However, fans are starting to become very aware of him, as he has steadily built a reputation for pinpoint control and versatility.

Sotillet began his pro career in 2016 with the DSL Royals, finishing second in innings pitched (65), first in fewest walks allowed among starters (a minuscule eight), and second in strikeouts (41). Over 13 starts, he recorded a 7-2 record with a 1.52 ERA as a 19-year old. The next season was disastrous, as he finished the year with a 6.67 ERA over 13 appearances (12 starts), split among all three stateside rookie-level Royals affiliates. Of note was his walk rate and K/BB ratio (2.1/9 IP and 3.23, respectively), a continuing sign of things to come.

Sotillet turned 21 in March, just a few weeks before he made his Class-A debut. April went very well for him, as he struck out 21 in 19 innings while walking only four, posting a 3.32 ERA. May was even better, as he recorded a 2.70 ERA over 30 innings (5 appearances, 4 starts), and walked only two batters while sending 27 down on strikes. Of some concern was his OPS against (.779), which was 137 points higher than April. Still, he showed an ability to limit damage with runners on (.257 BAA overall, .619 OPS).

June was an aberration, in terms of his previous results this year; a disastrous start at home vs. the Charleston RiverDogs severely inflated his numbers for the month (4 2/3 IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 11 H, 1 BB, 2 K). Take away that outlier, and his ERA for the month is 3.98, much closer to his norm.

While the Asheville Tourists touched him up for five runs on seven hits in four innings on July 2^nd, Sotillet made a statement in his next start when he went the full nine vs. Greensboro at Lexington (7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K). Despite the base hits, he was never once rattled; when Manager Scott Thorman approached the mound to speak with him in the 9^th inning as the bullpen was ready to take over, Sotillet spoke with him for about five seconds before he repeatedly shook his head “no”, as his infielders simply smiled. The game was over, only moments later.

Sotillet threw 113 pitches, that night, 79 for strikes (23 looking, 15 swinging), and gave up only one XBH as he faced 32 batters. It was only his second career complete game in 38 starts, the first since 2016.

As a starter, Sotillet generally sits around 92-93 with his fastball, spotting and commanding it well, and he compliments it with a mid-high 70s curve with 11-5 break and a change-up at 82-84. Sotillet generally commands all three pitches well, and when he’s on top of his game he carves up the strike zone, attacking hitters and keeping his defense in the game.

As a reliever, Sotillet’s fastball ramps up to 95-96 and the curve touches 82 with sharp break. He does get up in the zone with the curve, sometimes, but it seems to happen more often when he’s front-dooring it to a right-hander (as far as what I’ve seen, myself). I’d like to see the change refined a bit, with perhaps a bit more tail and/or sink; such a change would make Sotillet a lock to remain in the rotation as he climbs the ladder.

Sotillet’s mechanics are simple and he repeats his motion easily. He drives to the plate and squares up to it in his follow-through, but he also spins off toward first pretty often. This doesn’t seem to cost him in terms of control, however. He maintains a three-quarter arm slot that sometimes gets slightly low, but he seems to remain on top of the ball consistently. Sotillet has great ratios, so far (8.46 K/9, 1.31 BB/9, 6.46 K/BB ratio), and though his BAA is at .294, this is largely due to a .369 BABIP, and I would assume it is unlikely to remain so high.

I asked Sotillet about what he’s been focusing on, and what he’d like to improve. “Well, I’ve been working on lowering my chest more in order to finish with better angles/command on my throws,” he said.

He’s a ground-ball pitcher, for sure (52.4 percent, 1.96 GB/FB ratio), and has given up only 6 homers in his 16 appearances. One could make an argument that he’s around the heart of the zone too often (107 H in 89 1/3 IP, 69.8 percent strike pct.), but he makes it work.

