CornBelters Surrender Two Leads in Loss to Crushers
July 26, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Ill. - The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, gave up leads in the eighth and ninth innings and lost 8-6 to the Lake Erie Crushers on Saturday night at the Corn Crib.
The CornBelters took the lead in their first at bat when Jhiomar Veras homered high onto the right field lawn to lead off the hosts' attack. The Crushers evened the game in the second inning when starting pitcher Todd Kibby helped his own cause with an opposite-field double into the left field corner, scoring Ryan Hutchison from first base.
The Belters broke the tie with a two-out, two-run single by Tyler Shover to right field in the second inning for a 3-1 advantage. The Crushers cut the deficit to 3-2 by scoring a lead-off walk to Trevor Stevens, who went to third on a double by Andrew Davis and scored on a fielder's choice ground out by Anderson Hidalgo.
Normal increased the lead to 4-2 with a fourth-inning lead-off home run by Aaron Dudley to right field.
The Crushers cut the count to 4-3 when pinch-hitter Adam Ford singled through the right side to lead off the seventh, went to second on a base hit by Juan Sanchez and to third on a sacrifice, then scored on a fielder's choice ground out by Andrew Davis. Lake Erie surged ahead 5-4 with a two-out rally in the eighth inning with a single by Ryan Hutchison and a walk to P.J. Torres followed by an RBI single by pinch-hitter Craig Hertler and a run-scoring double over the right field fence by Sanchez.
The Belters mounted their own two-out rally in the eighth inning when Sam Judah singled and scored on a home run just over the right center field fence by Richard Lucas for a 6-5 lead. The Crushers surged right back in the ninth with three runs when their first two hitters drew walks and scored on a bases-clearing triple to left center by Vincent Mejia, who came home on a sacrifice fly on a line drive to left by Hutchison for an 8-6 advantage.
Brandon Smith (1-0) earned the win while Trevor Longfellow pitched the ninth for his third save. Alan Oaks (0-3) surrendered leads in the eighth and ninth innings and took the loss.
The CornBelters take a brief three-game road trip to the St. Louis area to face the River City Rascals beginning with Sunday's 5:05 p.m. first pitch. The Belters send right-hander Cullen Babin (5-4, 4.27 ERA) to mound as the Rascals give the ball to lefty Tommy Organ (3-1, 0.85). The game can be heard at www.normalbaseball.com beginning at 4:50. The series continues Monday and Tuesday before the Belters return home for a six-game home stand Wednesday through Sunday at the Corn Crib, beginning with a three-game series with the Southern Illinois Miners followed by a Saturday single game and a Sunday doubleheader with the Rockford Aviators.
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