Chattanooga Lookouts third baseman Gavin LaValley went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run, and he was a key contributor in a ninth-inning rally that came up short for the hosts Friday night as they lost 8-4 to the Jackson Generals.
The Generals never trailed as they dropped the Lookouts to .500 through their first 16 games of the second half of the Southern League season.
Chattanooga made things a bit interesting in the ninth when Alfredo Rodriguez led off with a single, LaValley doubled to center field and Calten Daal singled to score Rodriguez. After a flyout, Taylor Trammell was hit by a pitch to load the bases; after a strikeout, Mitch Nay walked to score LaValley and bring Ibandel Isabel to the plate with a chance to tie the game with one swing.
Isabel leads the league with 20 home runs this season, but he lost this battle to Jackson reliever Michael Kohn. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Isabel fouled off the next pitch, swung and missed the next one and took a third called strike to end the game.
Jackson (7-9) led 2-0 halfway through the first inning. Chattanooga answered in the bottom half with Jose Siri’s RBI double, but the Generals added two runs in the second and one in the third before LaValley’s leadoff homer in the bottom of that inning cut the Lookouts’ deficit to 5-2.