The Sussex County Miners suffered a 4-3 gut-punch loss to Trois-Rivières Aigles on Friday night at Stade Quillorama.
It was a pitching duel in Québec. Starter Billy Parsons pitched seven strong innings, allowing five hits and only one run on an RBI single to DJ Banks in the second inning.
Despite this, the Miners once again couldn’t unlock the Aigles pitching. Charles Lefebvre would bend but would not break as he kept the Miners bats that had been heating up over the last few weeks scoreless. It remained 1-0 Aigles heading into the 6th inning.
But the Miners’ bats would eventually enter the playing field and solve the Lefebvre puzzle. Keenan Taylor would tie the game at one a piece with an RBI single to right field.
Dean Ferrara would follow a short Trois-Rivieres mound visit with a first-pitch single to short, sending Gabriel Maciel home and giving the Miners their first lead of the game. Mahki Backstrom would keep the fun coming as he hit an RBI single off the new relief pitcher, Blake MacMillian. They would leave two men stranded on base, but the damage was done. It was 3-1 Miners.
Micah Earwood would face some trouble in the ninth but struck out John Montes and Emmanuel Tapia to get out of the jam. It would lead to Parker Primeaux getting the call in the ninth inning with the score still 3-1 in favor of the Miners.
Parker Primeaux has been dominant for the Miners this season, but yet again, just like the rubber match at Skylands Stadium, the Aigles bats would once again have his number.
It started with Connor Hicks battling through a 1-2 count and getting walked. Cole Hill delivered a double on a liner to right field and brought pinch runner Francesco Barbieri home. Then came the dagger. On a 2-1 count, first baseman Liam Bushy sent one deep to right field and would round the bases in celebration as the Aigles walked it off and won 4-3.
Another tough defeat for the Miners, who fell to 18-22 and continue to battle their way back to .500 after some early-season struggles. They look to take game two of the series against the Aigles tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled at 5:05 pm.
Fans can watch live on the Frontier League Network via HTN or listen on Mixlr. Streaming links are available at scminers.com.
Written by Justin Haight