I’m going to get something off my chest. Any level of baseball where the player gets paid a salary is “professional.” (Name, Image and Likeness money in college doesn’t count.) The Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League are professional leagues. There’s some guy on Twitter that keeps saying a player’s first hit in Myrtle Beach is their “first professional hit!” when they have dozens of professional hits in lower leagues.
I’m not correcting that guy because I don’t post on that site anymore unless I’m asked a direct question. But that guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs were capsized by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 6-2.
Justin Steele made his first official appearance in over a year on a rehab start. Steele did well in the first inning but struggled in the second, giving up three runs, but his defense was partly to blame. The final line on Steele was three runs, one earned, on four hits over 1.2 innings. Steele struck out two and walked no one. He threw 36 pitches and 26 were strikes. His fastball averaged only 90.3 miles per hour.
Center fielder Chas McCormick was 2 for 4 with a double, a stolen base and one run scored.
DH Owen Ayers went 2 for 4 with a double.
Hearn did not get an RBI on this double, but it scored a run.
Knoxville Smokies
The Knoxville Smokies were spotted by the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 5-1.
Brody McCullough turned in a great start, giving the Smokies five scoreless innings and striking out ten. He allowed just two hits and did not walk anyone.
Marino Santy pitched the seventh inning, gave up three runs and got the loss. Santy allowed just one hit in his one inning, but it was a three-run home run. Santy walked one, hit one and struck out one.
Center fielder Kane Kepley tripled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and scored on an single by right fielder Alex Ramirez. Kepley went 2 for 4 and Ramirez was 1 for 4.
The Smokies had just four hits tonight.
South Bend Cubs
The South Bend Cubs popped the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 4-3.
Brayden Spears started and threw four scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, waled one and struck out five.
Braylon Myers picked up after that, allowed one run on three hit over the next 3.2 innings, and got the win. He struck out five and walked two.
JP Wheat gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but South Bend had a three-run lead so he got the save. Wheat’s line was two runs on one hit and three walks over 1.1 innings. Wheat also had two wild pitches. But Wheat also struck out three, including the final two batters of the game with the tying run on second.
Catcher Justin Stransky hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, his sixth on the season. Stransky was 1 for 4.
Third baseman Matt Hallbach was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. Hallbach scored on Stransky’s blast.
Right fielder Michael Gupton got his first professional hit (really!) and it was a triple. He was 1 for 3 with a walk, a steal and a run scored.
Stransky’s three-run blast.
Michael Gupton’s first pro hit was a triple.
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans turned off the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 6-2.
Hayden Frank started and took the win after giving up two runs on five hits over five innings. One of those hits was a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Frank walked four and struck out four.
The bullpen did not give up a hit or a walk the rest of the way. Ashton Pocol was responsible for the first three innings of that and Jordan Henriquez pitched the ninth in a non-save situation.
Left fielder Caden Sorrell smashed a three-run home run in the third inning, his fourth as a professional. (And yes, that’s true.) Sorrell went 3 for 5 with five overall RBI.
DH Juan Thomas got his first two hits in Low-A, going 2 for 4 with a double. He scored on Sorrell’s home run.
Sorrell’s home run.
Two-run single for Sorrell.
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