April 7, 2008 — Kenny Milligan delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday to break a tie game and send the Monarchs on to a 10-9 victory over the Yankees in the "Tight Shoes" Jackson Double-A Baseball League.
The game, played at the D.C. Canegata baseball field and shortened to six innings by time constraints, saw the defending-champion Yankees commit seven errors in six innings, which the Monarchs took full advantage of in pulling out the win.
Batting first, the Yankees got on the board right away with three runs on a two-run home run by Ellerton Maynard and an unearned run. The Monarchs answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Conrad Prevost and three Yankees errors.
After the Yankees failed to score in the top of the second, the Monarchs scored three runs in their half of the inning to take a 5-3 lead, without a hit. Five walks and an error accounted for all of the Monarchs' runs.
The score would stay that way until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Monarchs plated four more runs to extend their lead to six at 9-3 after four completed innings. They scored four runs on a two-run home run by Carmelo Torres, an RBI double by Javier Encarnacion and two more Yankees errors.
Trailing by six runs entering the fifth inning, the Yankees began to chip away at the lead. They got two in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Maynard and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Leroy Simmonds to pull within 9-5. The Monarchs had no answer in their half of the inning.
The Yankees continued their comeback in the top of the sixth, scoring four runs to tie the game at nine on an RBI single by Maynard, a sac fly by Mackeel Rodgers, an RBI ground out by Roberto Soto and an error by the Monarchs' left fielder. With the game's allotted time expired, the Monarchs came to bat in the bottom of the sixth knowing that if they scored the game was over. The Yankees almost sent the game into extra innings, but the error bug bit again. The bases were loaded with Monarchs and two outs when Milligan stepped to the plate. He tapped a slow-bouncing ball back to the mound, but relief pitcher Soto, because of his follow through, could not gather himself enough to field the ball cleanly and the ball bounced off his body for the game-winning hit.
Ovilio Aquino picked up the win in relief of Max Velasquez for the Monarchs, while Soto got the loss for the Yankees. Top hitters for the Monarchs were Rashawn Foster, 2 for 3; Torres, 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs; and Prevost, 1 for 3 with an RBI. For the Yankees, Maynard went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs.
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