Sotillet has the profile of a back-end starter, and if he’s moved to the pen, he’s a multi-inning option with mid-90s velo and three solid pitches. His star is on the rise, but his future role (starter or reliever) will likely determine his advancement up the ladder as much as anything else. As I finish this article, Sotillet is finishing his first day at High-A Wilmington (how dare he leave before I finish writing this!), due in part to the arrival of LHP Daniel Lynch and RHP Jackson Kowar. However, he said that he thoroughly enjoyed playing in Lexington. “I thought (Lexington) was very nice. I liked it a lot,” he related to me.

The list of prospects in Lexington just keeps on growing.

Scott Blewett (Photo Credit Jen Nevius)

Best Rotation – NW Arkansas Naturals

The Naturals threesome of Foster Griffin (4), Scott Blewett (19), and Glenn Sparkman (14) stands out among all the organizational rotations. The bump to Double-A is a big jump for Blewett, who many believe is one of the Royals top pitching prospects. In addition, Griffin was the Royals minor league pitcher of the year last season and Sparkman had an outstanding spring season for the major league club in Arizona. Filling out the rotation will be Emilio Ogando (46) who went 10-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 23 starts for the Naturals last season and Corey Ray who struggled last season but still features a fastball he can run into the upper 90s.

Best Bullpen – Omaha Storm Chasers

This one is an easy call when you consider it might even be better than the current major league pen. One of the Royals top prospects, Richard Lovelady (9), will help front this pen that will also feature fireballing Josh Staumont (17), who finally makes the move that should help accelerate any chance he may have in making it to Kansas City. Coming back to Omaha will be Kevin Lenik (28), Kevin McCarthy, Eric Stout (21) and Seth Maness. Rounding out the bullpen is Mike Broadway, who is coming off an impressive spring with the major league club, and Wily Peralta after clearing waivers.

Best Infield – Wilmington Blue Rocks

The Rocks infield is talented at both corners with top third base prospect Emmanuel Rivera (10) at third and big power threat Chris DeVito (45) across the diamond at first. In the middle of the infield is Gabriel Cancel (16) and the 46 extra base hits he collected for Lexington last season in 103 games. Alongside him is shortstop Angelo Castellano. The Venezuelan shortstop stabilized the position for Lexington last year after Ricky Aracena’s early struggles. He’s mostly a defensive shortstop, but will show some pop from time to time. The Rocks infield will also include DJ Burt, a speedy option with good on-base skills.

Best Catcher Group – Lexington Legends

It’s a two-team race with Wilmington’s combo of Chase Vallot (13) and Meibrys Viloria (18), versus Lexington’s MJ Melendez (2) and Sebastian Rivero (25) tandem, but I’ve got to give the edge to Lexington and Melendez. For everything I’m hearing about Melendez, he is advanced defensively, brings some good potential power and has the advanced skill to know to cut down on his swing with two strikes to reach base. The ball explodes off his bat as evidenced by some of the best exit velocities among the draft class last year, and he is beyond his years in controlling the run game. Next to Melendez will be another young and advanced defensive catcher in Rivero who is still just 19 years of age and receives similar raves and reviews that fellow countryman Salvador Perez did at the same age.

Best Outfield – NW Arkansas Naturals

This is close and definitely the one I had to think about the most. The Lexington outfield featuring defensive dynamo Michael Gigliotti (6) running next to powerful Seuly Matias (8) in right should be a fun watch. They should get a nice contribution from Vance Vizcaino and the hitting skill he showed with a .325 batting average over his final 54 games last season. The top Royals prospect plays in Wilmington, as Khalil Lee (1) will be attempting to power up at Frawley Stadium and attempting show that he’s a Top 100 prospect. Running alongside Lee will be speedster Rudy Martin (40) who showed his ridiculous speed after stealing 26 bases in just 37 Lexington games. That’s not all that he brings to the table as the 5-7 outfielder also has a little thump in his game despite his size. While that tandem could be special, I think the best overall outfield at least to start the season will be in Arkansas with the Naturals foursome that all have tools in the shed. The top outfielder, Donnie Dewees (15), earned Texas League Player of the Month during June to carry the club to a first half playoff berth. Next to him will be Elier Hernandez (24) after his possible breakout season was cut short last year (19 XBH in 46 games) by injury, and Anderson Miller (38) who has adapted in his second go-around at every level. It’s the depth of the group that gives them the lead, as their bench outfielders Brandon Downes (53) has plenty of tools with a strong arm and some power to do some damage in the Texas League this season; Alfredo Escalera has shown good bat to ball skills in the past.

