CornBelters rally to beat RiverHawks
Published on August 5, 2011 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
An eighth inning rally pushed the Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, to a 6-4 victory over the Rockford RiverHawks on Friday night at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Illinois.
The RiverHawks broke the ice in the first when David Cooper chopped a ball up the middle that was fielded by shortstop Frank Martinez, but thrown wide into the CornBelters dugout, sending Cooper to second. Cooper went to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a sharp drive by Jason James just out of the reach of Belters second baseman Brandon Newton.
The CornBelters tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Alvaro Ramirez led off with his second double of the game, went to third on a ground ball and scored on fielder's choice ground ball by Frank Martinez.
Rockford took the lead in the fifth with their second unearned run. With two outs, Freddy Parejo reached on an error, and after a lengthy at-bat with several pick-off attempts, David Cooper doubled to the left field corner to score Parejo and give the RiverHawks a 2-1 lead.
Another unearned run gave the RiverHawks a 3-1 lead in the seventh. Greg Van Horn singled with one out and went to third on a base hit by Freddy Parejo, but another error on a ground ball to first allowed Cooper to score.
The CornBelters took their first lead in the eighth, scoring four times on five hits including three doubles. Alvaro Ramirez led off with his third double of the game and scored on Brandon Newton's base hit. Frank Martinez doubled to send Newton to third, and Steve Alexander cleared the bases with the inning's third double to give the CornBelters a 4-3 lead and end the night for starter Brett Scarpetta. Asif Shah extended the lead to 5-3 when he singled in Steve Alexander with a high chopper past first base off reliever Kyle Kriech to complete the scoring for the frame.
The RiverHawks got one run back in the bottom of the eighth after reaching reliever Ben Paxton with two consecutive singles. Marshall Schuler then took over on the mound for Normal, holding Rockford to just one run on a Kevin Smith sacrifice fly to keep the Belters in front 5-4.
The Belters cushioned their lead in the ninth when Andrew Barbaro led off with a base hit to left, was sacrificed to second and went to third on a Brandon Newton single, then scored on a Frank Martinez fielder's choice.
Ryan Sheldon (7-5) took the win, scattering seven hits and no earned runs while walking one and striking out eight. Marshall Schuler picked up his seventh save. Rockford starter Brett Scarpetta (6-4) took the loss.
The series continues with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch on Saturday night at Road Ranger Stadium. Matt Mossey (1-0, 3.68) is the probable starting pitcher for the Belters with Joe Scumaci (4-2, 3.74) throwing for the RiverHawks in a matchup of right-handers. Pre-game on WEZC-FM 95.9 and WJBC.com is at 5:50.
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