CornBelters Battle Back But Lose in Walk-Off
September 4, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
Schaumburg, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, ended the 2014 season by battling back from a four-run deficit to take a lead in the eighth inning, but lost in a walk-off 9-8 to the Schaumburg Boomers on Thursday night at Boomers Stadium.
The CornBelters tallied in their first time at bat with a two-out rally including a double off the right field wall by Pat McKenna, who was driven home by Sam Judah. A single by Aaron Dudley followed by a two-run double by Richard Lucas to the left center gap gave the Belters a 3-0 lead.
The Boomers answered in their opening frame with a three-run homer to left by Tony Delmonico to even the contest at 3-3, then took a 4-3 advantage with a lead-off home run in the second inning by Jordan Dean. The second frame continued with a double by Alexi Colon, who was driven in by a base hit from Joe DePinto, then a walk to end the night for Belters starter Cullen Babin. The Boomers continued the inning with two more runs on ground outs helped by an error to push the Boomers ahead 7-3 after two innings.
The Belters cut the deficit to 7-4 when Dudley drew a two-out walk and was driven home by Lucas for his third RBI of the night. Normal cut the margin to a pair in the fourth inning when Chris Hueth and Tyler Shover led off with singles and Hueth scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field by Jorge Chavarria. The Belters chipped yet another run off the deficit in the fifth inning when Judah reached via error and later scored on the fourth RBI of the night by Lucas to cut the margin to 7-6. Ozney Guillen tied the game at 7-7 in the seventh with a double to right center, scoring Lucas after he reached via error.
The CornBelters surged ahead in the eighth inning as Jorge Chavarria led off with a double, tagged and went to third on a fly to center and scored on a wild pitch. The Boomers led off the ninth inning with a double by Delmonico followed by a walk to Mark Nelson with both runners sacrificed to second and third. An intentional walk loaded the bases, but Ryan McChesney pounded a double to the left center wall to score a pair of runs to give the Boomers the victory.
Cal Bowling (9-7) pitched the ninth inning for the win while Stephen Frey (1-2) took the loss.
The Belters conclude the season with the most wins in a season and their first winning record at 48-47. The Boomers end their regular season at 61-35 and will play in the wild card round this Saturday.
THE NIBLET : Season ticket packages for the 2015 season are currently on sale! To purchase tickets, or for more information, please contact the CornBelters today at (309) 454-2255 (BALL) or stop by The Mid-Illini Credit Union Box Office at The Corn Crib during normal business hours.
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Frontier League Stories from September 4, 2014
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