The Calgary Vipers dropped their first chance to win the Northern League championship with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Gary SouthShore RailCats at the US Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana. The loss ties the series at two games a piece and forces a winner take all game five on Sunday. Jason Shelley was excellent as the RailCats starter going seven and two thirds and giving up only five hits for one earned run while walking only one and striking out eight.Calgary grabbed the lead in the top of the second inning with a Drew Miller double and a Jorge Tang RBI single.
The RailCats responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to take their first lead at 2-1. Tanner Townsend walked and Mike Reese tripled to tie the game and Eric McNamee singled home Reese for the lead.
In the top of the fifth inning the Vipers tied the game at two as Tang reached on an error and moved to second base on a Manabu Kuramochi sacrifice bunt. Darryl Brinkley plated Tang with a single to right field.
Gary SouthShore came right back in the bottom of the sixth and retook the lead as Jose Yepez walked, Jermaine Allensworth sacrificed him to second with a bunt, and Nate Price picked up a pinch-hit RBI single for the game winning run.
Game five is Sunday, September 16th at 1:00 PM (MDT) and can be heard live online at
