CornBelters break four-game skid with win over Otters
Published on July 16, 2011 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
A four-game losing skid ended on Saturday at Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana, as the Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, earned a 6-2 win over the Otters on Saturday night at Bosse Field.
The CornBelters put up the first run right away in the first inning. With two outs, Frank Martinez singled to center followed by a walk to Steve Alexander. Asif Shah hit a high chopper short of the mound that Otters pitcher Jeremy Thorne threw wildly to first base, allowing Martinez to score. Alexander tried to score on the play but was cut down to end the inning.
The Otters answered quickly to tie the game at 1-1 in their half of the first. Joe Spiers led off the game with a single and stole second and third bases to extend his Frontier League lead in stolen bases to 33. He scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Greg Alexander.
Daniel Cox led off the second inning with his seventh home run, a long blast that cleared the outer wall in left field that gave the Belters a 2-1 lead. With one out, Jeff Dunbar singled and was forced out at second on Tyler Keeble's ground ball. Alvaro Ramirez blooped a single to center to move Keeble up 90 feet, then Brandon Newton scalded a shot past the second baseman's glove to score Keeble and give Normal a 3-1 lead.
Evansville cut the Belters lead to 3-2 in the third when Greg Fontenot led off with a base hit, went to second on a ground out, stole third and came home on a Joe Spiers sacrifice fly.
The CornBelters led off the fourth with consecutive singles by Jeff Dunbar and Tyler Keeble, followed by a double inside the first base bag by Alvaro Ramirez to score Dunbar and put the Belters ahead 4-2. A walk to Frank Martinez to load the bases ended the night for Thorne, who surrendered the ball to reliever Kyle Barry. The first hitter Barry faced, Steve Alexander, grounded into a 5-2-3 double play to end the threat with only one run. The Otters also loaded the bases in their half of the inning with one out, but came up empty after Belters starter Ryan Sheldon was able to coax an infield popup and a strikeout to end the rally.
Normal bumped the lead up to 5-2 in the seventh when Frank Martinez led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Asif Shah.
Another Otters threat was thwarted when they put runners on the corners with one out, and the CornBelters turned a double play that the Otters disputed and led to the ejections of catcher Phil Britton and manager Andy McCauley.
The Belters plumped up the cushion to 6-2 when Brandon Newton led off the ninth inning with a home run just inside the pole at the right field wall.
Ryan Sheldon picked up the win to improve to 6-4, giving up four hits while walking three and striking out eight. Marshall Schuler pitched the final four outs to earn his third save. Jeremy Thorne fell to 2-7 with the loss.
Right-handers are scheduled to start on the mound in the series finale on Sunday, with Matt Mossey taking the ball for the CornBelters and Kyle Eastham (0-2, 5.06) going for the Otters. First pitch at Bosse Field is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. with pre-game on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com at 12:50. The CornBelters then come back to the Corn Crib for a six-game homestand on Monday, beginning with a three-game set against the West Division-leading River City Rascals, then a rematch with the Evansville Otters on Thursday through Saturday.
Frontier League Stories from July 16, 2011
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- Joliet Slammers Game Notes - Joliet Slammers
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