Paints Erase 5-0 Deficit, Walk-Off Champion City 6-5 in 10 Innings

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - The Chillicothe Paints, presented by CohenOrthopedic, erased an early 5-0 deficit Tuesday night, beating Champion City 6-5 in 10 innings at VA Memorial Stadium.

After Champion City (10-13) jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second, Chillicothe's bullpen of Grant Cline, Cameron Birch, Max Mullen, JT Fabian and Joe Czaja combined to thow eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits, striking out 12 and allowing the Paints batters to work back into the game.

The Paints (11-14) scored on their first run on an RBI double by Justin Gorski in the bottom of the fifth. They cut it to 5-2 with a run Carter Hire's RBI fielder's choice in the sixth. Chillicothe got it to a 5-3 ballgame on Alex Bemis' RBI groundout in the seventh.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bemis was hit by a pitch. Jude Clough followed, hitting a game-tying, two-out, two-run home run - his first home run of the season - making it 5-5 and sending the game to extra innings.

After a bunt moved the ghost runner to third for Champion City to start the 10th, Czaja struck out Micah Geise and Miguel Nixon to strand the runner. 

In the bottom of the 10th, a balk moved Chillicothe's ghost runner to third. With one out, Brady Groves hit a chopper up the middle fielded by the Half Trax shortstop. His throw home was wide, allowing Michael Simone to score and win the game for Chillicothe 6-5.

It's the first time the Paints have won a game after giving up the first run, they were previously 0-9 when not scoring first.

Paints pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 13 batters in the game.

Chillicothe plays Champion City Wednesday in Springfield, Ohio. The Paints are home Thursday and Friday against Lafayette at 7:05 p.m.