CornBelters Split Twinbill with Otters
Published on June 28, 2017 under Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, split a doubleheader with the Evansville Otters, winning the opener 8-2 but dropping the nightcap 4-3 on Tuesday at the Corn Crib.
The CornBelters struck quickly in the opener as Santiago Chirino walked with one out in the opening time at bat, then went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double to right field by Aaron Dudley. Nolan Meadows drove into Dudley with a two-out base hit to right.
The Otters got one run back in the second frame on an RBI double by Jeff Gardner. Evansville forced a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning by taking advantage of three walks and scoring one on a fielder's choice by Kolten Yamaguchi.
The Belters regained the lead at 3-2 in their fourth on a line single to right by Craig Lepre, scoring Miguel Torres after his one-out base hit.
Normal added five runs in the fifth inning, aided by two costly Otters errors, including a dropped foul popup from Yeixon Ruiz that would have ended the frame but turned into a two-run single on the next pitch. A two-run base hit by Chirino and a sacrifice fly by Miguel Torres accounted for the inning's other runs.
The game was delayed for one hour and 48 minutes in the middle of the sixth inning for repairs to the pitching mound.
Charlie Gillies (3-2) earned the win with five innings of three-hit ball, giving up two earned runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Luc Rennie (2-1) took the loss with four and two-thirds innings of work, giving up four earned runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
In the nightcap, the Otters tallied first in the second with RBI singles from Brandon Soat and Manny DeJesus for a 2-0 advantage.
The CornBelters answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, aided by a balk and a throwing error to plate Justin Fletcher and Diego Cedeno with the lone RBI recorded by Miguel Torres on a fielder's choice. A line drive home run to left in the third inning by Yeixon Ruiz gave the Belters a 3-2 lead.
Evansville regained the lead with two solo home runs in the sixth inning by Chris Riopedre and Lance Montano.
Hasten Freeman (1-1) earned the win in relief while Francisco Carillo (0-1) gave up the tying and go-ahead homers to receive the loss.
The series concludes with a Wednesday matinee at 1:35 p.m. The game can be heard live on WJBC.com at 1:20 with listen links at www.normalbaseball.com and the WJBC and CornBelters Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Frontier League Stories from June 28, 2017
- CornBelters Drop Series Finale to Otters - Normal CornBelters
- Miners Halt Late Grizzlies Push for Win - Southern Illinois Miners
- Slammers Continue Winning Streak over First Place Boomers - Joliet Slammers
- Road Win Streak Ends as Boomers Fall at Joliet - Schaumburg Boomers
- Grizzlies Comeback Attempt Comes up Short - Gateway Grizzlies
- Traverse City D. Lake Erie Crushers - FL
- ThunderBolts Snap Skid, Beat Lake Erie - Windy City ThunderBolts
- CornBelters Split Twinbill with Otters - Normal CornBelters
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