Overview

In looking at the complete rosters I would expect the two upper-level squads to have the best team records due to their stronger pitching staffs. A return to the playoffs could be in the cards for the Storm Chasers should Hunter Dozier, Ryan O’Hearn and Frank Schwindel hit enough to carry the offense. The Naturals have 20 players that have played at Double-A prior, which should help them make another appearance in the playoffs. The lower levels will be led by offenses and some pitching staffs. Wilmington last made the playoffs in 2015 as part of the Royals organization, while Lexington has never made the playoffs as an affiliate of the club.

Player movement – Ryan O’Hearn and Logan Moon were moved to NW Arkansas to make room for Hunter Dozier.

Audio with Assistant GM of Player Personnel J.J. Picollo

HR Roll Call Frank Schwindel 2 (20), Darrell Miller Jr. (3)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Frank Schwindel 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI 

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jacob Bodner 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 3-1 GO-FO, 36p/20k

Iowa Cubs 8, Omaha Storm Chasers 7 

A pair of former Storm Chaser playoff starters faced off in Papillion on Monday. The 2014 PCL championship game starter Aaron Brooks started for the I-Cubs, tossing three efficient innings before running into trouble in the fourth. On the other side, ’14 National Championship game starter Christian Binford was running into similar fourth inning problems.

With the game at 1-0 Iowa, the fourth inning got interesting when Billy Burns dove and came up empty on a sinking two-out line-drive with the bases loaded. The ball got past Burns and all three runners scrambled home to give the Cubs a 4-0 advantage. Omaha answered in their half of the inning with a Frank Schwindel home run (19) and a two-run single by Garin Cecchini to pull within a run. One inning later after the Cubs had pushed their lead back to two with a solo home run off Binford, the Chasers and Schwindel were back at it again off Brooks, this time with a mammoth 437-foot blast (20) to left-center and an RBI single by Brayan Pena that gave the Chasers a 7-5 lead.

Unfortunately, that lead was short lived for Omaha. Reliever Seth Maness gave up a three-run sixth inning that featured a two-run home run by Taylor Davis. The Cubs bullpen would take control of the game from there, retiring the final 11 Chasers hitters.

Boxscore Link

Frank Schwindel 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Bubba Starling 0-5
Eric Stout 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 25p/16k

Frederick Keys 9, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

The Rocks answered a four-run Keys second inning with a three-run frame of their own Monday, but their bats would go silent from there. While the Willmington offense went silent the Keys were playing music with their bats, scoring a pair in the fourth, another in the fifth and two more in the seventh for an easy win.

Most of the damage came on starter Colin Rodgers as the lefty gave up eight hits and walked four while allowing six runs in three innings.

Boxscore Link

Brandon Downes 2-4, 2b
John Brontsema 1-3, R, RBI, BB

Billings Mustangs 17, Idaho Falls Chukars 13 – F/12

The Chukars got involved in one of those classic high scoring Pioneer League affairs. The two teams exchanged leads five different times prior to extra innings with Billings jumping out to an 8-2 lead through six innings only to watch Idaho Falls comeback and take a 10-8 lead after eight innings. The Reds rookie affiliate wouldn’t mail it in though, scoring three runs to take the lead into the bottom of the ninth. Of course that lead didn’t last long with Darrell Miller Jr. hitting a solo home run to send the game to extra innings.

After the teams exchanged runs in the eleventh inning Billings blew the game open with five runs in the twelfth to finally build a lead that Idaho Falls couldn’t overcome.

