MONSTERS MIRACLE COMEBACK SENDS THEM ON TO SEMIFINAL

COLUMBUS, GA - Brayden Pelkey's walk-off grand slam home run capped a miraculous eight-run ninth inning for the Chattahoochee Monsters as they advanced to the SunBelt Baseball League Semifinals with a 9-8 win over the Atlanta Crackers on Wednesday night at Golden Park.

Pelkey took an 0-1 pitch deep to left field off of Ben Koch to cap an incredible rally that saw all ten hitters come up to bat in the inning. Justin Veloz got the ball rolling with a 2 RBI single to make it an 8-3 game. Noah Jones added an RBI single to make it 8-4 and then Brandon Davis scored on a passed ball to make it 8-5 and set the stage for Pelkey's dramatic at bat.

The Monsters were trailing 5-1 going into the ninth inning and allowed three more runs in the top of the inning, giving the Crackers a seemingly insurmountable lead. Chattahoochee's only other run came back in the third inning and tied the game at 1-1 at the time.

Jay Kehoe finished the game 3-for-3 with two singles and a double while Justin Veloz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

John Luegering pitched the ninth for the win, allowing three unearned runs on only one hit. 

The Monsters now advance to face the Gainesville Gol'Diggers with the series opening on the road this Friday night. The Semifinals will be a best-of-three series to determine who faces the winner of the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots and Atlanta Blues series. Game 2 of the series will be played at Golden Park with date and time to be determined.