Midland RockHounds 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 1
Midland wins series 3-1
The Naturals season came to an end in the face of Texas League history Friday night. After a rain delay of over three hours Friday night the two teams got started after 10:00 pm with Midland in pursuit of a third straight Texas League championship. Facing Glenn Sparkman, Midland got things going in the second inning with a solo home run by Viosergy Roma to leadoff the inning. A pair of two out doubles by Richie Martin and Brett Vertigan pushed the lead to 2-0 before a single by Max Schrock expanded the lead to 3-0. Three innings later a second solo home run, this one off reliever Tim Hill, upped the Midland lead to 4-0.
With Midland’s offense pushing the issue the Naturals offense was held at bay for the first four innings without a hit. A Cam Gallagher single in the fifth broke that streak, but they were unable to push a run across until the seventh. In that frame the Naturals loaded the bases with no outs on a single and a pair of walks only to push one run across as Midland traded a double play for one run, getting out of the inning with a 4-1 lead. From there the Midland bullpen put NW Arkansas down in order to secure the win.
It was the the third consecutive title for Midland, the first team to three-peat in 91 years. The loss was also the third against Midland in four Texas League tries for the Naturals.
Corey Toups 1-4
Cam Gallagher 1-3 BB
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 R