Brookman Plays Hero as Stones Walk Off Birmingham, 4-3

The Columbus Clingstones (7-6, 36-41) returned home from their road trip with the same momentum, rallying late to walk off the Birmingham Barons (5-7, 31-50), 4-3, on an Archer Brookman RBI single to open the series Tuesday night at Synovus Park.

Decisive Plays: Birmingham struck first in the top of the first inning when Alec Briley (16) blasted a solo home run off the left-field scoreboard to give the Barons an early 1-0 lead.

Columbus answered immediately as Patrick Clohisy (7) led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to straightaway center field, tying the game at 1-1 just five batters into the contest.

Cedric De Grandpre (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR) settled in after the first inning, allowing just three hits over his final four frames before turning the game over to Shay Schanaman.

Dalton McIntyre (1) put the Clingstones in front in the bottom of the fifth with his first Double-A home run, a solo shot over the right-field wall to make it 2-1.

Birmingham answered in the top of the sixth when Dylan Campbell (15) connected on a game-tying solo home run to even the game at 2-2.

In the top of the ninth, T.J. McCants lined an RBI double to score Samuel Zavala and put the Barons back in front, 3-2.

Columbus mounted its rally in the bottom of the ninth. McIntyre singled, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. walked, and Clohisy drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Luke Waddell followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring McIntyre to tie the game at 3-3. Jordan Groshans then walked to reload the bases.

With two outs, Brookman lined a ball into the right-center field gap, scoring Kilpatrick Jr. from third to give the Clingstones a 4-3 walk-off victory.

Key Contributors: De Grandpre (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR) bounced back after the first-inning homer and struck out eight over five innings. Clohisy (1-for-4, HR, RBI) and McIntyre (2-for-3, HR, RBI) each homered, while Waddell (0-for-3, SF, RBI) drove in the tying run. Brookman (2-for-5, RBI) delivered the walk-off single in the ninth inning.

Notable: Brookman became the sixth Clingstone to record a walk-off hit. Clohisy hit the second leadoff home run in Clingstones history after also hitting the club's first leadoff homer on 8/9/25, against Rocket City.

Next Game (Wednesday, July 8): Columbus vs. Birmingham, 7:06 p.m. ET at Synovus Park. RHP Lucas Braun (2-4, 3.30 ERA) starts for Columbus against RHP Juan Carela (NR) for Birmingham. Radio Broadcast: 6:46 p.m. ET on SportsVisions 92.1 FM. Stream: Bally Sports Live.