The 2013 season ended for the Bowling Green Hot Rods after 9-5 loss to the Fort Wayne TinCaps in Game Two of the Midwest League Quarterfinals on Thursday at Parkview Field. Fort Wayne eliminated Bowling Green and advanced to the Division Championships for an in-state match-up with the South Bend Silver Hawks. Bowling Green’s fifth season, which featured several new records, the franchise’s first league batting champion, and a new high-water mark for wins, ended after the third straight playoff appearance in team history.
Bowling Green took a short-lived lead in a busy second inning. With two outs in the frame, Tyler Goeddel hit a double to left field and Marty Gantt reached on an error to put runners at the corners. Patrick Leonard fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before bouncing a single up the middle to score Goeddel for a 1-0 Hot Rods lead. However, Fort Wayne’s Hunter Renfroe and Tyler Stubblefield collected RBI base hits in the home half of the second to pull the TinCaps ahead 2-1.
Fort Wayne scored in each of the next three innings while pulling away from Bowling Green. The TinCaps added two runs in the third and one run in the fourth prior to a big rally in the fifth. Luis Tejada deposited a two-run double in left field and scored later in the inning on a two-run home run to left field from Rodney Daal, giving the TinCaps a 9-1 advantage.
Goeddel, playing in his franchise-record fourth career playoff game, helped the Hot Rods start a comeback during the top of the sixth inning. Goeddel laced a two-run double to center field to bring Bowling Green within six runs. In the seventh inning, Leonardo Reginatto brought Leonard home with a sacrifice fly that cut the difference to 9-4. Brandon Martin’s two-out double in the eighth scored Leonard and shaved Fort Wayne’s lead to four runs. From there, the Hot Rods came no closer and were eliminated from playoff contention in the defeat.
The Hot Rods will open the 2014 season with a four-game home series against the South Bend Silver Hawks which will begin on Thursday, April 3 at Bowling Green Ballpark. Full-season tickets, half-season tickets, and mini-plans for the 2014 season are on sale now. For more information and to secure your tickets, call (270) 901-2121 or visit BGHotRods.com.
+