By Lee W. Mowen

SPRINGFIELD, OH – The Champion City Kings returned home to Carleton Davidson Stadium for the first time since clinching the First Half title. In the second game of four, the Chillicothe Paints were the opponent. Down 6-1 in the middle of the third inning, the Kings chopped away at the deficit but couldn’t overtake the Paints en route to their twelfth straight win.

Gabe Phipps (Yorktown, IN; Butler) got the start, looking to rebound from Sunday’s home loss where the right-hander gave up ten runs in an inning and four batters. Phipps started off strong, sitting the top of the order down against Chillicothe. Champion City got off to a good start with a pair of one-out singles from J.J. Wetherholt (Gibsonia, PA; West Virginia) and Brent Widder (Sheboygan, WI; Evansville.) A pop-up double play would end the threat against Chillicothe starter Zach Kendall, giving the Paints an opportunity to strike first.

A pair of leadoff singles from Nathan Rose and Ben Gbur would come around to score on a pair of groundouts from Isaac Bair and Nathan Karaffa, and the Paints led 2-0 after the top of the second. The Kings also got on the scoreboard in their second, as Bo Seccombe (Tallahassee, FL; Faulkner) drilled a 3-2 count to the scoreboard for his second home run of the season. It was 2-1 after two for the visitors.

Four more runs came home in the third for Chillicothe, ending Phipps’s day on the mound in 2.2 innings pitched. Kent Reeser went yard with a two-run jack to right. Rose and Gbur had back-to-back singles, with Bair driving another Paint home on a base hit. Trey Maeker walked with the bases loaded, giving the Paints a 6-1 lead and signaling a call to the bullpen. Aidan Major (Mill Hall, PA; West Virginia) entered to defuse the situation, striking out the first batter he faced. The Kings placed another run in on Widder’s double to score Ben Ross (Springfield, OH; Notre Dame College.) Chillicothe led 6-2 after three, and Major kept the Paints quiet for a while.

The Kings got another run home in the fourth, as Treyben Funderburg (Beavercreek, OH; Ohio) doubled home Mitchell Okuley (Powell, OH; Ohio State.) Champion City kept chipping away, adding another run in the sixth off of new Paints pitcher Dane Armbrustmacher. Ross singled home pitch-hitter and eventual right fielder Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, WI; Valparaiso.) That’s as close as the Kings would get in the game, as the Paints added six more runs in the next few innings.

Maeker sailed another two-run blast over the right field fence, chasing Major off the bump. Those were the first runs scored by Chillicothe since the four-run bonanza in the third. Gage Voorhees (Springfield, OH; Flagler College) would come in to pitch in relief, but Jimmy Allen tripled with two outs and came home on an error by the second baseman. Ben Gbur hit the third Chillicothe home run of the night, another two-run flavor over right field.

The Kings got one more run in the eighth frame, as Funderburg tripled into the nighttime sky and came home with a Ross groundout. Chillicothe got the run back in the ninth, as Reeser singled home Jackson Feltner. The Paints would win their twelfth straight game with a 12-5 win.

Phipps suffered the loss, falling to 1-3. Major went 3.2 innings, only allowing the two-run shot to end his night on the mound, with six strikeouts on the night.

Champion City returns home Sunday Afternoon for the Fourth of July, where Active Military members and Veterans get through the gate absolutely free. The Kings will also be home for four straight games starting on Sunday. Visit championcitykings.com for more information on tickets and how to watch the next games on PL TV.