By Lee W. Mowen

CHILLICOTHE, OH – Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH; Rio Grande) throwing solid, shutout ball and Mitchell Okuley’s (Powell, OH; Ohio State) Grand Slam in the third inning helped the Champion City Kings defeat the Chillicothe Paints 11-8 on the road. With Johnstown’s run-rule win over West Virginia and the Paints falling, that put Chillicothe two and a half games back of first place for the Second Half playoff spot with four games left.

The Paints got off to a 4-0 lead after two innings off of starter Aidan Major (Mill Hall, PA; West Virginia), and the Kings got on the scoreboard in the top of the third. A one-out walk to JJ Wetherholt (Gibsonia, PA; West Virginia) got the Kings on base, followed by a base hit from Brent Widder (Sheboygan, WI; Evansville) and a walk to Lukas Galdoni (Hawthorn Woods, IL; Butler.) On the first pitch to Mitchell Okuley, the outfielder drilled a Grand Slam to tie the game up. For Okuley, that was his eighth home run and fourth in the last five game days.

Champion City took the lead permanently in the fifth inning, scoring three runs in the frame. Widder reached on one error and came home on a second error, which was the second time that situation occurred in the week. Galdoni drew another walk, as did Okuley in the next at-bat. Bo Seccombe (Tallahassee, FL; Faulkner) loaded the bases up with another walk, and Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, WI; Valparaiso) brought home the second run of the inning with a walk. A sacrifice fly from Edrick Padilla (Salinas, Puerto Rico; Ohio Wesleyan) scored the third run, and the Kings led 7-6.

For the sixth inning run, a triple from Widder scored Ben Ross (Springfield, OH; Notre Dame College.) Ross tripled with one out in the previous at-bat. Another triple in the seventh inning got Champion City’s lead up to three, as Seccombe led off the inning with a three-base hit and Alex Ryan brought him home with a sacrifice fly. In the eighth inning, the Kings lead went up to 10-6 as a fielder’s choice by Okuley scored Ross. Chillicothe got two runs back, but that’s as close as the host Paints would get.

Jake Miller (Chester, NY; Valparaiso) pinch-ran in the ninth for Padilla, after Wetherholt singled to put runners at first and second. A double by Widder scored the starting pitcher pinch running, and the Kings held on to win 11-8. Galdoni would face the minimum in the bottom of the ninth, with a double play erasing a leadoff walk to Jake Silverstein, picking up his sixth save on the year.

Trey Carter snagged the victory, going 3.2 innings and allowing just three hits and two walks with no runs allowed and four punchouts. Alex Finney (Oxford, MI; Ohio) threw a third of an inning to close the seventh. The bullpen only allowed two earned runs in the six innings facing Chillicothe.

Champion City visits West Virginia for two games to close out the last two road games of the regular season. Playoff tickets are now on sale by visiting the ticket office at Carleton Davidson Stadium one hour before any home game or by visiting The MacRay Co. on West North Street in Springfield. Visit championcitykings.com for more information on tickets and how to watch the next games on PL TV.