SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2025
By John Colavita
X’S BATS COME ALIVE
WIN PRESEASON TUNE UP 18-5 OVER LINCOLN
Sioux City, Iowa – On a beautiful Sunday afternoon against the Lincoln Saltdogs, the Sioux City Explorers put on an offensive clinic. The X’s exploded for 18 runs and four homers, including three of Dario Gomez‘s bats.
Jared Wetherbee started for the X’s and struck out the side in the first inning. He ran into trouble walking the first two batters of the second inning but limited the damage to just one run.
Heading into the bottom of the third inning, Lincoln led 1-0, but neither team recorded a hit. D’Shawn Knowles fixed a one-out RBI single to tie the game.
After Luis Toribio walked, Kurtis Byrne smacked a two-run single to left, and Sioux City scored five runs in the inning. The score did not stay 5-1 for long.
The top of the 4th started with former Baltimore Oriole Yusniel Diaz smacking a Jaren Jackson fastball deep over the left field wall. The Saltdogs put up two more in the inning and brought the tying run to the plate, but X’s manager, Steve Montgomery, had a few tricks up his sleeve and put on a play that picked off Jack Cone at second base.
After going quietly in the fourth, Sioux City scored four runs in the 5th and 6th. Luis Toribio sent a three-run blast deep out to center in the 5th, and Dario Gomez, who came in as a defensive replacement for Emilio Corona, demolished the first of his three home runs in the 6th.
By this point, the X’s had demoralized Lincoln. The Saltdogs scored just once after the 4th inning as Sioux City plated 13 runs from the 5th inning on.
Dario Gomez homered once more in the 7th and again in the 8th. This should not come as a surprise with Gomez producing the first 30 home run and 30 stolen base season in the history of the Pioneer League last season with the Northern Colorado Owlz.
While the Saltdogs went down quietly, the Explorers felt contributions from everywhere. Henry George had two spectacular catches in left field, Miguel Pozo and Jeremy Goins reached tosses scoreless frames, and Kurtis Byrne had a multiple-RBI day, two of which came against Johnny Ray, his former battery mate at TCU, who started the game for Lincoln.
The X’s will play two more Spring Training games before heading to Kane County to open the season against the Cougars on Thursday, May 8th. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. You can watch live on AABaseball.TV or listen on 94.9 FM or 1360 AM KSCJ, and hear Dan Vaughan, the voice of the X’s, bring you all the action all season long. Ticket packages for the 2025 season are on-sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10, 15 and 25-game Flex Packs. More information is available by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers social media channels and the club’s website xsbaseball.com for off-season news and updates. The official podcast of the Explorers can be found online and tune into the live show on Facebook Live during the offseason for more news and Explorers content.