Juan Brito blasts off in extra innings loss

Columbus Clippers 4, St. Paul Saints 5 (F/11)

Box Score · Clippers fall to 0-2

Columbus played much better in its second game of the season Sunday, but the Clippers still failed to pick up their first victory.

The offense was better this time around, with CTC No. 5 prospect Juan Brito being the standout by a wide margin.

Brito had three hits on the day, including this two-run home run in the first inning that gave the Clippers their first lead of the season.

Columbus maintained a 2-1 lead until the ninth inning, when a sacrifice fly off of reliever Anthony Banda tied the game and sent it to extra innings.

The Clippers took a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning on a single from Dom Nunez, but with runners on second and third, Myles Straw hit a grounder that caused a runner to be thrown out at the plate.

Reliever Randy Labaut was brought in for the bottom of the 10th inning and couldn’t hold the lead, allowing St. Paul to tie it and send the game to the 11th, where Columbus again took a 4-3 lead, this time on an RBI single from Brito.

Unfortunately, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, Labaut gave up a walk-off two-run single.

The other offensive standouts were Johnathan Rodriguez, who doubled and walked; and Lorenzo Cedrola, who also doubled and walked. Cedrola also stole a base.

Starting pitcher Connor Gillispie allowed one run on three hits in 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Mason Hickman, Franco Aleman and Anthony Gose all were excellent out of the bullpen, tossing a scoreless inning each.