FL Normal CornBelters

CornBelters battle back again to sweep Grizzlies

Published on June 15, 2011 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release


In another back-and-forth battle, the Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers swept the Gateway Grizzlies with a 9-8 win on Wednesday afternoon at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois to complete the road trip with a 5-1 record.

The Grizzlies opened the scoring right away in the first inning. T.S. Reed led off with a walk and moved to second on a single by Ryan Khoury single. Charlie Lisk loaded the bases with a one-out walk, and Joe Agreste singled in Reed followed by a two-RBI double by Brandon Peters to give Gateway a 3-0 lead after one frame.

The CornBelters answered with a third-inning run when Tyler Keeble led off with a double and scored on a base hit from Alvaro Ramirez, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games with the single.

Normal cut into the lead again in the fourth. Steve Alexander and Asif Shah led off the inning with walks and moved up a base on a wild pitch, then Colin Moro singled in Alexander. Tyler Keeble walked to re-load the bases, and Shah scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Mike Mobbs. Alvaro Ramirez then cleared the bases with a two-run triple off the wall in center to give the 'Belters a 5-4 lead.

The lead didn't last, as the Grizzlies' Tyler Heil hit his first home run of the season to left to tie the game at 5-5.

The 'Belters regained the lead in the fifth. Daniel cox led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, then Steve Alexander collected his 20th RBI with a double to center to give Normal a 6-5 lead. The CornBelters continued to load the bases in the inning, but could not add to the lead.

Normal went yard back-to-back in the sixth. CornBelters second baseman Frank Martinez bumped the lead up to 7-5 with his fifth home run and second round-tripper of the series to right field, followed by another solo monster home run to left by Daniel Cox to increase the lead to 8-5.

Gateway made it a new ball game in the seventh, when Brandon Peters hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot to left with two outs on a 2-2 pitch from reliever Jacob Liedka.

The CornBelters got a big swing from the ninth spot in the order, as Mike Mobbs, making his second start of the season, hit a two-out solo home run to left to put Normal ahead 9-8.

The Grizzlies did not go easily in the ninth. Ryan Khoury led off by reaching on an error, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Charlie Lisk walked to put the potential winning run on base, but reliever Jeremy Brewer struck out Joe Agreste and got tough hitter Brandon Peters to line out to left to end the game.

Jacob Liedka picked up his first decision with the win, and Chris Enourato fell to 0-1 with the loss. Brewer earned his first save.

The CornBelters send Jon Berger (2-1, 7.54) to the mound against Jeremy Thorne of the Evansville Otters in a duel of right-handers. The CornBelters begin a six-game homestand with Thirsty Thursday against the Otters with a 7 p.m. first pitch, and a 6:50 p.m. pre-game on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com.

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Frontier League Stories from June 15, 2011


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