Boxscore Link

Brewer Hicklen 3-6, 2b,, 3b, 2 RBI
Matt Morales 1-6, R, 2b, BB, RBI
Travis Jones 1-5, R, BB, SB

Burlington Royals 9, Danville Braves 8 – F/10

The Royals trailed 8-6 into the ninth inning of their third game of four versus the Danville Braves. That deficit was quickly sliced in half thanks to a leadoff single by Jose Sanchez that started the inning and a triple by Seuly Matias. A sacrifice fly by Benji Cash quickly tied the game to push the game to extras. In the tenth, Braves pitcher Cutter Dyals lost control of his pitches following an error that allowed Jose Marquez to reach. With Marquez on, Dyals pushed him to second with a wild pitch prior to Ryan Dale sacrificing him to third. With the winning run on 90 feet away and just one out Dyals did it again, uncorking a second wild pitch that allowed Marquez to race home for the winning run.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 1-5, R, 3b, RBI, 2 K
Sebastian Rivero 1-5, R, 3 RBI, 1-2 CS/Att
Jordan Floyd 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 36p/25k

#WalkoffFeeling pic.twitter.com/p1x1NRpDAI

— Burlington Royals (@BRoyalsKC) August 15, 2017

HR Roll Call: Alfredo Escalera (7), Joe Dudek (8)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Travis Jones 5-5, 3R, 2-2b, 2 RBI, SB (11)

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Charlie Neuweiler 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 6-6 GO-FO

Royals sign C.J. Eldred
The Royals signed C.J. Eldred, son of Cal Eldred, to a minor league contract this week. The former Iowa Hawkeye underwent Tommy John surgery during the season, after one quality start during his junior year. The pitcher started his career at Indiana before transferring to Iowa, his father’s alma mater, where he had a solid sophomore season putting up a 3.43 ERA in 16 games (14 starts) for a team that reached the Big 10 tournament championship game. The right-handed pitcher has started to throw some already and has an outside shot of being able to pitch some during instructs. Terms were undisclosed.

AZL Royals 5, AZL A’s 4

The Royals built a five-run lead thanks to 10 hits; then hung onto a win. Starter and 2017 draft pick Charlie Neuweiler tossed five scoreless innings, allowing two hits. This was a nice bounce-back start after allowing his most hits in his brief stint in Arizona.

The battery partner for Neuweiler, catcher MJ Melendez, had two of the squad’s 10 hits while scoring twice to help pace the team in the win.

Mervyl Melendez one of the better players at the complex level. Can hit, will receive. Athlete. Competitor. Potential first division type

— Chris Kusiolek (@CaliKusiolek) August 7, 2017

Boxscore Link

MJ Melendez 2-4, 2R
Charlie Neuweiler 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 6-6 GO-FO
Nick Pratto 1-5, 3b

Game 1 – Greeneville Astros 6, Burlington Royals 5
Game 2 – Burlington Royals 3, Greeneville Astros 1

The Royals split a doubleheader with the Astros rookie squad on Tuesday. In game one, reliever Luis Alcantara couldn’t close the door, allowing a two-run home run in the sixth inning after Burlington had claimed the lead on a sac fly by Seuly Matias.

The Royals scored a pair of late inning runs with a bases-loaded walk and a groundout by Cal Jones to plate Michael Gigliotti. Reliever Tyler Zuber continued his stellar work with a strikeout in the final inning to save his fifth game. The former Arkansas State pitcher has now struck out 33 hitters in just 20.1 innings for Burlington.

Boxscore G1
Boxscore G2

Seuly Matias 0-6, R, RBI, BB
Michael Gigliotti 2-7, R, BB
Cal Jones 3-6, R, 2b, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Idaho Falls Chukars 10, Billings Mustangs 7

The Chukars plated quite a few runs early and hung on late for another win over Billings. Things got rolling in the second when outfielder Travis Jones got his big night started with a run-scoring double. That opened a five-run inning that gave Idaho Falls a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The pitching staff did enough while the offense continued to pile on with 10 runs total. Jones scored three and drove in two more as part of his 5 for 5 night that also included a great catch in the outfield.

