Fremont, Nebraska – You may have heard the phrase before: “When there is a Full Moon, strange things happen”. Well, there was a Full Moon over Historic Moller Field Saturday night….and strange things happened. The Fremont Moo had a four run lead evaporate. Then, Fremont trailed by three runs going into the bottom of the ninth….and came back to win 11-10, on a walk-off rbi single by Isaac Bonner, which snapped The Moo’s three-game losing streak.
Fremont started the scoring in the bottom of the first. Jack Torosian led off with a walk against Prospects starter Carson Obrecht. After Torosian stole second, two batters later, Cooper Fuchino hit an rbi single, scoring Torosian, to make it 1-0. After Obrecht struck out Tyrus Petsche, Parker Mooney drew a walk. Then, Dylan Brandenburg hit an rbi single, scoring Fuchino, to put Fremont ahead, 2-0.
The Moo extended the lead in the bottom of the second. With two outs, Torosian walked before Bridger Coleman did the same. Then, Fuchino singled, scoring Torosian, to make it a 3-0 Fremont lead.
The Prospects got on the board in the top of the third. With one out, Korey Cozad singled off Fremont starter Zach Vincent. Cozad stole second. Then two batters later, Trenton Barry hit an rbi single, scoring Cozed, to make it 3-1.
Fremont responded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs. Against Prospects reliever Charlie Mosser, Fremont’s Kayden Anderson singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Connor Petersen reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners. An errant pickoff attempt to first by Mosser advanced Petersen to second and Anderson scored, to make it 4-1. A wild pitch advanced Petersen to third. Jack Torosian drew a walk. After Mosser struck out Bridger Coleman, Fuchino hit a ground ball to third, but a throwing error allowed Fuchino to reach and Petersen scored to make it 5-1.
Then….things started to get strange. In the top of the sixth, The Prospects sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs. Trenton Barry led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Then, Drew Borner tripled to center field, scoring Barry, to make it 5-2. A wild pitch scored Borner to make it 5-3. Nico Sall drew a walk. Then, Bodi Waller singled to put runners at the corners. Sall scored on a wild pitch, to make it 5-4. Then, Waller scored on a wild pitch, to tie the game at 5-5. Zach Vincent responded by recording the next two outs and The Moo went to the bullpen to bring in Theo Hughes to pitch. Hughes walked Jonathan Moffett. Then, Korey Cozad hit an rbi double, scoring Moffett, to give The Prospects their first lead at 6-5. A wild pitch advanced Cozad to third base. The next batter, Easton Swafford, singled, scoring Cozad, to make it a 7-5 Prospects advantage.
Fremont battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Against reliever Colton Homolka, Fremont’s Miles Meadows led off with a single. Connor Petersen followed with a single of his own. Then, Jack Torosian was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The next batter, Bridger Coleman, drew a walk, scoring Meadows, to make it 7-6. After Homolka struck out the next two batters, Parker Mooney drew a walk, scoring Petersen to tie the game at 7-7.
The Prospects recaptured the lead in the top of the eighth. J.D. DiPrima led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Hughes retired the next two batters, Easton Swafford hit an rbi single, scoring DiPrima to make it an 8-7 Prospects lead.
The lead expanded to three runs in the ninth. Against Fremont reliever Alex Oliver, The Prospects’ Drew Borner singled. Then, Nico Sall hit an Oliver 2-2 pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run, making it 10-7.
Then, the magic of the Full Moon went into full effect in the bottom of the ninth. Prior to the start of Fremont’s at bat, The Prospects substituted Josh Kilzer in, to play first base, for Jonathan Moffett. Facing reliever J.T. Roy, Fremont’s Bridger Coleman led off with a walk. Roy struck out Cooper Fuchino for the first out of the inning. Then, Tyrus Petsche drew a walk, putting runners at first and second. A wild pitch advanced the base runners to second and third. Then, Parker Mooney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Fremont pinch-ran Trey Brooks for Mooney at first. Dylan Brandenburg stepped to the plate and hit a two-rbi single, scoring Coleman and Petsche, to make it a 10-9 game. The next batter, Kayden Anderson singled, scoring Brooks, to tie the game at 10-10, and Fremont had runners at first and second. The Prospects wanted to make a pitching change. In the middle of the inning, Jonathan Moffett, who was playing first base, was substituted out by Josh Kilzer. The intent by Prospects coach Jeff Wellwood was to have Moffett re-enter the game, to pitch. However, ILB games are played by NCAA rules, which means there is no re-entry, therefore, Moffett could not return to the game. The Prospects sent Josh Kilzer to the mound to pitch. The first batter he faced, Miles Meadows singled to load the bases. The next batter, Isaac Bonner, hit the first pitch from Kilzer into right field for an rbi walk-off single, scoring Brandenburg, and giving Fremont the 11-10 victory…and “The Cow jumped over The Full Moon”.
Fremont (27-18, 14-7) scored eleven runs off twelve hits and committed no errors. The Prospects (7-21, 2-11) had ten runs off eleven hits and had two errors.
Moo starter Zach Vincent pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five runs off five hits, struck out six, walked two, had three wild pitches and hit one batter. Theo Hughes pitched 2.1 innings, giving up three runs off two hits, struck out four, walked two and had three wild pitches. Alex Oliver (3-1) picked up the win. He pitched 1.0 inning, giving up two runs off three hits, struck out three and yielded the two-run home run to Nico Sall.
Prospects starter Carson Obrecht pitched 3.0 innings, giving up three runs off three hits, struck out two, walked five and hit one batter. Charlie Mosser pitched 2.0 innings, giving up two unearned runs off three hits, struck out three, walked three, had three wild pitches and hit one batter. Colton Homolka pitched 2.0 innings, giving up two runs off two hits, struck out four, walked two and hit one batter. J.T. Roy (0-1) took the loss. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up four runs off two hits, walked two and hit one batter. Josh Kilzer faced two batters and gave up two hits.
Offensively for Fremont, Cooper Fuchino was 2-for-5 with two rbi’s. Parker Mooney was 0-for-1 and drove in one run. Dylan Brandenburg was 2-for-6 and drove home three runs. Kayden Anderson was 2-for-5 and knocked in one. Miles Meadows was 2-for-6. Connor Petersen was 2-for-4. Isaac Bonner was 1-for-1 with the walk-off rbi single.
For The Prospects, Easton Swafford was 2-for-4 with two rbi’s. Trenton Barry was 1-for-4 and drove in one run. Drew Borner was 2-for-5 with an rbi. Nico Sall was 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Bodi Waller was 2-for-5. Korey Cozad was 2-for-4 and drove in one run.
The Prospects return to action Thursday when they open a four-game series at The Hastings Sodbusters.
Fremont will play its final home series of the regular season, beginning Monday night, versus The Bison. First pitch is 7:05 p.m.
