Four Run Eighth Propels Traverse City
June 12, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
MARION, IL - For the second straight night, the Traverse City Beach Bums rallied in the eighth inning, this time scoring four runs to upend the Southern Illinois Miners 6-4 and take over sole possession of first place in the Frontier League East Division.
Trailing 4-1 heading into the seventh, the Beach Bums started their comeback when Jose Vargas led off the frame with his seventh homer of the year to make it 4-2. After the bullpen shut down the Miners in the bottom of the inning, the offense went back to work in the top of the eighth. Ryan Still and Kyle Colligan led off with singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Traverse City then executed a double steal where Still slid around the tag of Elliot Hagburg at home plate to make it 4-3.
The offense continued as Chase Burch singled to move Colligan to third. A pitching change did not help things as Albert Ayala walked Jeff Flagg to load the bases. On a 1-1 pitch to Vargas, Ayala uncorked a wild pitch to score Colligan and tie the game, while moving Burch and Flagg to third and second respectively with no outs. The runners stood there three batters later, this time with two outs when Sean Gusrang stepped in and laced a double down the rightfield line to score both runners and put the Beach Bums on top to stay.
Southern Illinois scored the first run of the game in the fifth when Carlos Mendez reached on an error and scored on a single by Taye Larry. The Beach Bums countered with a run in the top of the sixth when Colligan hit a sac fly to score Eveland. The Miners got three in the bottom of the sixth on hits by Matt Fields, Mendez and Will Block to take a 4-1 lead.
The win went to Matt Miller (2-2) who was brilliant in relief allowing just one hit over 2.2 innings, walking none and striking out two. Scott Dunn pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. Gabriel Shaw (0-1) took the loss for Southern Illinois.
The series finale will see Shawn Gilblair take the mound for the Miners. The Beach Bums starter has not been announced. Coverage on Sunny Country 101.9 will begin at 7:45 p.m. outside of an 8:05 first pitch.
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