CornBelters Drop Come-From-Behind Walk-Off to Grizzlies
Published on August 25, 2015 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
SAUGET, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, held a slim early lead but lost on a grand slam walk-off 6-3 to the Gateway Grizzlies on Tuesday night at GCS Ballpark.
The CornBelters cracked open the scoring quickly in the opening inning when Mark Micowski led off with a walk, went to third on a single by Santiago Chirino and scored on a double play. Chirino led off the fourth with his third home run of the past week and his fourth long ball of the season to extend the Belters lead to 2-0.
The Grizzlies strung together three hits in the fifth inning to score their first run on an RBI single by Seth Heck with two outs and cut the deficit to 2-1. The hosts tied the game in the eighth by drawing a one-out walk to Blake Brown, who went to third on a single and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Grant Buckner.
The Belters took the lead in the ninth with a lead-off double from Pat McKenna followed by two walks, one intentional, to load the bases, with Jim Vahalik driving home the run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Grizzlies took advantage of wildness from Belters right-hander Cole Brocker (4-2), who gave up three walks to load the bases and a two-out grand slam home run from Blake Brown to right center field to end the game.
Jordan Wellander (3-2) picked up the win in relief. The Grizzlies improve to 35-48, seventh in the Frontier League West Division, and pick up their fifth win in seven games this season against the CornBelters. Normal falls to 52-33 and their lead in the West drops back to four games over River City, and their magic number to clinch their first-ever playoff berth remains at two (combination of Belters wins and Florence losses).
The CornBelters continue the series on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. as right-hander Kevin Johnson (7-4, 3.45 ERA) starts on the mound for Normal and lefty Jordan Spencer (2-1, 3.37) takes the ball for Gateway. The broadcast on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com begins at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday from GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. with listen links found on Facebook, Twitter (@normal_baseball) and www.normalbaseball.com.
THE NIBLET: The CornBelters return home for the final six games of the regular season starting Tuesday! For 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.
Frontier League Stories from August 25, 2015
- Brown Blasts Walk-Off Grand Slam to Lift Grizzlies over CornBelters - Gateway Grizzlies
- Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough for Slammers - Joliet Slammers
- Boomers Hold off Joliet - Schaumburg Boomers
- ThunderBolts Drop Series Opener to River City - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Miners Top Crushers for Fifth Straight Win - Southern Illinois Miners
- CornBelters Drop Come-From-Behind Walk-Off to Grizzlies - Normal CornBelters
- Otters Appeal Frontier League Penalty - Evansville Otters
- Wild Things Rained out in Traverse City - Washington Wild Things
- Diamond Dig and Halloween Extravaganza Nights this Weekend - River City Rascals
- Aviators Homestand August 28-30 - Rockford Aviators
- Freedom Joining the Fight against the Heroin Epidemic - Florence Y'alls
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