Kindhart’s blast helps Doggy Paddlers end losing streak, but walks ruin chance to win back to back

QUINCY — The Quincy Doggy Paddlers finally experienced that winning feeling again, and Brady Kindhart delivered the deciding blow.

In the bottom of the sixth inning of a resumed game with the Clinton LumberKings Tuesday at QU Stadium, Kindhart belted a solo home run to give the Doggy Paddlers an 8-7 lead, and Preston Kaufman put on the finishing touches with a scoreless seventh to give the Doggy Paddlers a one-run win and snap a 12-game losing streak. Quincy had not won since July 6 against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.

In the second game, the Doggy Paddlers led 11-6 entering the top of the seventh before the LumberKings scored 11 runs — thanks in large part to seven walks by three Doggy Paddlers pitchers and a bases-clearing, one-out double by Cougar Cooke — to rally for a 17-13 victory. 

The Doggy Paddlers trailed the LumberKings 7-5 when the first game, which began on July 11, resumed in the top of the fifth. Preston Kaufman worked a scoreless fifth, setting the stage for Jack Linenfelser to deliver a two-run double to tie the game at 7 in the next half inning and Kindhart’s home run in the sixth.

Kindhart also belted a home run in the second game — a two-run shot with two outs in the seventh that trimmed a six-run deficit to four — but the next batter, Byron Blaise, struck out to end the game.

Wandel Campana finished 4 for 4 in the second game, while Tommy Harrison and Kannon Kirk each went 3 for 5. General Schofield went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI doubles, and Ashton Ertz went 2 for 3, notching his first two hits as a Doggy Paddler in the process.

The Doggy Paddlers (15-31, 6-17 second half) and LumberKings (30-15, 12-8 second half) will do battle again at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the penultimate game at QU Stadium this summer.