Wichita Wind Surge win for second time in four days on Andrew Bechtold walk-off homer
For the second time in four days, Andrew Bechtold rounded third base, tossed his helmet high into the air and braced himself for a dousing at home plate.
Bechtold delivered another walk-off home run for the Wind Surge on Tuesday night, this time lifting Wichita to a 10-8 series-opening victory over the Arkansas Travelers at Riverfront Stadium.
After blasting a three-run home run for the walk-off win over Amarillo on Friday, Bechtold found himself in the same position on Tuesday and repeated the thrilling experience in front of the home crowd of more than 2,500.
This time Bechtold tracked a breaking ball that was low and outside and launched it to the opposite field over the right-center fence for a two-run bomb. And just like on Friday, Bechtold couldn’t conceal a smile rounding the bases and jumping on home plate as teammates drenched him in water.
Just like the temperatures in Wichita, Bechtold’s hitting has heated up in the month of July. After Tuesday’s multi-hit performance, Bechtold was on a six-game hitting streak where he is batting .384 with three home runs and eight RBI. He’s added 20 points to his season-long batting average, which was hovering around .200 after a rough June.
It’s a nice turnaround for Bechtold, a 26-year-old who was drafted in the fifth round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 MLB Draft and is trying to keep his major-league dreams alive by converting to catcher after beginning his professional career at third base. He has hit 29 home runs in 164 games in Wichita the last two seasons, but his batting average is just .234.
The win also made for a nice change of pace for a Wind Surge squad that is just 10-21 in its last 31 games and hasn’t won a series since early June. But a turnaround against Arkansas could be the early jolt the team needs, as Wichita’s 6-7 start to the second half of the season is just one game behind the early Texas League North leaders in the standings.
The Wind Surge finish the series against Arkansas at Riverfront Stadium with a noon game on Wednesday followed by 7 p.m. games on Thursday and Friday, a 6 p.m. game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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