Gems defeat Thrillbillies for Western Conference Championship

The Basics
Score: Quincy Gems 13, Thrillville Thrillbillies 6
Records: Quincy Gems (33-26, 2-0), Thrillville Thrillbillies (34-22, 1-1)
Location: Marion Stadium - Marion, Illinois

MARION, IL  – The Quincy Gems are headed to the Prospect League Championship Series with a 13-6 victory over the Thrillville Thrillbillies Tuesday night at Marion Stadium.

The Great River Division Champion and now Western Conference Champion Quincy Gems will host the Eastern Conference Champion Chillicothe Paints on Thursday for the first game of the best-of-three championship series. 

Thrillville struck first in the game as Jackson Cooke started the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st and Jackson McCoy added a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 2-0 Thrillbillies after 2 innings.

Quincy found their offense in the top of the 3rd as Otto Jones added to the home run trots and tied the game with a 2-run home run, and the Gems followed with one more on a Jimmy Koza fielder's choice to score Harry Oden and give the Gems a 3-2 lead. 

A scoreless 4th inning didn't foreshadow the offensive onslaught to come, as Quincy broke it open in the 5th and 6th. In the 5th, Jack Zebig doubled to score Oden and Jaison Andujar drove home Zebig on a sacrifice fly. In the 6th, Zoza singled home Oden, then Kyle Hvidsten doubled home Koza and Zebig to quickly give Quincy an 8-2 lead heading to the bottom of the 6th. 

The Thrillbillies weren't going to go down without a fight. Josh Griffin scored Bryson Arnette with a single in the 6th and Jake Munroe doubled home Arnette and Jackson Linsey in the 7th to make it just a 3-run game at 8-5 heading to 8th. 

However, the Thrillbillies just couldn't stop the Gems' offense. In the top of the 8th, the Gems put it out of reach with a 5-spot scoring on 5 separate RBI singles from the middle of their lineup.

The 13-5 lead proved to be insurmountable for the Thrillbillies in the bottom of the 8th and 9th even as Gems' closer Stepehn Eskridge gave up 1-run in the bottom of the 9th. The Gems closed the door for the 13-6 victory to head to the Prospect League Championship Series.

Inside The Box Score

• The Gems recorded 19 hits in the game, their most in a game since July 4th. Zebig, Hvidsten, Siervo, and Oden all put up 3 hit games. 

• The teams played an almost perfect game on defense as neither team recorded an error and the teams combined for 18 strikeouts on the mound.

• Gems' starting pitcher Noah Harbin picked up the win going 5.2 innings with 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. 

Notes

• This is the Gems' now Prospect League record 6th Championship Series appearance, retying the Paints for the record in appearances.

• The Gems will face off against the Paints not only for the 2023 title but also for a Prospect League record 4th championship, looking to break the tie at 3 with the Paints. 

• The Thrillbillies finish their inaugural season by hosting a Conference Championship but finish with a 1-1 playoff record. 

Up Next
Quincy advances to Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday's Prospect League Championship Series. They will face the Eastern Conference Champion Chillicothe Paints. Game one will be hosted by Gems in Quincy on Thursday. Then the Gems will travel to Chillicothe for Saturday's game two and Sunday's if-needed game three.