By Lee W. Mowen

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Arguably the biggest series of the year for the visiting Johnstown Mill Rats in their first year, the last second half playoff spot in the Ohio River Valley Division was up for grabs. With the Mill Rats up a half-game over the defending champion Chillicothe Paints, Johnstown needs two wins in the three-game pact at Champion City to clinch the last available spot. The Kings, already set to host the Division Championship on Thursday with the First Half title, took the first game 6-2 but fell to the playoff-hopeful Mill Rats 12-4.

In the first game, Champion City scored a pair of runs off of Johnstown’s starter Justin Wiltsey. Ben Ross (Springfield, OH; Notre Dame College) led off the attack with a one-out single, coming home on a two-out RBI Double by Lukas Galdoni (Hawthorn Woods, IL; Butler.) Galdoni would then come home on another RBI Double, this time swatted by Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, WI; Valparaiso.) It was 2-0 Kings after the opening frame.

Three more runs came in the fourth for Champion City, beginning with a one-out single from Edrick Padilla (Salinas, Puerto Rico; Ohio Wesleyan.) Breydan Cavey (Medina, OH; Akron) was hit with the next pitch, putting two runners on. Mitchell Okuley (Powell, OH; Ohio State) doubled in both runs, with the Kings lead 4-0. Ross singled in Okuley to make it a 5-0 lead after four innings.

One last Kings run came home in the sixth frame, as Cavey scorched his first home run of the year to put the home team up by six. Johnstown went scoreless through six innings, but rattled off a two-run shot by Dylan Vega to dent the deficit down to four against Edrick Padilla. The final score was 6-2 in favor of the Kings.

Garrett Peters (Springfield, OH; Ohio State) pitched four shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks with five punchouts en route for his second win of the season. Tyberius Correa (Riverview, FL; Faulkner) and Ethan Krizen (North Port, FL; Thomas) both pitched a scoreless inning. Padilla, throwing for just the third time, settled down nicely after the two-run home run by just allowing one hit afterwards.

In the second game, the Kings shook things up with a different looking lineup. Correa started at shortshop, Padilla was the catcher, Okuley patrolled first base for the first time in his baseball career, Ross starting in centerfield, Peters was the right fielder, Austin Mora (Cleveland, OH; Notre Dame College) controlled third base, and Gage Voorhees (Springfield, OH; Flagler College) was the second baseman. Trey Carter (Wheelersburg, OH; Rio Grande), came in as the left fielder in the last inning of Game One, started in left. Alex Finney (Oxford, MI; Ohio) got the start, as the catcher has been pitching well out of the bullpen.

The Mill Rats ran three runs in their first inning, beginning with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an error by the shortshop. With the bases loaded with nobody out, Ben Newbert scored an RBI on an error through the third baseman. Catcher Ryan McCarthy singled in the second run, with Andre Good connecting on a sacrifice fly to score the third run in the inning.

Three runs scored for Champion City in their half of the first frame gainst starter Zachary Rohaley. A leadoff walk for Okuley came home by Ross’s base hit. The Springfield native flew to third on Trey Carter’s first hit on the evening. Krizen walked to load the bases up, bringing up Tyberius Correa who brought home a run with a walk. Mor then popped up into what morphed to a 6-5-6 double play, scoring in one more run. The score was tied at 3-3 after one complete.

One more run for Champion City scored in the second, as Voorhees singled for his first base hit with the Kings. Garrett Peters, in his first at-bat with the team, laced an RBI Double to score Voorhees and give the hosts a 4-3 lead. That double by Peters was enough to chase out Rohaley and bring in Casey Marshalwitz, who threw the last six innings en route for the victory. Marshalwitz allowed one walk, one more base hit, and that was it for the reliever.

The lead went Johnstown’s way for good after a three-run fourth to lift Finney off the mound. The right-hander went 3.2 innings, allowing just one earned run and seven total runs on three hits, walking three and striking out five. The Mill Rats would score three runs off of Brent Widder (Sheboygan, WI; Evansville), who made his debut on the bump. Another pair of runs would score off of Cavey, who threw an inning. Krizen and Galdoni combined for 1.2 innings with three hits allowed and no runs scored. Johnstown took Game Two by a 12-4 margin.

With the win and Chillicothe’s blowout win at West Virginia, it all comes down to the final game of the regular season. If Johnstown wins, it will give the Mill Rats the better winning percentage and extending their stay in Springfield. A Mill Rats loss and Paints sweep at West Virginia will allow Chillicothe to defend their 2019 Prospect League title. Wednesday Night’s game will conclude with a fireworks show at Carleton Davidson Stadium.

Champion City closes out the regular season on Wednesday at home against the Johnstown Mill Rats. This Thursday is the Division Championship game. 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.