CornBelters Play into Morning for 6th Straight Win
Published on August 29, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, closed out their sixth straight victory more than seven hours after the first pitch and clinched their first winning season with a 6-3 win over the Lake Erie Crushers on Thursday night and Friday morning at the Corn Crib.
The CornBelters took an early lead with their first hitter of the game, Pat McKenna, who homered just over the right field fence. The Belters put three more runs on the board in the opening frame on RBIs from Aaron Dudley, Ozney Guillen and Jhiomar Veras for a quick 4-0 advantage.
The Crushers countered in the second inning, cutting the deficit to 4-2 on a two-run homer to the right field lawn by Ryan Hutchison. The Belters answered in the bottom of the second with an RBI double by Mike Schwartz, scoring Santiago Chirino directly after his triple. Heavy rains moved into the area immediately after the second inning, delaying the contest for four hours and 39 minutes, resuming at 12:39 a.m.
The CornBelters added a run in the fifth inning as Schwartz led off with a double and scored on a single to right by Sam Judah, giving Judah the single-season CornBelters RBI record at 79.
The Crushers again answered as Anderson Hidalgo led off with an infield single combined with an error to send him to second base. Hidalgo went to third on a ground out and scored on a base hit through the left side by Adam Ford to cut the Belters lead to 6-3.
Chris Carmain (4-0) came on after the delay for four innings for the win while Crushers starter Andy Roberts (2-1) took the loss. Eric Anderson worked the ninth for his seventh save. The victory is the sixth straight for the Belters and clinches a record above .500, and also puts the Belters within three games of a playoff spot with six games remaining.
The Belters travel to Southern Illinois for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Belters send right-hander Mike Devine (2-1, 5.48 ERA) to the mound while the Miners counter with righty Miguel Ramirez (9-4, 4.25). Details can be found at the team web site, www.normalbaseball.com . The games can be heard live at www.normalbaseball.com beginning 10 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.
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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