 8-5 Thursday night. The win lifts the Chiefs to 28-32 and evens the series at one game each with one left in the series and four games left on the current Chiefs home stand.
The Chiefs started the scoring in the first inning against Whitecaps starter Artie Lewicki. Darren Seferina led off with a single and Vaughn Bryan followed with a single. A third single by Oscar Mercado brought Seferina home and Bryan and Mercado came home on a triple by Danny Diekroeger to make it 3-0. Alex DeLeon walked and Steve Bean singled to score Diekroeger. Ronald Castillo drove a sacrifice fly to right to plate DeLeon from third to give the Chiefs the 5-0 lead.
West Michigan got on the board in the top of the third against Chiefs starter Austin Gomber. With one out Ross Kivett drove a solo home run to left field to make it 5-1. The Whitecaps continued to rally with back-to-back singled by Austin Schotts and Mike Gerber. Schotts scored on a single by Joey Pankake to make the score 5-2.
The Whitecaps added another run in the sixth inning. Pankake doubled and moved to third on a single by Will Kengor. Pankake scored on a passed ball to make it 5-3.
Peoria added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh. Seferina singled, stole second and scored on a double by Bryan to make it 6-3. Bryan advanced to third on a fielding error by Gerber. Oscar Mercado walked to put runners at the corners and immediately stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Diekroeger drove Bryan in with a groundout and Mercado scored on a single by DeLeon to give the Chiefs the 8-3 lead.
West Michigan scored a pair of runs in the eighth against new Chiefs hurler Dixon Llorens. Gerber led off with a walk and Pankake reached first when Gerber was erased on a fielder’s choice. Kengor singled and Zach Shepherd walked to load the bases for West Michigan. Shane Zeile singled to center to plate Pankake and chase Llorens from the game in favor of Kyle Grana. Kengor scored when Francisco Contreras lifted a sacrifice fly to right to make it 8-5.
Gomber (5-3) got the win, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out six. Robby Rowland pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out two. Llorens made his first Chiefs appearance since 2013 when he came in to pitch one third of an inning, giving up two runs on two hits and two walks. Grana finished the game with 1 2/3 perfect innings to earn his seventh save of the season.
