The Kansas City T-Bones offense did their part Friday night in Texas, scoring 13 runs, but it was not enough as the Cleburne Railroaders blistered the Kansas City pitching staff for 14 runs.
Cleburne came back from deficits of 4-0, 5-4, 9-7 and 13-7 to win it 14-13 in walk-off fashion.
T-Bones got on the board early in Texas with Dylan Tice scoring on an RBI double from Todd Cunningham. He went home when Zach Walters hit a single and Keith Curcio’s double sends Walters and Taylor Featherston home to put the T-Bones up 4-0.
The Railroaders tied it up quickly with T-Bones pitcher James Buckelew allowing two home runs in a row. Buckelew continued to struggle, ultimately being replaced by Jackson Lowery in the bottom of the second.
The T-Bones were able to take back the lead in the third, with Adrian Nieto scoring on a wild pitch, putting the score at KC 5, Cleburne 4.
The back-and-forth continued with neither team breaking away as the Railroaders scored one in the bottom of the third to tie it back up and then took the lead in the bottom of the third, Cleburne 6, KC 5.
The T-Bones were not to be outdone, however, and after struggling in the fourth, they scored four in the top of the fifth to take back the lead. Nieto, Curcio, and Davis got the RBIs in the electric inning for the T-Bones.
The inning started with a Zach Walters double, and the hits just kept coming. Featherston singled, as did Nieto and Curcio. Kjerstad walked and Davis hit the double that sent Nieto and Curcio home. Todd Cunningham was the last T-Bone to get a hit for the inning, but they were stopped at four runs, putting them up KC 9, Cleburne 7.
Mazzoccoli came in to pitch for the T-Bones to start the bottom of the fifth and got two of the three outs with strikeouts. The sixth inning was scoreless for the T-Bones and the Railroaders.
In the seventh the T-Bones really let loose, Dylan Tice scoring one and Adrian Nieto smashing a three-run home run, KC 13, Cleburne 7.
A grand slam home run put Cleburne back in contention, but they weren’t able to eclipse the T-Bones’ lead. Sam Street came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth and walked his first two hitters before the Railroaders tied it, KC 13, Cleburne 13. All tied heading into the bottom of the ninth, with two outs Cleburne hit a home run and broke the T-Bones nine-game win streak. The two teams will face off again at 7:06 p.m. June 30 in Cleburne, Texas.
Season, group, mini-plans and nightly party suites are on sale and can be purchased by visiting the Box Office at T-Bones Stadium. Call the box office at 913-328-5618 or purchase and print at www.tbonesbaseball.com. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The T-Bones games are airing on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.
– Story from T-Bones