The best performance for a 2017 draftee definitely belongs to Jones thus far, with the outfielder hitting .426/.486/.591 in his three different stops and 32 games of rookie ball.

Boxscore Link

Travis Jones 5-5, 3R, 2-2b, 2 RBI, SB (11)
Amalani Fukofuka 1-5, SB (27), CS (5)

Asheville Tourists 10, Lexington Legends 7

The Legends jumped out to a 7-1 lead on Asheville with a string of five singles in the fourth inning that followed a two-run home run by Joe Dudek. Starter Ofreidy Gomez couldn’t get away from trouble in the fifth, after allowing a pair of runs in the fourth inning. The righty allowed five runs including a three-run home run that handed Asheville the lead they wouldn’t give up the rest the night.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 3-4, R, RBI
Emmanuel Rivera 2-5, 2 RBI
Gabe Cancel 1-3, 2R, BB

Down East Wood Ducks 11, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

The Blue Rocks had one more opportunity to score than Down East but couldn’t take advantage of the Rangers affiliate on this night. Wilmington went just 4 for 15 with runners in scoring position while Down East connected on 8 of 14 opportunities to keep the pressure on the Rocks pitching staff.

Starter Cristian Castillo’s struggles continued with five runs allowed in 4.1 innings. The lefty could be tiring down the stretch with an 8.65 ERA in his last five starts. Prior to that run, Castillo had put up a 2.61 ERA in his first 17 starts of the year.

Boxscore Link

Cristian Castillo 4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 76p/44k, 3-2 GO-FO
Nick Heath 4-5, R, SB (16)
Chris DeVito 2-3, 2 BB

NW Arkansas Naturals 11, Midland RockHounds 5

Outfielder Alfredo Escalera’s three-run home run in the seventh paved the way to a win for the Naturals over Midland. The Naturals plated three more runs in the eighth to tack on, and the bullpen shut things over the last three innings to claim the win.

Boxscore Link

Richard Lovelady 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 38p/27k
Paulo Orlando 2-3, 2R, BB
Samir Duenez 0-4, R, BB
Donnie Dewees 1-3, R, 2b, CS (7)
Nicky Lopez 1-4, R, BB

Game 1 – Memphis Redbirds 3, Omaha Storm Chasers 1
Game 2 – Memphis Redbirds 4, Omaha Storm Chasers 2

Two games were played with each having a similar blueprint for Omaha on Tuesday. In both games of the doubleheader, the Chasers took leads to the latter innings only to give up the advantage and fall. In the first game, the Chasers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Logan Moon double, but four straight Memphis hits in the fifth scored three runs.

The second game had a similar feel for the Chasers. After an error gave Omaha two runs on a sacrifice fly by Frank Schwindel, the Chasers bullpen let the game get away. Usually reliable reliever Eric Stout gave up three runs as his control wavered. He walked the bases loaded before a bases clearing double by Gabriel Lino gave Memphis a 4-2 lead and the eventual win.

Boxscore Link G1
Boxscore Link G2

Eric Stout 1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 38p/16k
Emilio Ogando 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 87p/50k
Frank Schwindel 2-4, RBI, BB
Jorge Soler 1-4, R, 2BB
Raul Mondesi 0-3, 2k

Wednesday Probables
Omaha – Christian Binford 5-8 7.93 ERA
NW Arkansas – Jake Kalish 0-7 3.41 ERA
Wilmington – Colin Rodgers 2-3 3.66 ERA
Lexington – Garrett Davila 7-6 5.59 ERA vs local product Riley Pint
Idaho Falls – Dillon Drabble 0-1 0.93 ERA
Burlington – Dan Tillo 1-0 2.45 ERA

Cam Gallagher Profile

Cam Gallagher (Minda Haas Kuhlmann)

What should you expect to see from the former 2nd round pick should he get the opportunity to help out with the Sal Perez injury. Defensively is where Gallagher shines as the big bodies catcher shows good receiving skills with accepting hands at the dish that are strong enough to exhibit quality framing skills. Despite the big body and lack of quick twitch athleticism Gallagher shows no wasted movement in his footwork and can put together decent pop times in the 1.85 range which are adequate for a backup catcher.

