CornBelters Rally But Lose in Walk-Off at Washington
Published on July 26, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
WASHINGTON, Pa. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, came from behind to lead in the eighth inning but gave up two runs in the ninth to fall to the Washington Wild Things 4-3 on Tuesday night at CONSOL Energy Park and end a four-game winning streak.
The Wild Things opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the third inning when Andrew Heck singled, stole second and came home on a base hit by Chris Grayson. David Popkins clubbed a solo home run to straightaway center in the fourth to extend the host's advantage to 2-0.
The CornBelters tallied in the fifth inning with a lead-off single by Brandon Roberts and a double from Dylan Kelly, with Roberts scoring on a sacrifice fly by Justin Fletcher to cut the margin to 2-1.
The Belters tied the contest in the seventh with a two-out surge as Fletcher reached on a wild pitch on his strikeout, stole second and put the game at 2-2 on a base hit up the middle by Santiago Chirino.
The CornBelters surged in front in the eighth with a lead-off single by Mitch Elliott, who took third on a base hit to right by Nolan Meadows and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center by Roberts for a 3-2 edge.
The Wild Things pulled out the victory while down to their final out as Ricky Rodriguez and David Popkins slammed consecutive doubles off closer Race Parmenter for a 3-3 tie, and after two walks, one intentional, to load the bases Jamodrick McGruder was hit by a pitch to end the game.
Zac Grotz (1-2) worked the ninth inning for the victory while Parmenter (3-2) took the loss.
The series continues Wednesday with a 6:05 p.m. Central contest in suburban Pittsburgh as Normal's Charlie Gillies (2-1, 2.36 ERA) starts on the mound while Washington counters with Luke Wilkins (2-3, 3.92) in a match-up of right-handers. The game can be heard live on WJBC.com with pre-game beginning at 5:50.
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