Indians Melville Walk Off 2 570x321


Veteran Swift Current Indians catcher Will Thorp picked a good time to get his bat going.

He has been struggling a bit at the plate this summer, but delivered a clutch home run in the bottom of the 9th to give the Tribe a 2-1 walk-off win over Melville on Wednesday night.

"I was just looking for a pitch I could drive early in the count," Thorp said. "Kept my shoulder in and the rest was history."

It's the first walk-off of his WMBL career.

Interview with Will Thorp"You're not even thinking about it to be honest," he noted. "You dream about it but you never think it's going to happen. (I feel) on top of the world."

Thorp was hitting under .200 heading into Wednesday's game. He felt like he was coming around.

"It's a little tough with the end of my college season," Thorp added. "Getting back on track, getting my at-bats in, starting to see the ball... it's good."

The coaching staff never doubted he would come around.

Interview with Joe Carnahan"It's only a matter of time with Will," said Indians Coach Joe Carnahan. "He's a good contact guy. Just a couple of minor adjustments that he had to make... he's starting to square balls up and came up clutch in the end."

The Indians have made a habit until waiting for the field lights to come off before pulling ahead with some late game heorics. Swift Current only managed 3 hits all game and were down 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th inning before a couple of errors allowed them to tie the game.

"You've got to give these guys a lot of credit," Carnahan said. "They it out throughout the game. It wasn't the best game we've played but we were fortunate at the end there to come out on top."

"They never feel they are out of a game and it shows."

Pitching was again strong for the Indians as they allowed only a single run for the second consecutive game.

Michael Noteware got the start and gave up 5 hits and an unearned run through 5 innings of work. He struck out 5 and didn't walk an batters.

Garrett Taggart, Reiley Grose and Justin Kehler carried the game the rest of the way from the bullpen. Kehler got the win after working the 8th and 9th innings.

"We're pretty deep on the mound right now," Carnahan said. "Our starters have been giving us quality starts and we're not having to stretch them out or anything. The guys that we rode early on waiting for the guys to come in... they're able to settle in to their roles. It's nice to be able to have guys fresh so we can keep them short and use them multiple times throughout the week."

The Central Division Indians moved to 14-5, while Melville stays on top of the East Division with a 10-9 record. Swift Current now heads on the road to play Yorkton.

"It's always a tough place to play there," Carnahan said. "We've got to get out early against them. We're not going to be able to sit around like we did here today."

Sean Callegari gets the start for the Indians on Thursday night.