CornBelters Get Wild Win to Close Home-Stand
June 13, 2013 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, captured a wild win over the Washington Wild Things, walking off with a run in the tenth inning for a 10-9 victory on Thursday night at the Corn Crib.
The CornBelters scored in their first time up as Mike Schwartz led off with a triple and scored on a fielder's choice ground ball by Pat McKenna. The Wild Things tied the contest at 1-1 right away in the second inning with a one-out double to center by Stewart Ijames followed by an RBI single to right by A.J. Nunziato. A two-out double to the right field corner by Darian Sandford scored Nunziato to give the guests a 2-1 lead.
The Belters evened the game at 2-2 in the second inning as David Medina led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a double to the right field wall by Keoni Manago.
The Wild Things added a run in the third inning when Jovan Rosa knocked a one-out single and was doubled to third by Mark Samuelson, then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Rogelio Noris to give Washington a 3-2 advantage.
Normal put the game back on even terms at 3-3 in the fifth when Manago doubled with one out and went to third on a fielder's choice, then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Schwartz.
Washington regained the lead in the sixth inning amid controversy around a runner leaving the baseline for the second time in the series. With the bases loaded, a ground ball was hit to second baseman Santiago Chirino, who could not reach Darian Sandford to tag him before recording the second out of the inning on a throw to first base, scoring a run and resulting in the ejection of Belters manager Brooks Carey. Jose Trinidad entered the game and issued a walk to force in another run to give the guests a 5-3 lead.
The CornBelters mounted a seventh-inning rally to regain the lead. Chris Wilson reached via error to lead off followed by a base hit by Matt Wright. With two outs, Schwartz doubled home Wilson, Santiago Chrino single home Wright and Schwartz, and after a walk to McKenna, Romulo Ruiz blasted a three-run homer to right to give the Belters a 9-5 lead.
The Wild Things evened the game in the ninth when Rogelio Noris hit a lead-off double to the left field corner and scored on a single by Stewart Ijames. Two walks loaded the bases, but a fly ball to left center was dropped by Keoni Manago to clear the bases and tie the game after the Things were down to their final strike.
The CornBelters made amends in the bottom of the ninth when T.J. Gavlik and Mike Schwartz led off with singles and were bunted over, followed by an intentional walk to Pat McKenna to load the bases. A ground ball to third from Romulo Ruiz retired the runner at second, but Things first baseman Stewart Ijams was ruled to be off the bag on the relay throw to allow Gavlik to score and give the Belters the wild win.
Casey Upperman (1-0) pitched the final two innings for the win while Alfonso Yevoli (0-1) took the loss.
The CornBelters begin a six-game road trip with a 7 p.m. Friday contest at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. against the Gateway Grizzlies in a weekend series between the top two teams in the Frontier League West Division.
THE NIBLET : The CornBelters are still seeking host families for the 2013 season. The "Host Family Program" provides players with a home away from home. It enables them to live with a family, couple or individual in the Bloomington-Normal area. It is derived from a variety of factors from a player's standpoint. Such factors include: the difficulty in finding a lease for just several months, the possibility of playing for the CornBelters for a limited time and/or the limited salaries that accompany professional baseball at this level of play. For more information, and a host family application, please visit http://www.normalbaseball.com/host-family/.
Frontier League Stories from June 13, 2013
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- CornBelters Get Wild Win to Close Home-Stand - Normal CornBelters
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