Cubs Farm System Recap: All Eyes on Jonathon Long as Iowa Erupts, South Bend Shines

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Bethancourt Homers Twice, Long Goes 5-For-5 As Iowa Pounds Saints 21-7

The Iowa Cubs collected 24 hits and buried the St. Paul Saints 21-7, breaking the game open with a six-run fourth inning and piling on nine more in the eighth.

Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Christian Bethancourt tied it with a solo home run. Scott Kingery followed with a solo shot of his own, Jonathon Long added an RBI single, Owen Miller drove in a run with a double, and Moisés Ballesteros capped the inning with a two-run double for a 7-2 lead.

The eighth was even bigger. Brett Bateman doubled home Bethancourt, BJ Murray and Miller added run-scoring hits, Ballesteros lined a two-run single, James Triantos singled in another run, and Bethancourt finished the nine-run frame with a three-run homer to center.

Long finished 5-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, a walk, five runs scored, and two RBIs.

Bethancourt went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs. Murray had three hits and three RBIs, Miller doubled twice, drove in three, and had some quick defensive work. Ballesteros drove in four, and Triantos went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Starter Josh Fleming allowed two runs over four innings, walking two and striking out two. Corbin Martin earned the win, and Liam Hendriks worked a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Howard Homers, But Smokies Fall 11-2 To Biloxi

The Knoxville Smokies managed just four hits and struck out 15 times in an 11-2 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers. Not much to say about the bats but the gloves had a few shining moments last night. 

Starter Nick Dean opened with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out two. Kenyi Perez followed with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of his own, striking out three while working around three walks and three hits. The game unraveled from there. Yenrri Rojas was charged with four runs over 1 2/3 innings, walking four, and took the loss. Tyler Santana allowed four more runs over two innings, and Frankie Scalzo Jr. gave up three runs in 1 1/3 innings to close it out.

The Knoxville offense broke through in the sixth inning. Ariel Armas drew a walk, moved into scoring position, and came home on an Alex Ramírez single to center to make it 6-1. In the eighth, Ed Howard lined a solo home run to left center, his second of the season, for the final Knoxville run.

Howard was the lone bright spot at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with the homer. The rest of the lineup combined for two hits, with Owen Ayers, Edgar Alvarez, and Drew Bowser each striking out three times. Jefferson Rojas went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Halbach's Three Hits, Five-Run Ninth Carry South Bend Past Cedar Rapids 9-1

The South Bend Cubs broke open a close game with a five-run ninth inning and beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 9-1 behind a strong night of pitching.

Starter Kevin Valdez allowed one run over four innings, walking one and striking out three. The bullpen did not allow a run behind him. Luis Rujano earned the win with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts, Brayden Spears added two scoreless innings of his own, and Ethan Bell finished with a scoreless ninth. 

South Bend scored twice in the third. After Logan Poteet singled and walks to Michael Hallquist and Christian Olivo loaded the bases, Poteet scored on a wild pitch during Josiah Hartshorn's plate appearance, and Hallquist came home on a Jose Escobar sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, Hallquist singled home Matt Halbach, and Hartshorn was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 4-1.  

The ninth put it away. Hartshorn drove in Hallquist on a fielder's choice, Halbach followed with a two-run single, and two more runs scored on wild pitches to stretch the lead to 9-1.

Halbach finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Hallquist went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a walk, and two runs scored, and Hartshorn drove in two runs.

Defensively of note was Angel Cepeda's play in the 6th. 

Pelicans Strand 10, Drop 6-3 Decision To Fredericksburg

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans out-hit the Fredericksburg Nationals but left 10 runners on base in a 6-3 loss.

Starter Emilio Ramos took the loss despite a solid outing, allowing one run over three innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Anhuar Garcia was tagged for four runs on four hits, including two home runs, over two innings, and the deficit grew to 5-0. Jordan Henriquez kept the Pelicans in it with three innings of one-run relief, striking out five, and Henry Cone struck out all three batters he faced in a perfect ninth.

Myrtle Beach got on the board in the sixth. Alexey Lumpuy walked, and when Derniche Valdez lined a double to center, Lumpuy came around to score on a fielding error by the center fielder. Eli Lovich followed with an RBI double to left, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

In the eighth, Valdez singled, moved up on a Lovich single, and scored on a wild pitch during Jairo Diaz's walk.

Valdez finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Lovich went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base, and Ludwing Espinoza had three hits. Ethan Conrad went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Jefferson Rojas: 0-for-3, BB
2. Pedro Ramirez: DNP
3. Jaxon Wiggins: DNP
4. Josiah Hartshorn: 0-for-3, 2 RBI, K
5. Kevin Alcantara: DNP
6. Ethan Conrad: 0-for-5, 2 K
7. Kane Kepley: DNP
8. Owen Ayers: 0-for-4, 3 K
9. Jonathon Long: 5-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
10. Kaleb Wing: DNP
11. James Triantos: 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K
12. Brooks Caple: DNP
13. Mason McGwire: DNP
14. Ty Southisene: DNP
15. Will Sanders: DNP
16. Juan Cabada: DNP
17. Eli Lovich: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, SB
18. Ariel Armas: 0-for-2, BB, K
19. Jostin Florentino: DNP
20. Grant Kipp: DNP

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