Minor League Recap: Bazzana walks off for Columbus, pitching prospects shine

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Columbus Clippers Travis Bazzana (12) throws the ball to first base during home opener at Huntington Park on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Columbus Clippers 9, Indianapolis Indians 8Clippers improve to 5-1

This game was a back and forth battle, featuring several clutch moments for Guardians prospects and some established veterans.

Nolan Jones had one of the biggest hits of the day, a clutch two-run home run in the sixth inning to put the Clippers on the board. Jones finished 1-for-2 with the home run, two walks and a hit by pitch. The home run was his third of the young season and he’s off to a hot start with a 1.318 OPS through six games.

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Milan Tolentino also had a big day, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk. Petey Halpin didn’t exactly have a great day, but his one contribution was a major one, blasting a three-run home run in the eighth inning to tie the game 8-8.

This set the stage for Travis Bazzana. After Kody Huff walked and Cooper Ingle singled, Bazzana stepped up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and he came through by smacking a ball off the base of the wall to score Huff. Bazzana finished 2-for-6 with the walk-off RBI.

Huff had a great game as well, going 1-for-2 with three walks and three runs scored while Juan Brito walked twice.

It wasn’t a great day for Clippers pitching. Pedro Avila got the start and allowed three runs in 3.0 innings. Will Dion had a good outing with a pair of scoreless innings. Jake Miller was tattooed for four runs in just 1.1 innings and Jack Leftwich gave up a run in 1.2 innings.

Cody Heuer earned the win with a scoreless top of the ninth inning.

Akron RubberDucks 3, Reading Fightin Phils 1RubberDucks improve to 1-0

Akron got all the offense it needed for the game in the third inning as top hitting prospect Ralphy Velazquez blasted a ball over the batters eye in dead center field for a two-run bomb.

Velazquez finished the day 1-for-3 with the home run and a walk. The only other players to reach base safely twice for Akron were Jacob Cozart, who went 2-for-4 with a double, and Angel Genao, who went 1-for-3 with a single.

Akron’s pitching was stellar, led by top pitching prospect Khal Stephen, who tossed 4.0 shutout innings with four strikeouts, four walks and two hits allowed.

He was followed by two scoreless frames from Matt Jachec, a scoreless inning from Alaska Abney and Hunter Stanley earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning. Only Jack Jasiak allowed a run in the game in his lone inning of work.

Lake County Captains 0, West Michigan Whitecaps 1Captains fall to 0-1

As great as all the other Guardians affiliates looked in nearly every aspect on Thursday, Lake County’s offense — which featured a significant amount of top position player draft picks from last year — was the opposite.

The much anticipated debut of 2025 first round pick Jace LaViolette was a complete thud. He had a golden sombrero, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. The Captains struck out an immense 16 times. Second round competitive balance pick Aaron Walton went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Third round pick Nolan Schubart had the lone extra base hit, going 1-for-4 with a double and a pair of strikeouts. Fourth round pick Luke Hill went 0-for-3 with a walk. Second round pick Dean Curley was the lone Captain to reach base twice, going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks.

Jaison Chourio went 0-for-3 with a walk and Ryan Cesarini had the team’s other lone hit, going 1-for-4.

The putrid offense ruined what had been a sensational pitching day for Lake County.

In his pro debut, Justin Campbell was flat out incredible, striking out four batters in 2.0 scoreless innings while allowing a pair of hits. He struck out all three batters he faced in his first career inning, which was a great sign.

Melkis Hernandez took the tough-luck loss, allowing one run on four hits in 4.0 innings, striking out two and walking four.

Sean Matson added a scoreless frame of relief and Logan McGuire had 2.0 scoreless innings to close out the game.

Hill City Howlers 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3Howlers improve to 1-0

Several teenage prospects made their full-season debuts, with the rebranded Howlers having five different players pick up multi-hit games. Robert Arias went 2-for-5, Anthony Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double, Gabriel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, Luis De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base and Yaikel Mijares went 2-for-4.

Starting pitcher Joey Oakie was good, not great. He allowed one run on two hits in 3.0 innings with four strikeouts and three walks.

Zane Petty added a scoreless inning and the real workhorse of the game was Jervis Alfaro, who allowed two runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, but impressive struck out nine batters and walked one.

Alfaro ran out of steam just in time for the final batter of the game, who was retired by Angel Perez, who earned a one-pitch save.

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