Walton’s Shutout Caps Eagles’ Sweep of Braves

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila baseball returned home to The Z in south Kansas City to face local conference foes Ottawa this weekend, where the Eagles (11-10, 6-2 KCAC) added a late surge in game one to a ninth-inning comeback in game two and a complete-game shutout from Alex Walton in game three to complete an impressive three-game weekend sweep of the Braves (10-9, 4-5 KCAC).

It's Avila's third series sweep of the young 2024 season already, and second against league opponents. After Avila won two of three games against Ottawa in a standard midweek home-and-home series a year ago, the Eagles one-upped themselves, adding to what is already a sizable lead in the all-time series against the Braves by winning all three games in the first weekend contest between the two local foes since Avila has been part of the KCAC.

After facing Bethany and Saint Mary to begin conference play, the Eagles' competition took a big step up in the form of the Braves, typically one of the better teams in the KCAC and a squad that expects to appear in the postseason at year's end. And though it wasn't always easy – the Eagles needed to strike for clutch runs in the late innings in two of the three games – Avila earned by far its most impressive series win so far with a sweep of Ottawa in an excellent overall showing from Matt Carpenter's squad.

Kickstarting what became yet another big week against a conference opponent, Landon Vahle opened up the scoring in the series opener on Friday afternoon with a solo home run in the third inning off Jurgen Zwitzer. The Braves answered with two in the fourth to grab their first lead but the Eagles answered right back with two in the fifth off RBI from Ronnie Nowak and Vahle to regain a 3-2 lead.

Ottawa's Anthony Soria hit a game-tying double in the seventh, spoiling a strong relief appearance from Holton Miller, but Armando Arguello entered and recorded the final out of the inning to keep the score tied – and it didn't stay tied for long. Ottawa left top reliever Cameron Sistrunk out for the bottom of the seventh, and Vahle teed off on him for his second homer of the day, putting the Eagles back in front 5-3.

Then Avila did exactly what it needed to against the rest of the Ottawa bullpen. Tyler King started off the eighth by reaching on an error and Paxton Andrade followed with a walk. Later, Nowak stepped in and delivered a double to left, scoring pinch runner Rhett Rogers, and JJ Stubblefield followed with a critical two-run single up the middle to plate two more, adding some crucial insurance runs. After tossing a scoreless eighth, Jared Billington returned for a perfect ninth inning to complete the two-inning save, wrapping up an 8-3 win for the Eagles in the series opener.

The Braves had plenty of chances to score in game one of the series but could not capitalize, and the same could be said about game two on Saturday: Ottawa struck for a run in the first and two more in the second to grab an early edge, and the Braves never trailed in the game – until the bottom of the tenth, and by that point the Eagles had already completed a masterful comeback win to secure the series victory.

Avila was not able to generate much offense against Brave starter Zack Melendez, the reigning KCAC pitcher of the week, managing only one run in the sixth off a failed pickoff. Eagle errors proved costly in the game – only two of Ottawa's first five runs on the day were earned, but those runs helped give the visitors a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth.

Bryce Culp drove in Stubblefield in the eighth to get one back for the Eagles, and with a three-run lead the Braves sent out their closer Caden Gray to try to lock the game down. But Avila had other ideas. Zach Dillman and Nowak both singled to give the Eagles runners on the corners with one away, and after Stubblefield drove in one on a fielder's choice, Vahle drew a walk to load the bases with two away. Then, Culp and Gio Armas stepped up to deliver back-to-back run-scoring singles, knotting the game at five apiece in the bottom of the ninth and chasing Gray from the game. John Walsh entered and gave up a single to Ricky Dober, but All-KCAC left fielder Cole Broughton threw up Culp at the plate trying to score the game-winning run, sending the game, improbably, into the tenth inning.

Ottawa wasted no time scoring in extras with Broughton driving in pinch-hitter Liam Vulcano to restore the lead for the visitors, but that was all the Braves could muster against Corbin Hamman. Avila came back up to back trailing by only one, and the Eagles' first two hitters, Erick Ubri and Andrade, were both hit by a pitch to immediately put the game-winning run on base.

With familiar face Josh Perez now on the hill, Nowak provided yet another clutch hit, a single to left scoring Ubri and tying the game. Perez got a couple of outs, and the Braves elected to intentionally walk Vahle to load the bases ahead of Bryce Culp – and the Eagle senior came up huge, delivering a slicing liner just out of the second baseman's reach and into right field, driving in Zach Dillman and lifting the Eagles to a 7-6 victory in the bottom of the tenth.

Ottawa had chances to seize both of the first two games of the series, but Avila gave Ottawa no such opportunities in game three. With the series already secured, the Eagles struck early and often in the series' 7-inning contest, and provided Alex Walton with more than enough offense on a historic day for the senior lefty as the Eagles wrapped up the series sweep in resounding fashion.

Avila scored in five of their six innings in Saturday's finale to set an early tone. Dober drove in a run in the first, Armas drove in two in the second, and Dillman blasted a solo shot to left in the third to give the home team an early 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, Walton was in a serious groove. Despite allowing a couple of baserunners, Walton faced the minimum 12 Braves through the first four innings, aided by a double play and also a caught steal from Rusten Traxler.

Ricky Dober provided the biggest defensive play in the game in the fifth. With the Braves threatening for the first time and two runners aboard with one away, Dober snared a grounder from Blaine Thomas and, instead of taking an easy out at first, threw to Traxler at home to tag out Jeremy Freeman coming home, preserving the shutout for Walton. Avila added an unearned run in the fourth and a solo home run from Vahle – his third long ball of the series – in the sixth to provide some separation, and Walton got through the final two frames with minimal fuss. Walton finished off the longest outing of his career, seven full, allowing only four hits, all singles, with three strikeouts in his first complete-game shutout, the second for the Eagles in three weekends in league play.

Up next, Avila will make the trip over to Springfield to face the other KCAC team in Missouri, league newcomers Evangel. That series has been shifted, and will now be played on Saturday and Sunday. For more details and updates all season long, follow Avila Athletics on social media and stay tuned to our website, avilaathletics.com.