De La Rosa's Big Day Leads Mud Monsters to Sudden Death Road Walk-Off
JOLIET, Ill. (July 7, 2026) - Samil De La Rosa's bat provided two big sparks to lift the Mississippi Mud Monsters (23-29) over the Joliet Slammers (21-29) in a Sudden Death thriller resulting in a 6-5 walk-off win.
Monster Notes
De La Rosa homered, doubled and delivered the Sudden Death swing to win it on the road.
- Samil De La Rosa finished 3-for-5 with a solo home run, a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.
- Mississippi jumped ahead with a three-run first inning.
- John Walsh worked five innings in his second professional start.
- Chris Barraza pushed the game into extras and then Sudden Death.
- The Mud Monsters picked up their second extra-inning victory of the season and first on the road.
Early Run Support
The Mud Monsters carried their homestand momentum into the road opener.
After going 7-5 in the twelve-game homestand that was, John Walsh headed to the hill to make his second professional start after being victorious in his first at home against Gateway. The Mud Monsters hard-charging offense would bring its momentum into the first game to provide run support early.
Mississippi loaded the bases after Jack Holman picked up his first single off the injured list to begin the frame, De La Rosa followed with one of his own and Kasten Furr was drilled by a pitch to juice the pillows full of Mud Monsters.
Tevis Payne II knocked the first run of the ballgame in with a base hit.
Victor Diaz followed suit with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0, and Brayland Skinner capped things off with a two-out infield single to bring home Furr to go up 3-0.
Joliet Chips Away
The Slammers answered with single runs in three straight innings.
Joliet was able to equal Mississippi's run total with one run in each of its next three offensive chances.
First in the bottom of the second, Joliet brought home a run after Blake Berry started the frame with a walk and two batters later, Tyler Cerny singled to bring him in.
In the home half of the third, the Slammers scored after Ian Battipaglia dropped a bunt down the third baseline.
Walsh fielded it and fired low to Holman, allowing Battipaglia to cruise all the way to third base.
The next batter, Patrick Ward, sent a ball deep into center field to make it a one-run Mud Monsters lead at 3-2.
Tied in the Fourth
Payne II threw out the lead runner, but Joliet eventually pulled even.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, it was another Mississippi fielding error that put a Joliet runner on.
Cam Suto grounded a ball that Slater Schield could not field, allowing him to reach. He would come around to try and score on a one-out single by Cerny, but Payne II rifled a throw from right field to gun out the runner at home.
Cerny himself advanced to second on the play and would later come in to score on an RBI triple by Kaden Morton to knot the game at 3-3.
Samil Rockets One
De La Rosa gave Mississippi the lead back with one swing.
The tied score held for one full frame until De La Rosa stepped up to the plate against Joliet reliever Ben Catrambone with the bases empty and one out.
Mississippi's designated hitter unloaded on a 3-1 offering, rocketing a solo blast over the left-field fence for a go-ahead home run to make it 4-3 Mud Monsters.
Walsh's Day Ends
The left-hander gave Mississippi five innings in his second professional start.
Jackson Smith took over for Walsh as the game flipped to the bottom of the sixth inning, ending the day for the Mud Monsters left-hander.
Walsh ended his day tossing five full innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits while walking one and striking out three.
Smith entered and tossed a scoreless first inning of work before running into trouble in the seventh.
Slammers Tie It Again
Joliet pulled even in the seventh, but Mississippi kept the game alive.
The right-handed reliever walked the first man Brandon Heidal, and an error at first base by Holman on an attempt to get Heidal on a force at second followed as a fielder's choice with an error to allow Battipaglia to reach and make it first and second.
Ward dropped a sacrifice bunt down the first-base line to advance both men into scoring position.
Jackson Valera grounded a ball to Travis Holt at third that he could not make a play on, allowing the tying run to score to make it a 4-4 ballgame.
Smith remained on the hill for the bottom of the eighth inning, picking up back-to-back strikeouts before issuing two consecutive walks.
Despite the two-men-on situation, the Raymond, Mississippi native was able to quell the threat to send the tied game to the top of the ninth inning.
