Lafayette’s Jayson Newman smashed three home runs with eight RBIs for the Aviators, who are seeking their first Prospect League Championship since 2017.
The Kings were stymied at the plate, scattering four hits and striking out 12 times in the game. Shawnee grad Ben Ross had a triple for the Kings, while Lukas Galdoni added two RBIs in the loss.
Champion City took an early 1-0 on an RBI single by outfielder Chase Carney.
The Aviators bats exploded in the bottom of the first inning, tallying five hits — including a leadoff homer by Dakota Kennedy and a three-run bomb by Newman — to give Lafayette a 7-1 lead and chasing starter Garrett Peters from the game.
Kings pitcher Austin Mora threw 6 1/3 innings in relief, allowing one earned run on three hits and five strikeouts as the Kings mounted a comeback in the middle innings. Champion City grabbed the momentum, scoring two in the third and two in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-5, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Aviators countered with one run in the seventh on a homer by Newman and scored seven runs in the eighth — including a Newman grand slam — to end the game by mercy rule at 15-5.
Lafayette advanced to face Western Conference Champion Cape Catfish in this week’s best-of-three Prospect League Championship Series. The Catfish beat the Clinton LumberKings 7-3 in the other championship game to advance to the championship series for the second straight season.
On Thursday, Champion City erased a seven-run deficit to beat the Chillicothe Paints 10-9 to win the franchise’s first-ever Ohio River Valley Division championship.
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