RiverHawks come from behind for 8-7 win

07/16/2012 9:56 PM - LOVES PARK, Ill. – Evan Button’s eighth inning go-ahead RBI single lifted the Rockford RiverHawks to an 8-7 victory over the River City Rascals Monday night in the series opener at RiverHawks Stadium.  The RiverHawks erased a 6-1 deficit and also came back from being down 7-6 into the bottom of the seventh inning. With the game tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Ted Obregon walked with two outs and stolen his 15thbase of the season. He scored on Button’s single up the middle off Alex Sunderland, and Garrett Granitz pitched a perfect ninth to earn his third save of the season. “I know we have a good ballclub, “manager Rich Austin said. “They keep believing and fighting. It’s good to see right now. “ Mickey Cassidy (2-1) earned the win in relief for a second consecutive night for Rockford. Alex Sunderland (0-1) picked up the loss, giving up a run in one inning of relief for the River City. The Rascals scored three times in the second inning to take an early lead. The first two runs came as Matt Serna’s sacrifice bunt with two runners on base saw Rockford commit two errors to score Bobby Burk and Ben Hewett. Eric Williams singled in Serna with a bloop single to left. The Rascals pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI base hit by Curran Redal. Rockford’s Devin Shepherd got the home team on the board in the bottom half with an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 4-1. With one out in the top of the fifth, River City’s Jason Patton and Charlie Lisk hit back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches by starter Ziggie VanderWall to push the lead to 6-1.  The RiverHawks responded with a big five-run fifth inning, capped off by Michael Hur’s three-run homer to left field, his ninth of the year, to tie the game at 6-6.  “These guys are good hitters and they have a really good approach at the plate,” Austin said. The Rascals loaded the bases with no outs off newly-signed Dylan Brammer in the seventh inning, and Jordan Goldschmidt came in to relief and threw a wild pitch to give the Rascals a 7-6 lead. However, Goldschmidt limited the damage to that one run. Matt Greener singled home Javier Herrera in the bottom half to tie the game back up at 7-7 before Button delivered the go-ahead hit in the eighth inning.  Button and Greener each had three hits in the win. River City’s Jason Patton and Curran Redal had three hits apiece for the visitors. RiverHawks’ catcher Mike Thomas threw out three Rascal runners trying to steal.  The Rascals will send righty Tony Marsala (2-4, 3.20 ERA) to the mound tomorrow, and the RiverHawks will counter with Nick Anderson (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who is making his professional debut. Tomorrow is Kids Eat Free night at the ballpark. Kids will receive a voucher for a hot dog, chips, and soda with a paid ticket.  The RiverHawks are members of the Frontier League, an independent professional baseball league in its 20th season. Games are broadcast on NTA-FM (100.5) Advertising and ticket information is available by calling (815) 885-2255. Fans can also visit www.rockfordriverhawks.com.