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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders beat the Buffalo Bisons 8-4 on Sunday in the season finale. Ben Rice smashed a grand slam to help the team total their 89th victory of the summer, their second most wins in a single-season in franchise history.
Buffalo, however, got the first run of the game on an RBI single from Payton Henry.
The RailRiders tied it up in the fourth thanks to a solo shot off the bat of Oswald Peraza.
SWB stormed forward in the next inning. Jahmai Jones raced out a bunt single and Greg Allen doubled him home for a 2-1 advantage.
After Caleb Durbin recorded a knock for his second hit of the day, Jorbit Vivas reached on a catcher’s interference to load the bases. Rice stepped up to the plate and smoked a grand slam for a 6-1 lead. It was the team’s third slam of the season.
Peraza then got a hit and stole both second and third quickly. Taylor Trammell had an RBI single to add one more on in the frame.
The Bisons got back into it with three runs in sixth. A pair came from a two-run homer by Damiano Palmegiani to make it 7-4.
In the ninth inning, SWB flashed its offense one more time. Allen earned a free pass and scored on a Durbin double to finish 8-4.
Josh Maciejewski (W, 2-3) was called for the start, allowing the four runs in five and a third. It was his longest outing of the season.
Cody Morris, JT Brubaker, and Phil Bickford each pitched a clean inning. Oddanier Mosqueda closed down the game in his organization-high 55th appearance.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre wrapped up the 2024 season with a record of 89-60, best in the IL East and just a half-game behind IL West champ Omaha (89-59).
But only two teams advance to the postseason — the first-half winner and the second-half winner. Omaha won the first-half crown and Columbus (48-26) edged the RailRiders (46-29) for the second-half title by 2.5 games.
The Storm Chasers will host the Clippers for a best-of-three series for the International League title beginning Tuesday. The winner advances to the Triple-A National Championship game against the champion of the Pacific Coast League.
The RailRiders finished 43-32 at home for the 2024 campaign.