Beach Bums Pull it out in the Ninth
August 22, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
NORMAL, IL - The Traverse City Beach Bums scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to pull out a dramatic 3-2 win over the Normal CornBelters.
The win lowered the Beach Bums magic number to three to clinch a playoff spot. It was also the 57th win of the year for Traverse City, tying them for the most wins in franchise history, matching the mark of the 2006 squad.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the ninth, the Beach Bums got their latest rally started on the first pitch of the inning as Jose Vargas singled. Chase Burch then chopped a ball to third that was misplayed by Randy Wells for an error. After a strikeout, Kyle Colligan came up and singled to centerfield to score Vargas and knot the game at 2-2. Sean Gusrang came up next and walked to load the bases in front of Marcus Nidiffer. As he has done all season, the Traverse City catcher came through in the clutch with a sac fly to center to score Burch and put the Beach Bums on top to stay.
The win went to Nick Capito (6-0) who went the final 3.2 innings of the game, allowing just one hit while striking out five. Brook Belter started for Traverse City, going 5.1 innings allowing two runs while striking out six including the 100th punchout of his career. Brendon Smith (2-6) took the loss for the CornBelters.
Normal got on the board with the initial run of the game in the fourth inning as a Bubby Williams sac fly scored Steven Felix who led off the inning with a walk. The CornBelters would score again in the sixth when Pat McKenna drew a walk and moved to third on an errant pickoff throw. Ernie Banks came up next and tripled to right to bring McKenna home for a 2-0 lead.
Traverse City would get on the board in the seventh inning as Vargas led off the frame with his 28th homer of the season to cut the Normal lead to 2-1.
The series finale is set for Thursday with Kurt Wunderlich (2-0, 4.30) starting for the Beach Bums against Tyler Lavigne (5-8, 4.26) for the CornBelters. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST with the pregame show on Sunny Country 101.9 beginning at 7:10 p.m. For tickets to all Beach Bums home games, call 943-0100, visit tcbeachbums.com or stop by the Wuerfel Park ticket office.
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