Back-to-back homers in eighth sink CornBelters
August 20, 2011 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, mustered only one hit until the ninth inning and gave up back to back home runs in the eighth to fall 5-4 to the Gateway Grizzlies on Saturday night at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois. The win is only the second in 11 starts for the Grizzlies this season against the CornBelters.
The CornBelters tallied first in the third inning. A.J. Miller reached via infield single followed by a walk to Andrew Barbaro. Alvaro Ramirez loaded the bases when the Grizzlies misplayed a ground ball. Brandon Newton walked, forcing in Miller, then a ground ball by Frank Martinez scored two runs on another Grizzlies error to give the CornBelters a 3-0 lead.
The Grizzlies tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth. Charlie Lisk hit his 20th home run over the short right field fence with one out, then with two outs, Case Rigby and Carlton Salters each singled, then scored on a bases-clearing double to the left field corner by Tyler Heil.
The Grizzlies finally surged ahead in the eighth as Frontier League home run king Charlie Lisk hit his second round-tripper of the night over the left-center field wall, followed by a solo homer to right by Landon Hernandez to end the night for Belters starter Matt Mossey in favor of Michael Click, who surrendered a double to Carlton Salters but retired the Grizzlies without further damage.
A CornBelters threat in the ninth fell just short. Mike Mobbs hit his fifth home run over the left field wall with two outs to cut the lead to 5-4, followed by a Daniel Cox single, but he was stranded at first to end the game.
Richard Barrett (3-3) earned the win in relief. Chris Enourato picked up his eighth save. Matt Mossey (1-3) lost his third straight decision, giving up 10 hits including three home runs in 7.1 innings while walking one and striking out five.
The road trip concludes on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. at GCS Ballpark with right-handers again battling on the mound, Tyler Lavigne (6-7, 3.14) for the CornBelters and Brad Stone (1-7, 6.78) for the Grizzlies. Pre-game on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com is at 5:50. The CornBelters take Monday off before beginning a six-game homestand with the River City Rascals on Tuesday through Thursday and the Southern Illinois Miners over the weekend. More information is available at www.normalbaseball.com.
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Frontier League Stories from August 20, 2011
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