Barraza Forces Extras
The Mud Monsters closer stranded the winning run at third.
Chris Barraza entered in the bottom half of the ninth and walked the leadoff man Battipaglia before Ward dropped a bunt down to move the runner to second.
Battipaglia then stole third to move within ninety feet, but Barraza got a popout from Valera and struck out Suto to send the game to extra innings where the Mud Monsters offense would reawaken.
Extras Wake the Bats
Booker's 48th RBI gave Mississippi the lead in the 10th.
The Mississippi bats were in a dizzy spell since De La Rosa had given them the lead in the sixth inning, but with Schield as the ghost runner, Skinner lifted a fly ball to move him to third and Kyle Booker picked up his 48th RBI on the year to score the run to make it a 5-4 Mud Monsters lead.
Joliet formulated a response in its first chance in extras with Suto as its ghost runner and Barraza still on the hill.
First, Jackson Beaman grounded out to shortstop to move the tying run to third. Then the next batter, Cerny, grounded a hot shot to Holt who came up firing home to try and get Suto, but it skipped in low for the fifth Mud Monsters error on the day.
Barraza was able to pick up the final two outs of the frame as the game headed to Sudden Death Rules.
Samil Puts on the Cape
De La Rosa ended it in Sudden Death.
Playing in their third Sudden Death game overall and second within a week, Mississippi took to the plate as Joliet elected to play defense.
If Joliet held, they would be victorious, but the Mud Monsters, namely De La Rosa, had other plans.
With one out and Nathan Rose entering as a pinch-runner for Holt as the Sudden Death runner at first, De La Rosa took the first pitch he saw from lefty Jake Carroll and smashed it into left-center field where it caromed off the fence.
A hard-charging Rose, swiftly moving around the bases, circled third base as the relay throw came in offline, allowing the Mud Monsters to jump into a frenzy of celebration on the opponent's field.
The 6-5 victory marked the second extra-inning victory of the season for the Mud Monsters and the first on the road. De La Rosa finished his evening going 3-for-5 with the solo home run, a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Full Box Score
Mississippi 6, Joliet 5 - July 7, 2026 at Slammers Stadium
Line Score
Mississippi Batting
Joliet Batting
Mississippi Pitching
Joliet Pitching
Box Score Notes
Mississippi extra-base hits: De La Rosa doubled in the 11th and homered in the sixth.
Joliet extra-base hits: Morton tripled in the fourth.
RBIs: Mississippi - Skinner, Booker, De La Rosa 2, Payne II, Diaz. Joliet - Ward, Valera, Cerny, Morton.
Defense: Mississippi turned two double plays. Joliet turned one double play.
Base running: Payne II stole his fifth base of the season. Battipaglia, Suto and Cerny stole bases for Joliet.
Pitching: Walsh 88 pitches, 54 strikes. Smith 57 pitches, 32 strikes. Barraza 33 pitches, 21 strikes. Vitas 89 pitches, 57 strikes. Catrambone 18 pitches, 12 strikes. Soto 28 pitches, 17 strikes. O'Dell 24 pitches, 16 strikes. Death Pitcher B 7 pitches, 4 strikes.
Game information: Slammers Stadium. Tuesday, July 7, 2026. First pitch: 6:37 p.m. Final out: 9:41 p.m. Time of game: 3:04. Attendance: 1,094. Weather: 88 degrees. Wind: 6 mph N. Official scorer: Dave Laketa.
Up Next
The Mud Monsters continue their six-game road trip with the second game of a three-game set against the Slammers Wednesday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT.
Left-hander Tyler Campbell (3-2, 3.82) gets the start for Mississippi while right-handed pitcher Blane Zeplin (1-3, 8.66) goes for Joliet.
About the Mississippi Mud Monsters
Baseball Lives Here. It Just Got a Little Weirder.
The Mississippi Mud Monsters are a professional baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, competing in the Frontier League. Built in the mud and rooted in Mississippi, the Mud Monsters believe baseball should be unapologetically fun, a little weird, wildly welcoming, and deeply tied to the place it calls home. Real baseball. Real people. This is swamp-built, Mississippi-made baseball, where the vibes matter just as much as the final score.