Challengers edge Mustangs 3-2 on Jones' errors in the ninth

A fine pitchers’ duel between the Mustangs’ Tim Jones and Robert Sedin was decided by two errors in the ninth inning.

Ironically, Jones was responsible for both those errors as the Challengers sneaked by the Embrach Mustangs in a 3-2 win on Wednesday night.

Jones and Sedin went toe-to-toe as both protagonists allowed only two runs each in the first eight innings.

The Challengers struck first on back-to-back RBI-singles by Francisco Colindres and Sedin in the bottom of the third inning.

They could have scored more, but with Colindres at third and Sedin at second with one out, Tobias Siegrist lined out to third and Eidrys Reyes hit into an inning-ending 1-2-5 fielder’s choice.

The Mustangs answered promptly in the top of the fourth as Christian Klarer lined the first pitch of the inning into right field for a single, and Jones plated him with an RBI-triple on the first pitch to him.

After striking out Fasching swinging, coach Chris Palatinus elected to walk Chris Byrnes intentionally to set up a possible double play.

But catcher Siegrist missed a pitch by Sedin that scored Jones from third to tie the game at two apiece.

After that, Sedin faced the minimum of nine batters through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, and allowed only one more hit – Klarer’s two-out single in the eighth – the rest of the game.

The Challengers managed to put runners on base in each of those innings, but again struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. They loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth on two singles and an intentional walk to Reyes, but Kurt Kovac popped out in the infield, and both Bryan Shemley and Jesus Martinez were retired on strikeouts.

In the bottom of the ninth, Harry Bregy appeared to hit a foul ball by hitting his thigh, but the umpires remained silent. Jones picked up the ball and tagged Bregy who ran down the line, but couldn’t hold on to the ball, awarding Bregy first base.

Colindres then drew a walk but Jones retired Sedin on a popup to the infield for the second out.

Siegrist then got jammed and hit a high popup to the first base side which appeared to be the final out. Jones called for the ball, but again couldn’t hold on, dropping it in fair territory and enabling Bregy to score all the way from second with the winning run.

With the win, the Challengers moved half a game up on the Zurich Barracudas in the fight for the fourth and final Playoff spot, with just five games remaining in the regular season.

Game notes
The Challengers were a combined 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. …Sedin passed Enrico Zingg for ninth place on the all-time list with 191 strikeouts pitched. …Shemley tied Anubis Benitez for third place on the all-time list with 152 whiffs by striking out swinging in the fourth inning. …Reyes tied the Challengers single-season record for caught stealings with seven, getting thrown out at second in the sixth inning. …The Challengers’ pitching staff is posting an unprecedented ERA of 2.78, topping last year’s record mark of 3.59 by a wide margin. On the other hand, the .693 OPS ties the franchise low set in 2005. …The Mustangs’ number four batter Klarer had a game-high three hits, but couldn’t cash in as the first three batters of the Mustangs’ lineup went a combined 0-for-9 at the plate.