The Evansville Otters enter this week’s Frontier League All-Star break 29-21 after a three-game sweep of the Joliet Slammers last weekend at Bosse Field to close out the first half of the 2017 regular season.
The sweep over the Slammers was the second this season for Evansville, after sweeping the Gateway Grizzlies June 20-22 at Bosse Field.
Evansville’s best stretch of the first half came in late June, when the Otters enjoyed a six-game winning streak June 17-25. The streak started with a 9-4 win in Washington, Pa. and during the streak, the Otters outscored the opposition 35-11.
Offensively, the Otters have two players in the top 10 of the Frontier League in batting average with John Schultz (.342) sixth and Dane Phillips (.326) ninth.
Phillips is also seventh in runs (38), ninth in hits (61), tied for second in doubles (16) and tied for ninth in home runs (9).
Josh Allen is tied for fourth in triples (3), fifth in runs (41) and ninth in walks (33)
Jeff Gardner leads the league in home runs with 13 and is fifth in RBIs (41).
Alejandro Segovia is also tied for ninth in league home runs (9) and is second in hit by pitches (10).
Max Duval has been the ace in Evansville’s starting rotation and he’s tied for fourth in the league with six wins. Duval is first in the Frontier League with 86 strikeouts and teammate Felix Baez is second (73). Duval is also 10th in innings pitched (64.0).
Kyano Cummings is tied for second in the league in appearances on the mound with 25.
Randy McCurry is fourth in saves with 12.
The first half of the season provided a couple milestone moments for the franchise as Shane Weedman threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 win May 13 at Southern Illinois. The no-hitter was the second in franchise history and the first since July 9, 2014 when Chad James no-hit the Traverse City Beach Bums in a seven-inning game.
Phillips tied a Frontier League record with three home runs in a single game in Evansville’s 7-3 win over River City May 30. Phillips joined former Otter Jeff Goldbach as Otters players to homer three times in a game as Goldbach accomplished his feat on Aug. 20, 2005 against River City.
The Otters rallied from a 9-0 deficit on Bosse Field’s Opening Night May 19 against Gateway, beating the Grizzlies 13-10. The nine-run comeback matched Evansville’s rally against Kalamazoo on Aug. 5, 1996, when the Otters fell behind 9-0 before winning 12-11 in 10 innings.
Two days later in the series finale, Otters staff, coaches and players from 2016 received Frontier League championship rings.
Watch on Otters TV // Otters introduced on Opening Night // Jostens Ring Day at Bosse Field // Shane Weedman’s final out for no-hitter
As a team offensively; Evansville is first in the Frontier League with 57 home runs, third in hits (441), third in RBIs (251), third in total bases (703) and fifth in walks (188).
The Otters pitching staff leads the league with 474 strikeouts.
Evansville is 17-7 at Bosse Field in 2017 after going 28-17 in the regular season a year ago. On the road, the Otters are 12-14 this season.
Once the All-Star break ends Friday, Evansville will play 24 of the final 45 regular season games at Bosse Field–including a 24 of 36 game stretch from July 21 through Aug. 31. The stretch doesn’t reflect the suspended game from June 18 in Washington that will be completed at Bosse Field before the regularly scheduled home game on July 22 at 5:35 p.m.
The Otters are 2.5 games out of first place in the FL West behind 32-19 Florence. In the Wild Card, Evansville currently occupies the top spot, one game ahead of a two-way tie for the final playoff spot between the Windy City Thunderbolts and Washington Wild Things.
Evansville will play the first-place Freedom in two more series, first a three-game series at Bosse Field Aug. 8-10 before traveling to Kentucky the following week to play three more games over a two-day span Aug. 16-17 at Florence.
The Otters will play one more series each against two other playoff contenders, on the road at Windy City (July 18-20) and at home against Washington (July 21-23).
Schaumburg is currently pacing the FL East at 34-16, six games ahead of Windy City and Washington.
Evansville’s longest homestand of the season will take place later this month when the Otters host Washington, Traverse City and Schaumburg July 21-30.
Manager Andy McCauley is seven wins shy of 350 with Evansville. McCauley is first in franchise history in regular seasons wins (343) and games managed (672).
Since Opening Night at Southern Illinois May 12, the Otters have signed Taylor Hillson, Diego Ibarra, Jake McCoy and Nick Walker. In that same time period, Evansville signed and eventually released Manny DeJesus and Justin Brock.
Kevin Carr, Myles Babitt, Joe Webb, Mitchell Ho, Xyruse Martinez, Taylore Cherry and Austin Sweet were Opening Night roster players who have been released.
Seven players will represent Evansville at the Frontier League All-Star Game Wednesday in Joliet, Ill. Allen, Duval, Schultz, Gardner, Cummings, Phillips and Segovia were voted for by league managers, coaches, staff and media.
Evansville is averaging 2,138 fans per game so far in 2017, ranking fifth in the 12-team Frontier League. Last season, the Otters finished ninth in attendance with an average of 1,962.
Evansvilleotters.com will have coverage of All-Star festivities in Joliet so check back for updates throughout the week.
The Otters will travel to Gateway on Friday for the first game of a three-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and Lucas Corley will provide coverage on WUEV 91.5 FM.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Group packages and single game tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call 812-435-8686.
Watch on Otters TV // STAR OF THE GAME INTERVIEWS //Â Allen (5/20/17) // Phillips (5/30/17) // Gardner (5/31/17) // Phillips &Â Duval (6/8/17) // Riopedre (6/14/17) // Schultz (6/15/17)Â // Duval (6/20/17)Â // Ackerman (6/21/17) // De Jesus (6/22/17)Â // Yamaguchi (6/24/17) // Gardner (6/25/17) // Allen (6/30/17)Â // Duval (7/1/17) // Soat (7/7/17)Â // Allen (7/8/17) // Cummings (7/8/17)
