Monster Heartbreak
- Updated: June 15, 2022
Aviators score 3 in bottom of the ninth to hand Choccolocco Monsters a 3-2 loss
Wednesday’s SBL Games
Alpharetta 3, Choccolocco 2
Atlanta Crackers 3, Gainesville 2
Brookhaven 7, Atlanta Blues 6
Columbus 5, Gwinnett 4
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The Choccolocco Monsters couldn’t have been more excited about the way they won the series opener here Monday night. Well, the other shoe dropped Wednesday.
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Burned by a four-run ninth in the series opener, the Aviators turned the tables in the getaway game, erupting for three in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Monsters 3-2 and snap a six-game losing streak.
Phillip Ard’s one-out single in the ninth drove home Griffin Snyder with the winning run, capping a rally of three straight hits off Monsters relievers A.J. Jarrell and Weston Kirk. Until the rally, Monsters starter Will Griffith and Jarrell held the Aviators (3-7) to five two-out singles over the first eight innings.
“The guys were down,” Monsters manager Steve Gillispie said. “It’s summer baseball, but it’s still baseball, it’s still competition, and they were down after the game.
“It happened really quickly. We had played a pretty good ballgame and then they really seized the momentum. There were things we could have controlled our own destiny a little bit, but, really, they played well.”
The winning rally got started when Jarrell hit Dillon Dankowski with a pitch. Preston Gunnell delivered a one-out double to put runners at second and third and, with Daniel (Shutdown) Swatek unavailable, Gillispie went to Kirk. Snyder greeted the new pitcher with the game-tying two-run double and Ard followed with his game-winning hit over the third base bag.
The Monsters (3-5), looking to win back-to-back games for the first time in their history, scored an unearned run in the sixth to break a scoreless tie and added what seemed to be an insurance run in the top of the ninth.
Brandon Prince scored both of the Monsters runs. He doubled in the sixth and came around on an infield error off the bat of Wyatt Fooks. He walked in the ninth, went to third on J.J. Rapp’s single and scored on another infield error off the bat of Fooks.
The Monsters ran themselves out of more runs in the ninth when they ran into a double play later in the inning.
The loss spoiled a brilliant effort by Griffith. The Monsters starter threw six shutout innings, giving up three hits, facing three batters over his minimum, and striking out six.
“That’s two in a row from him and it’s been pretty dominant,” Gillispie said. “It was what we needed.”
Alpharetta starter Charlie Goldstein was equally impressive. The University of Georgia lefthander threw five shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out seven. The win went to Declan Dunn, the fourth Aviators pitcher of the game.
The Monsters return home on Fireworks Friday to open a two-game series with the Atlanta Crackers.
“I still think for the most part our bats were pretty good,” Gillispie said. “You can nitpick a couple mistakes that are just baseball. And that’s what I told them afterwards, let’s learn from what we did, remember the good things and take those into Friday. I think we’re playing with a lot more confidence than what you saw in the beginning, a lot more confidence.”
Choccolocco 000 001 001 – 2 6 1
Alpharetta 000 000 003 – 3 8 2
(One out when winning run scored)
WP: Declan Dunn (1-0). LP: Weston Kirk (0-1). 2B: Brandon Prince (C), Preston Gunnell (A), Griffin Snyder (A)
Sunbelt Baseball League standings
| EAST DIVISION | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| Waleska Wild Things | 5 | 1 | .833 | — |
| Gainesville GolDiggers | 6 | 3 | .667 | 0.5- |
| Alpharetta Aviators | 3 | 7 | .300 | 4 |
| CENTRAL DIVISION | ||||
| Atlanta Crackers | 5 | 4 | .556 | — |
| Atlanta Blues | 5 | 5 | .500 | 0.5 |
| Brookhaven Bucks | 4 | 4 | .500 | 0.5 |
| WEST DIVISION | ||||
| Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots | 4 | 4 | .500 | — |
| Choccolocco Monsters | 3 | 5 | .375 | 1 |
| Gwinnett Astros | 3 | 5 | .375 | 1 |
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