Danville’s Wilkes homers twice, drives in six in Otterbots’ win over Bluefield Wednesday night

The Danville Otterbots knocked off the Bluefield Ridge Runners 14–6 in Appalachian League action Wednesday night at Bowen Field…

PHOTO: Brian Cendejas.

The Danville Otterbots knocked off the Bluefield Ridge Runners 14–6 in Appalachian League action Wednesday night at Bowen Field.

Danville (12–9) entered the top of the fifth inning on the wrong end of a 2–0 scoreline. The Otterbots shook off their deficit with a six-run frame for a lead they didn’t forget the rest of the way. Caleb Ricks (Notre Dame) got the frame going with his two-run home run to left-centerfield that knotted the score and Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) followed with a solo home run that gave the ‘Bots a one-run edge. Kyle Krupp (Morehead State) scored on a wild pitch to push Danville’s lead to two and Wyatt Shaw (Valparaiso) made it a 6–2 game with his two-run single to left.

The Otterbots kept the momentum rolling into the sixth, tagging on two more runs on Devon Wilkes’ three-run home run to right that gave the ‘Bots a 9–2 cushion.

After blanking Bluefield (9–13) in the bottom of the sixth, Danville exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh. Ricks started the frame with a steal of home and Brody Jindra pushed the Otterbots’ lead to nine with his RBI double to left. Wilkes (Cal-State Bakersfield) came up big again when he capped the frame with a three-run home run to right that gave the ‘Bots a 14–2 cushion and set the run-rule in effect.

Despite facing the double-digit deficit, the Ridge Runners struck back for four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Cameron Dube (Wabash Valley JC) got things going with his RBI single to center and Trey Meyers (Indiana) cut the deficit to single digits with his two-run double to right. Matthew Robaugh (West Virginia) capped the scoring when he came home on a passed ball to close Bluefield’s gap to 14–6.

Robaugh got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, giving the Ridge Runners a 1–0 edge on his RBI sacrifice fly. Andrew Cross doubled down on Bluefield’s lead in the fourth, driving in Trey Meyers with an RBI fielder’s choice that pushed the Ridge Runners in front 2–0.

Wilkes led Danville with a game-high six RBI while Shaw and Ricks drove in two runs each. Hawke and Jindra recorded an RBI apiece.

Trey Meyers led Bluefield with a pair of RBI while Dube and Robaugh drove in a run apiece.

Will Jaisle (Notre Dame) got the win on the bump, throwing an inning of relief.

Danville returns to action tomorrow tonight when it takes on the Burlington Sock Puppets on the road at 7 p.m.