Paints showcase Prospect League’s top offense in beating Gems in championship series finale

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The top-hitting, highest-scoring team in the Prospect League used one final explosive display to put a cap on another championship.

The Chillicothe Paints scored at least one run in each of the first five innings, took control with a five-run second inning and finished off the Quincy Gems with a 12-8 victory Sunday night at VA Memorial Stadium in the final game of the best-of-3 championship series.

Quincy won the series opener 18-12 before getting outscored 24-8 in two games played on the road. The Gems were seeking their first Prospect League championship since 2014 and fourth overall.

Meanwhile, the Paints won their third title in the past four seasons after winning the Ohio River Valley Division in both halves and topping the Prospect League with 41 regular-season victories. Chillicothe led the league in batting average, hits, runs, RBIs and triples.

Yet, it was the Gems who struck first.

Jack Zebig led off the game with a double to right-center, took third on Jimmy Koza’s foul ball caught down the right-field line and scored on Kyle Hvidsten’s single to left field. Lucas Loos followed with a single to left, and Jaison Andujar was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Tristan Meny drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field for a 2-0 advantage.

Chillicothe scratched a run across in the bottom of the first, and Quincy right-hander Noah Harbin, a Quincy High School graduate, ran into trouble in the second inning. With two outs and a runner on third base, a wild pitch allowed the tying run to score.

After walking back-to-back batters, Harbin allowed Paints first baseman Victor Figueroa, who was named the championship series MVP, to blast a three-run home run. Another walk, a stolen base and an RBI single capped the five-run frame.

The Paints added two runs in the third on Cole Kwiatkowski’s two-run home run and scored three times in the fourth. The Gems started a rally in the fifth, getting a two-run home run from Andujar and an RBI double from Joe Siervo.

Koza, Andujar, Otto Jones and Harry Oden each went 2 for 4 for the Gems, who had 13 hits. Five Gems pitchers combined to walk 11 batters while allowing 12 hits and 12 earned runs.