Big Third Lifts Miners
Published on July 10, 2011 under Frontier League (FL)
Windy City ThunderBolts News Release
CRESTWOOD, IL - Southern Illinois hit back-to-back homers in the third inning, leading the Miners to a 3-1 victory over the ThunderBolts Sunday night in the first half finale at Standard Bank Stadium.
Dustin Williams started for the Bolts and walked three in the first inning, but got out of trouble without allowing a run.
In the third, Williams struck out the first two hitters and Will Block popped up into foul ground. But Larry Pempek could not hold on to the popup and Block was given new life, which he used to hit his ninth home run of the year. Sean Coughlin followed him with a home run of his own and gave the Miners a 2-0 lead.
Neither team threatened again until the bottom of the sixth when Windy City loaded the bases with two outs. David Harden got Dale Swinford to ground out to end that threat.
In the seventh inning, with Tommy Gately pitching, Southern Illinois put runners at first and third with one out on two singles. Greg Johnson came on and his first pitch was bunted by Will Block. The play came home and in a very close play, Blanchard beat Johnson's throw making it 3-0.
In the ninth, the ThunderBolts made it interesting. With one out, Zach Aakhus singled and Nick Kuroczko grounded into a fielder's choice ahead of a Chad Cregar walk. Chris Wade's two-out single scored Kuroczko, ending the shutout and chasing closer Erik Draxton from the game. Ben Shivers came out of the pen and walked Ryan Basham to load the bases and put the winning run on first, but Chase Porch popped out to short to end the Bolts' chances.
David Harden pitched seven three-hit innings earning the win (5-1) and Dustin Williams fell to 6-3 despite allowing no earned runs in five innings.
The ThunderBolts will take the next four days off for the Frontier League all-star break. Seven Bolts will be headed to the game with Devin Shepherd, Mike Torres and Zach Aakhus in the starting lineup. Dustin Williams, Greg Johnson, Chris Wade and Brandon Anderson will be there as well and Mike Kashirsky will be managing the East side. The next time the Bolts take the field as a team will be Friday at Traverse City for a 6:05 CDT start.
Frontier League Stories from July 10, 2011
- Slammers Sweep Their Way Past Normal - Joliet Slammers
- Slammers Sweep CornBelters - Normal CornBelters
- Big Third Lifts Miners - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Crushers Fall In First Half Finale - Lake Erie Crushers
- Miners Slip Past ThunderBolts 3-1 - Southern Illinois Miners
- Rascals Close First-Half with 6-2 Win - River City Rascals
- Bums Finish First Half with Win - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Grizzlies Head into the All-Star Break with Another Win - Gateway Grizzlies
- Washington ends first half with loss to Gateway - Washington Wild Things
- Freedom Fall Below .500 in 6-3 Loss - Florence Y'alls
- Rockford Wins Series Finale against Evansville, 3-0 - Evansville Otters
- Szymanski, Durand Combine for Two-Hitter, 3-0 Shutout - Rockford RiverHawks
- Joliet Slammers Game Notes - Joliet Slammers
- Evansville notches back to back wins, eyeing sweep tomorrow - Evansville Otters
- Evansville closer snuffs Rockford rally - Rockford RiverHawks
- Rascals Clinch Best First-Half Record - River City Rascals
- Rascals Clinch Best First-Half Record - River City Rascals
- Slammers prevail and remain in first place - Joliet Slammers
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