Offensively Gallagher doesn’t stand out other than the fact that he doesn’t strikeout much and can control his bat working the ball to all fields in the correct situations. The power is pull side and is less than average while the speed is well below average.

The total package is that of a quality backup catcher who provides quality defense, good came calling skills and a quality person in the clubhouse who you hope can run into a pitch here and there.

HR Roll Call Samir Duenez 2 (15), Gabe Cancel (13), Angelo Castellano (7), Amalani Fukofuka (5), Benji Cash (2)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Samir Duenez 3-6 2 HR, 3 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Andres Sotillet 6 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K 8-4 GO-FO

Sacramento River Cats 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 4

The River Cats scored three unearned runs in the second inning off starter Eric Skoglund to open the scoring Saturday after a throwing error by Brayan Pena opened the inning. The Chasers answered with three runs of their own in the third after a pair of walks to Billy Burns and Raul Mondesi opened the frame. A pair of singles by Cheslor Cuthbert and Jorge Soler scored them before Cuthbert scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s groundout. The two teams exchanged runs with Sacramento hitting a solo home run in the fourth off Skoglund and Omaha answering with a rbi single by Brayan Pena in the sixth.

The game remained tied until the eighth when Giants top prospect Chris Shaw hit a home run off reliever Kevin Lenik to give the River Cats a lead and the eventual win.

Boxscore Link

Eric Skoglund 6 Ip 6 H 4 R 1 ER 1 BB 7 K 7-1 GO-FO 101p/68k
Raul Mondesi 0-1 R, BB, HBP
Cheslor Cuthbert 2-5 R, RBI
Jorge Soler 1-4 RBI
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 RBI, BB, SB

Springfield Cardinals 8 NW Arkansas Naturals 7 F/12

The Naturals were outslugged in another loss to Springfield in the third of four games versus the Cardinals affiliate. First baseman Samir Duenez did all he could early to help the club, connecting on a pair of home runs in his first two at bats. The first homer was a pull shot that scored Duenez and Paulo Orlando to put the Naturals in front 2-0. Two innings later after starter Corey Ray had given up the lead it was Duenez tying the game back up with a home run to left. Outfielder Donnie Dewees doubled and scored on Mauricio Ramos single quickly in the same inning to reclaim the lead that was pushed to 5-3 at the end of the frame.

From there the two teams would exchange runs with the game ending up tied at 7-7 at the end of nine innings into extras. The Naturals would put the lead run on in the all three extra innings but fail to push them around and would drop the game when Springfield’s Randy Arozarena walked it off with a home run to lead off the bottom of the twelfth inning.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 3-6 2 HR 3 RBI
Nicky Lopez 2-6, CS
Donnie Dewees 3-5 R, 2b, BB
Paulo Orlando 0-3 R, RBI, BB
Anderson Miller 2-6 RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 Frederick Keys 1

Recently promoted starter Jace Vines put together his best start for Wilmington as yet, working five scoreless innings while working around three hits and three walks. The former Texas A&M pitcher was given the lead in the second inning with a two run double by Colton Frabasilio and added on with a rbi triple by Wander Franco in the fourth.

Relievers Justin Camp and Franco Terrero would make sure that lead would hold up as the two allowed just one run over the last four innings to secure the Blue Rocks win.

Boxscore Link

Brandon Downes 1-4 2b
Jace Vines 5 IP 3H 0 R 0 ER 3 Bb 4 K 5-3 GO-FO 91p/48k
Franco Terrero 1.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K 0-3 GO-FO 23p/12k

Game 1
Hickory Crawdads 3 Lexington Legends 1

Royals prospect Gerson Garabito continued to work his way back to full strength Saturday afternoon in game one of the doubleheader for Lexington. The Dominican right-handed pitcher tossed four innings of scoreless baseball on 45 pitches while allowing just a second innings single and striking out three hitters.

