BELOIT — With 19-year-old MLB All-Star Futures pitchers Noble Meyer and Thomas White both toiling in Saturday’s game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday’s series finale with Cedar Rapids stacked up as a bullpen game for the Beloit Sky Carp.
That was fine with Cameron Barstad.
“We have one of the nastiest bullpens in the league,” the catcher said after the Sky Carp edged the Kernels 3-2 to take the series four games to two at ABC Supply Stadium. “We have multiple guys who can throw 95-plus (mph). You couldn’t ask for more than what they gave us today.”
Caleb Wurster did allow a pair of runs in the first inning, but the four relievers who followed him — Yeuris Jimenez (three innings), Edgar Sanchez (two innings), Kyle Crigger (two innings) and Josh White (one inning) — combined for eight scoreless innings. Crigger (5-0) picked up the victory and White the save, his second.
“Even Wurster just had some tough luck with a couple walks and a couple soft hits,” Barstad said. “When Jimeneza came in, he just filled the (strike zone) up. His slider was very good and he was throwing his fastball 96 (mph) and it was either sinking or cutting. He has nasty stuff. He’s a tough guy to catch and a tougher guy to hit.”
Beloit’s Carlos Santiago tied the game with one swing in the fourth inning. Jorge Caballero walked and Santiago drove a pitch from Jeremy Lee over the right field wall for his sixth homer and a 2-2 tie.
Santiago also figured in the scoring of the go-ahead run, walking to open the seventh inning off reliever Jacob Wosinski, stealing second, taking third on a wild pitch and scoring on a sharply hit single to right field by Mark Coley II.
“It’s a big series win for us against a first-place team,” Coley said. “We went 1-5 on the road against them and to be able to come back and get four wins is really big for us. I think if we all play to our potential we can be one of the best teams in the league. We can have a lineup that’s scary one through nine and on the bump.”
It’s been a challenging season for Coley, who batted leadoff. The outfielder, a 17th round draft pick out of Rhode Island in 2023, is hitting .216 with seven home runs, 32 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Hes accustomed to a much higher return at the plate.
“I haven’t struggled like this since my first year in college,” he said. “I’ve leaned back on that experience and how I got through that adversity. I had to make adjustments then and I’m making some now. I’m going through a process. I’m working on things and taking the small victories when they come. That helps you keep your head in the game and not get frustrated with the lack of results.”
Coley says a major part of hitting is always confidence.
“A lot of it is the mental approach to the game and for me it’s training myself to have positive mental thought patterns at the plate instead of negative thought patterns,” he said. “I got here for a reason. There’s no overhaul of my mechanics. I just need to keep a positive approach.”
• UP NEXT: The Sky Carp will now enjoy four days off before traveling to Peoria to take on the Chiefs on Friday night.
• WEEKEND WRAPUP: Friday, the Sky Carp took the field as their alter egos, The Supper Clubbers, and bounced the Kernels 9-4.
The Clubbers put up six runs in the first inning on six hits, then added single runs in the second, fourth and eighth innings. They tripled their fun, entering the game with 10 triples for the season, but got triples from Osiris Johnson, Mark Coley II and Brock Vradenburg to highlight their 11-hit offense.
Vradenburg also smacked a solo homer to right field while the Clubbers pitchers allowed only three runs in the fifth and one more in the ninth.
Alex Williams started for Beloit and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing only one basrunner. Kyle Crigger (4-0) picked up the win with two scoreless innings.
Saturday, again as the Supper Clubbers, they couldn’t hold a late lead and fell 3-2 in 11 innings to the Kernels.
Johnny Olmstead singled home Coley in the first inning to give the Carp a 1-0 lead and Sam Praytor extended the advantage to 2-0 in the fourth with a home run to left field.
But the Kernels bounced back with a run in the seventh, and Jay Harry cracked his eighth home run of the season to lead off the ninth inning to tie the game.
Cade Gibson got the start for Beloit and threw six scoreless innings on only 68 pitches.
• SUNDAY’S BOXSCORE:
BELOIT 3, CEDAR RAPIDS 2
Cedar Rapids 200 000 000 — 2 4 0
Beloit 000 200 10x — 3 6 0
CEDAR RAPIDS (ab-r-h-rbi) — Olivar, dh, 2-1-0-0; Gonzalez, rf, 4-1-2-0; Maitan, 1b, 4-0-0-0; Cespedes, 3b, 4-0-1-1; Harry, 2b, 3-0-0-0; Urbina, lf, 2-0-1-1; Salas, ss, 4-0-0-0; Hess, cf, 4-0-0-0; Tatum, c, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 29-2-4-2.
BELOIT (ab-r-h-rbi) — Coley, cf, 4-0-1-1; Olmstead, ss, 3-0-0-0; Zamora, 3b, 4-0-2-0; Vradenburg, 1b, 4-0-0-0; DeLeo, dh, 4-0-1-0; Barstad, cf, 4-0-1-0; Caballero, lf, 3-1-1-0; Santiago, 2b, 2-2-2-2; Luttrell, rf, 3-0-0-0. Totals; 31-3-8-3.
E: None. DP: CR 1, Bel 2. LOB: CR 6, Bel. 7. 2B: Zamora, Barstad. HR: Santiago (6). SB: Sanitao (4), Coley (15).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): CR, Lee 4.2-6-2-2-2-6; Wosinski (L,2-3) 2.1-1-1-1-1-5; Yanez 1.0-1-0-0-0-2. Bel, Wurster 1.0-2-2-2-3-2; Jimenez 3.0-2-0-0-1-1; Sanchez 2.0-0-0-0-1-2; Criger 2.0-0-0-0-1-2; White (S,2) 1.0-0-0-0-0-2.
WP: Wosinski. T: 2:15. Att.: 1,846.
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