Hitting 1 for 4 in the 10th inning Sunday night, Sugar Land’s Tony Thomas was having a rather unremarkable game.
That changed in a hurry.
Stepping in against Lancaster’s John Anderson with the bases loaded — and Game Five of the Atlantic League Freedom Division championship series game tied — Thomas soon became the host Skeeters’ hero. And the Barnstormers’ villain.
Box score: Skeeters 10, Barnstormers 6 (10)
Thomas cranked a 2-0 offering from Anderson over the wall in left for a grand slam. The blast — Sugar Land’s third homer in two innings — gave the Skeeters a 10-6 victory and a date with Long Island to battle for the 2018 league crown.
The Ducks defeated Somerset 3-2 in Game 5 of the Liberty Division finals earlier Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Stormers, who led the Freedom series two games to one after Game Three, suddenly found themselves heading for the offseason.
The Barnstormers had taken a 3-0 lead in the second with RBI doubles by K.C. Hobson and Vladimir Frias. Conrad Gregor added another in the sixth inning for a 4-0 edge.
Having settled on a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, though, Huascar Brazoban came on to pitch for Lancaster. Anthony Giansanti promptly smacked a home run to cut the margin to 5-3. After Brazoban fanned Juan Silverio, Matt Chavez tacked on another homer to close to 5-4. Following Albert Cordero’s single, which chased Brazoban, Garrett Granitz came on and walked Thomas before Derek Norris tied the game with a single to right and forced extras.
The Stormers inched back ahead in the top of the 10th as Darian Sandford scored on a Ryan Casteel double, but the wheels fell off as Anderson, Lancaster’s seventh pitcher, retired Alvaro Rondon to start the 10th, but Giansanti and Silverio both singled with one out. A wild pitch scored the run that tied the game at 6-6.