Second baseman Gabe Cancel gave the Legends the lead in the fourth inning with his thirteenth home run of the season. That lead was short-lived once Garabito left the game when reliever Vance Tatum gave up a pair of singles around a walk to tie the game. One inning later hit their own home run, a two run shot to give them a 3-1 lead which would be enough after Lexington stranded two runners to end the game.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 0-3 2K, BB
Gabe Cancel 1-3 HR
Emmanuel Rivera 0-3 3K
Gerson Garabito 4 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 45p/30k 4-3 GO-FO

Game 2
Lexington Legends 9 Hickory Crawdads 3

The Legends broke open a 3-3 game in the ninth inning of game 2. In the ninth Gabe Cancel started the inning off with a single and quickly scored following a walk and another single by Manny Olloque. A fielding error on Margen Gasparini’s groundball to first pushed their lead to two runs. With runners on second and third Vance Vizcaino would walk to load the bases for shortstop Angelo Castellano. The shortstop has struggled since the start of July hitting just .123 in that time but it didn’t stop him from unloading the bases with a grand slam to left to put the game out of reach.

Boxscore Link

Emmanuel Rivera 1-5 R, 2K
Gabe Cancel 1-3 R, K
Marten Gasparini 2-4 R, RBI

Great Falls Voyagers 8 Idaho Falls Chukars 4

The Chukars starter David McKay was roughed up in his six innings allowing 11 hits and eight runs including a pair of home runs. One night after showing off his speed with four stolen bases Amalani Fukofuka flashed his power with a home run and a double in his four plate appearances.

Boxscore Link

Amalani Fukofuka 2-4 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI

Burlington Royals 4 Elizabethton Twins 3

Centerfielder Michael Gigliotti accounted for the first three runs of the game for Burlington before Benji Cash gave them the deciding run. Trailing 1-0 Gigliotti connected on a triple to center that scored Oliver Nunez from first to tie the game. After the Twins took the lead back in the sixth Gigliotti was at it again in the seventh this time with a two run double to claim the lead.

The Twins would knot it back up in the bottom of the seventh but the Royals would claim the last lead of the night with a Cash home run to center. Closer Tyler Zuber would give up a pair of singles in the ninth before striking out the side to end the game.

Boxscore Link

Michael Gigliotti 2-5 2b, 3b, 3 RBI, K, SB (15)
Seuly Matias 1-3 2b
Tyler Zuber 1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 21p/13k

AZL Royals 5 AZL D-Backs 1

The Royals received another good start from Andres Sotillet as the Venezuelan tossed six shutout innings around three hits and a walk. After struggles in the Pioneer League Sotillet as calmed things down in Arizona with three quality starts in five tries. Errors or wild pitches helped the Royals to all five runs on offense to cruise to the win with the solid pitching.

A familiar face returned after nearly two years away from the game as former 2013 3rd round pick Carter Hope worked two perfect innings with two strikeouts for the Royals.

Boxscore Link

Nick Pratto 2-5
Brewer Hicklen 1-4 R, BB, SB (13), CS (3)
MJ Melendez 0-3 BB, 0-1 CS/Att

DSL Royals 4 DSL Astros Blue 2

The Royals two pitchers struck out 11 Astros on Saturday to salvage a win in the series with them. Outfielder Reynin Reynoso doubled in a pair of runs in the second inning and Felix Familia doubled in another in the fourth. Those runs would be plenty for Adriam Castillo and Adrian Alcantara as the two worked the nine innings with Alcantara dominating over the final three and one-third innings with seven strikeouts.

Boxscore Link

Adriam Castillo 5.2 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 4 K 8-1 GO-FO
Adrian Alcantara 3.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 7 K 0-1 GO-FO
Reynin Reynoso 1-4 2b, 2 RBI

BPKC Hitter of the Day Cheslor Cuthbert 2-4 HR, 2b

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Christian Binford 6 IP 7 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 6 K 88p/59k 5-5 GO-FO

Mondesi makes a slick backhand play