The Rangers returned to the ball diamond after 3 weeks off due to rain and defeated the Wright Knights 11-2 on Sunday, July 26 at MUM-Monroe. A tightly contested game through six innings, the Rangers hit three home runs in the seventh inning to pull away from the Knights.

 

The starting pitchers (Ryan Meinert – Rangers, Billy Gray – Knights) had solid outings, keeping their teams in the ballgame while on the mound. Both right-handers held their opponents in check for the first two innings. In the top of the third, Kody Barth and Jonmarc Lippincott singled with one out. Brandon Riley beat out a fielder’s choice to score Barth to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The Rangers added a second run in the fourth as Brennen Glass led off with a walk and later scored on a groundout by Ben Schubert.

 

Meanwhile, Meinert looked to be rolling right along after striking out the first two batters in the bottom of the fourth. But a walk and hit-by-pitch opened up the gate for an RBI single from Michael Wait to cut the deficit in half. Meinert’s day would be shortened in the fifth after an uncharacteristic 4th hits-batsman in the game. With the tying and winning runs on base, Brennen Glass relieved Meinert and struck out Grant Kincaid to end the threat.

 

The Rangers increased their lead to 4-1 in the sixth on an RBI double from Ben Schubert and another run scoring on a wild pitch. Michael Wait drove in the second run of the game for the Knights in the sixth to make it 4-2.

 

The Rangers put the game away in the seventh, scoring seven times. Nick Gilmore led off with a single to increase his hitting streak to 15 straight games. Kody Barth followed with a two-run home run to left field. Rob Armour then walked. Brandon Riley reached on a throwing error, snapping his team-record 33-game hitting streak. Steve Marshall smacked a two-run double, followed by a two-run home run from Brennen Glass, his 8th longball of the season. After two outs were induced, Joe Staten launched an opposite field solo home run, moving into a tie for the most home runs hit by a Rangers player (43 – Jake Kingsolver).

 

Glass retired the Knights in order in the seventh to earn his first career win as a Dayton Rangers player.